"But the great thing, and the horrible thing about the web is you can just throw stuff up there and it doesn't cost anybody anything"
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Avery nails the web’s central bargain in one breath: liberation and ruin, delivered at the same low price of zero. Coming from a musician who came up in an era where making noise required gatekeepers (labels, studios, distribution), the line carries the disbelief of someone who remembers when putting work into the world demanded permission and money. The “great thing” is obvious: the internet bulldozes scarcity. Anyone can publish a song, a rant, a rumor, a theory at 3 a.m. and have it ricochet globally by breakfast.
The “horrible thing” is less about “bad content” than about accountability. When it “doesn’t cost anybody anything,” it doesn’t cost the poster reputationally in the moment, and it doesn’t cost the platform to host the consequences. That cheapness trains us to treat culture as disposable: endless uploads, endless takes, endless dopamine hits, with none of the friction that used to force editing, doubt, or restraint. In music terms, the web replaces the studio’s pressure with the bedroom’s impulsiveness, and the audience becomes a scrolling jury.
Avery’s phrasing is tellingly casual: “throw stuff up there.” Not “publish,” not “release.” It’s the language of tossing clutter into a shared room and walking away. The subtext is a warning about a medium that confuses access with value. The web democratizes expression, then dilutes it, and in the process turns attention into the only real currency left.
The “horrible thing” is less about “bad content” than about accountability. When it “doesn’t cost anybody anything,” it doesn’t cost the poster reputationally in the moment, and it doesn’t cost the platform to host the consequences. That cheapness trains us to treat culture as disposable: endless uploads, endless takes, endless dopamine hits, with none of the friction that used to force editing, doubt, or restraint. In music terms, the web replaces the studio’s pressure with the bedroom’s impulsiveness, and the audience becomes a scrolling jury.
Avery’s phrasing is tellingly casual: “throw stuff up there.” Not “publish,” not “release.” It’s the language of tossing clutter into a shared room and walking away. The subtext is a warning about a medium that confuses access with value. The web democratizes expression, then dilutes it, and in the process turns attention into the only real currency left.
Quote Details
| Topic | Internet |
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