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The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World - NYTimes.com

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The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World

JAN. 2, 2015

FutureTense
By TEDDY WAYNE

Incaseyoumissedit,theinitialsICYMIstandforthefirstfivewordsofthis
sentence.Intheeventyouhave,indeed,missedit(ITEYH,I,MIhasnot
takenoffyetforsomereason),itsmostlikelybecauseyourenotonthe
Internetmuch,particularlyTwitter,whereindividualsandoutletsdeployit
everyfewsecondstobringlinkstotheattentionofotherswhomaynot
haveseenthem.TheNewYorkTimesnowevenhasasectionatthebottom
ofitsappcalledInCaseYouMissedItwitharticlesfrompreviousdays.
Whiletheextendedphrasehasbeenusedinconversationforalong
time,theshorthandbetraysananxietycentraltotheInternetepoch.There
issimplytoomuchreadable,viewableandlistenabledataforanyonetostay
abreastof,asahumorpiece,ImAllCaughtUp!byNickMickowskiin
McSweeneys,playfullysuggested.
Ididit!Imcaughtup!Mr.Mickowskiwrote.Iexperiencedevery
show,movie,webisode,album,book,webcomic,podcast,videogame,
Twitterfeed,Tumblr,Instagram,RedditAMAandopedyouguyswere
tellingmeIhadtocheckout.NowwecantalkaboutthemandIwontfeel
likesuchanoutcastwhenwehangout.
Weusedtoreceivemediacyclically.Newspaperswerepublishedonce
(orsometimestwice)aday,magazinesweeklyormonthly.Nightlynews
wasbroadcast,well,eachnight.Televisionprogramswerebroadcastonone
ofthemajornetworksonenightaweekataspecifictime,nevertoreturn
untilarerunorsyndication.Movieswereshownfirstintheatersandon

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videomuchlater(or,beforetheadventofVCRs,notuntilarevival).There
werenotmanyinterstices,justdiscreteunitsandasmallernumberof
them.
Nowwereinthemidstofthestreamingera,whenthenewsindustry
distributesmaterialona24hourcycle,entireseasonsofTVshowsare
dumpedonviewersinstantaneously,mostmoviesareavailableatanytime
andtheflowoftheInternetandsocialmediaisceaseless.Wearenearlyall
interstitialspace,withcomparativelyfewsingularities.
Thecumulativeeffectisoverwhelmingforbothproducersofcontent
anditsconsumers.Thosewhoputoutwork,understandably,wanttomake
sureitsnotlostonwhateversiteishostingit,letaloneinthesocialmedia
blizzardofmustreadlinks,oneoffjokesandotherselfpromotion.When
thehomepageofawebsiterefresheseverycoupleofhours(orminutes),
therearentalotofconspicuouswaystoshowcaseoldermaterialexcept
throughthereferralsofTwitter,Facebookandthelike.
Yetitisthiseternalretrievabilityofanythingonlinethatpanicsus.
ElizabethMinkel,whohasamastersdegreeindigitalhumanitiesfrom
UniversityCollegeLondon,wroteanarticleforTheNewStatesmanin
whichshearguedthatICYMImakesstayingconnectedfeellikeaconstant
gameofcatchup,likefindingthingsataslowerpacewarrantssomekindof
disclaimer.
Ifitssomeoneelseswork,whydoyouneedtosayICYMIor
apologizebysaying,Sorry,thisisold?sheaskedinaninterview.Youre
rewardedforbeingfirst,notforbeingthemostexcitedaboutsomething.
(Ms.MinkelpointedoutthatpostsonTumblrhavefarlongershelflives
thanthosefromothersocialmedia.)
PreInternet,weacceptedthatmediahadamayflyslifespan:
Yesterdaysnewswasyesterdaysnews,andthatwasit.Ifyouwerethe
creatorofit,youmadepeacewiththenotionthatpeopleeithersawitor
didntwhenitappeared,andyoumovedon;therewasnoalternative.
Ifitlingeredinthepublicconsciousness,itwasbecauseofits
durability,notrepeatedreminders.Contenthadfiniteendingsanddeaths,
notasymptoticapproachesandlongtermvegetativestatesfromwhich
resuscitationisalwaysanoption.

