Life Online Feels Fake Because of Drift: a Theory of Compression and Fidelity
Posted2 months ago
therealitydrift.substack.comOtherstory
calmneutral
Debate
0/100
Online CultureSocial MediaInformation Theory
Key topics
Online Culture
Social Media
Information Theory
The article discusses 'drift' in online interactions, where the compression of information leads to a loss of fidelity, making online life feel fake; the single comment on the post acknowledges the phenomenon but doesn't spark a significant discussion.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
N/A
Peak period
1
Start
Avg / period
1
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Oct 30, 2025 at 9:49 AM EDT
2 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Oct 30, 2025 at 9:49 AM EDT
0s after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
1 comments in Start
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Oct 30, 2025 at 9:49 AM EDT
2 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
Discussion (1 comments)
Showing 1 comments
realitydriftAuthor
2 months ago
I’ve been thinking about why so much of modern life feels fake, optimized, and hollow. My argument is that we’ve moved past the Information Age into what I call the Age of Drift: a condition where compression (profiles, feeds, metrics) erodes fidelity (context, depth, meaning). The piece explores how every era of civilization is defined by a compression logic and why ours is collapsing into drift.
View full discussion on Hacker News
ID: 45760013Type: storyLast synced: 11/17/2025, 8:09:35 AM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.