taste has been on my mind. i think we're seeing a taste epidemic because of a perpetual cycle: 1. the trust shift. the wider public have lost trust in legacy media and placed greater trust in the humans they feel like they can reach (i.e. influencers) 2. performance. people perform taste (i.e. 'larp', thus creating 'tasteslop') by mimicking these influencers. influencers have leaned into the interest through trending formats such as ‘how to become disgustingly educated’. 3. displacement of experience. the performance displaces the experience; instead of going to a show, you post that you like a band because your favourite influencer does. now, there's no risk or mistake in discovering and experiencing that band for yourself. but those moments of friction are precisely how taste gets formed: through lived experiences that teach you what you like, and why. unfortunately, this create a cycle where the trust shift -> performance -> displacement of experience, which forms taste. unfortunately though, you can't really find taste from watching a piece of content.