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Consumershadtomakesimilarbargains:Ifyouwentoutona
Thursdaynightduringthe1990s,youmissedNBCsMustSeeTV
schedule(unlessyoutapedit)andunderstoodthatitwouldbeawhile
beforeyoucouldseeitagain.(Ithelped,too,thattherewaslessmedia
competitioninpreviousdecadesand,inthecaseofTV,thatdramaticseries
weregenerallylesscomplex,sothatmissinganepisodeofDynastymight
notsetyoubackasfarasskippingoneofBreakingBad.)
Now,withjustabouteveryairingofamuchgreaternumberofshows
obtainableatanymoment,thereisnoexcuseformissingoneand,
therefore,amoreurgentcompulsiontocatchup,incaseyoumissedit.
Today,boththeoutletsandtheindividualswhoareresponsibleforthe
workareawarethattheyhavealimitedwindowinwhichtheircontentcan
goviralandoutliveitsshortstayonahomepage.Whenitfailstodoso,as,
bydefinition,almosteverythingmust,itmayseemtothemlikea
dishearteningscreenageZenkoan:Ifanarticleaboutdeforestationis
publishedbutnooneclicksonit,diditactuallyexist?
HenceICYMI.Inanearliertime,thefullverbalformulationmeantthat
therecipientwassupposedtoseesomethingofacertaindegreeof
importance(anote,anemail),andthesenderwasgentlyremindingyouof
itsoversight.
Now,theveryshorteningofthephraseisabyproductand
acknowledgmentofthevelocityofinformationagainstwhichitsattached
linkisracing.Theimplicationisthatyouprobablyhavenotseenit,andits
notnecessarytoyourexistence,butthesenderwouldliketobringittoyour
attentionanyway,please.Itservesasacallofdesperationasmuchasan
announcement:Canyouhearmywhisperinthesehowlingwinds?Infact,
ICYMIisoftenusedasthesecondorthirdattempttolinktosomething
(whichsuggeststhecontentisnottakingofforganically)asameansof
excusingtherepetitivepromotion.
EventheTwitteraccountforPresidentObama,oneofthefewpeople
whocanassumethathisactionsarenevermissedbytheworld,
occasionallyusesICYMI,especiallytohighlightachievementstheWhite
Housemaythinkareundervaluedbythepublic,suchasjobgrowthandthe
AffordableCareAct.

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ElissaStrauss,acolumnistforTheWeek.comandafreelancerfora
numberofotherWebpublications,saidthatafinancialincentivealso
drivesInternetcontentcreatorswhoposttheirworkmultipletimes(she
saidshetypicallytripletweetseachofherarticles).
Theresacorrelationbetweenyourincomeandhowmanyclicksyou
get,Ms.Strausssaid.Thisisntjustamememe,attentiongrabbing
thing.ItshowImakealiving.InthearenaoftheInternet,youhavetobe
loudandkeeptryingandraisingyourhand.
Giventhenearinfiniteaccessibilityofdigitalmedia,itsuggeststhat
whatWalterBenjamincalledtheunique,mysticalauraofanobjectofart
inhisseminal1936essay,TheWorkofArtintheAgeofMechanical
Reproduction,greatlydiminishedbythereproductivetechnologiesofhis
time,iscompletelyeradicatedbyours.
Liveperformancesmaybethelastplacetolocateanysenseofaura.
Mr.Benjaminsawvariousreasonsforoptimisminthediminutionofthe
aura.Reproduction,heposited,couldemancipateusfromcultlike
reverencetowardartandmakeuskeener,morepoliticizedcritics.But
nowadaysitspasstonotethat,duringliveevents,peopleareoftenstaring
intotheirreproductionfriendlyphones,perhapsaredirectedformofritual
obeisance.
Atleasttheycanprobablyfindavideoorphoto(maybeonetheyshot
themselves)ofwhattheywereatlater,incasetheymissedit.

TeddyWayneistheauthorofthenovelsTheLoveSongof
JonnyValentineandKapitoil.FutureTenseappears
monthly.
A version of this article appears in print on January 4, 2015, on page ST2 of the New York edition
with the headline: Lest Any Bit of Data Pass You by.

2015 The New York Times Company

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