Hey guys, this is Highfield with another edition of our media shortcut newsletter. Getting lots of good feedback, so please keep it up and tell your friends in the industry. This week we're talking about underground culture's last gasp on the internet, riots in France, the next media platform to dominate Netflix-style and the joys of reading leaked emails.
- The last piece of underground culture?
Our infinite choice has led to less discovery of interesting content, not more. When I found the Twitch stream of visual artist BAKOON, I remembered what it was like to sit back and let someone else completely control what I'm watching with no information and no choice. And the stuff I saw is off-the-algorithm-grid. Essentially, the stream is a video playlist - a series of bizarre and obscure finds collected in a literal folder that the hosts opens up on stream. It's infrequent and unpredictable. You must catch it live, because there's VOD afterward. It's the last bit of underground there is - and it's on a platform owned by Amazon. Some of the dreamlike videos you may catch if you watch: Japanese flight simulator competitions from the 90's. "American Gladiator". Long-lost videos of backpack rappers dubbing kung fu videos. Commercials for Nintendo 64 games available at Toys'R'Us. Individual scenes from forgotten movies ripped from VHS. Footage of a terrible Fight Club video game no one remembers. Turn on notifications for this stream. It's worth it.
- The yellow vests and social media
How media today clouds a riot: more discussion of technology's blame than discussion of the rioters' actual political complaints.
- The next Netflix is a video game
Fortnie will continue to eat more and more precious hours of attention in the future. It was obvious this week when Epic announced a new feature called The Block with the instant classic tagline, "Become Fortnite Famous." It's a designated stage in game where players go to watch other players perform non-game related creativity. Fortnite is not a game, it's a media platform, always rolling out new content. What The Block does is to turn on a fountain of infinite new content, unleashing almost a hundred million creative minds and turning them into content creators for each other. Netflix pays billions for their content. Which would teens would rather watch?
- Reading leaked emails rules
Why is reading leaked emails so fascinating? After both the Sony hack and WIkileak's release of John Podesta's emails, I could not stop reading. It may be one of my favorite things to do in the world.
Unfortunately, I haven't had the time yet to dig into Facebook's parliamentary leak. Has any reader?
Links
“This Is Just So Sh**ty, We Gotta Watch”: The Beautiful, Inspirational Disaster of ‘Cabin Boy,’ 25 Years Later—How the film turned Chris Elliott and Adam Resnick into Hollywood pariahs … and comedy legendsThe Gatekeepers of SoundCloud Rap—Label execs have a "Pump Plan"The U.S. Army Has A New Plan To Recruit Gamers—The U.S. Army’s brand-new gamer recruitment initiative, Army EsportsLeonardo DiCaprio Is Apparently Obsessed With Buying Dinosaur Skulls—Real rich guy hours