divination__

These are really interesting observations! I do disagree with some people saying clothes - a garish balenciaga piece can be found in TK Maxx for a discount price but a good quality, logo-less jumper from the carrier company can be eyewateringly expensive.  I think generally though most of these examples are not cheaper - I think one of the poshest cars is a beaten up Land Rover defender but they’re so hard to come by now that they are extortionately expensive. An aga is expensive too. I think it’s more a case of “the more obviously expensive, the more common”. I would say a lot of personal grooming for women falls into this category, e.g hair extensions, any sort of “tweakments” like Botox and fillers etc. not that posh women don’t get any work done, they will go somewhere more expensive and subtle, but I think being seen to have done it would be seen as mortifying.

That’s a good idea, I didn’t know you could get kindle vouchers!

Yeah I bought him tickets to the Russian banya last Christmas and I don’t think he’s used them at all! He’s defo not an experiences sort of man unfortunately 

That’s such a good idea, thank you 

I actually thing it's a legacy of British landowning, aristocracy, and the class system. Most wealthy people come from family wealth (true across the whole world, no matter what people say). The UK is ancient with a rigid class system still based on old perceptions of what is "u"/"non-u". The poshest you can be is landed gentry, aka an aristocrat with their own estate. All the aesthetics associated with that is what is posh – living in the countryside in a crumbling big home is one of those things. Those who make their money still want to fit in with the upper echelons of british society, which means adopting this lifestyle and aesthetic. This arbitrary show of class is legacy was wiped out of Eastern Europe in the 20th century (speaking as an Eastern European immigrant myself) so I can understand how confounding this is. It is seen as quite "nouveau" to live in the city, though most wealthy people will have a flat in London anyway. Also, tbh, the British countryside CAN be so beautiful and nice. The small villages usually have the aesthetic but all the luxuries of the big city – like Haslemere in Surrey is probably like 40 mins on a train to Central London and has a Pilates studio and a Space NK. The UK is so small that living in the countryside idoesn't mean being isolated, as it would in bigger countries.

I tend to engage with a lot of longer form, “talking to camera” content on the app which I enjoy but an endless feed of unknown faces and voices telling stories ends up feeling over-stimulating to me, especially as they often speak very fast. I’m also bilingual and my feed switches languages which adds to it. I know it’s how I curated my own feed and I do enjoy it but it can just get overwhelming and why I only have tiktok on an iPad to enjoy occasionally and more intentionally and not just open on my phone whenever I’m bored. 

eBay is the only place to go - one time we sold an old coat hanger on Facebook marketplace and the guy turned up and conveniently only had £10 instead of the agreed £12 on him. We let him take it for the tenner but it’s so unpleasant to be scammed out of even £2! 

Yes and the engagement bait “what would you do in this situation” type tweets. I could feel actual braincells dying using that app 

No need to be rude

Yes I know! Generally I am genuinely interested in the topic being discussed, I just don’t always want to commit to a 30-40min video.

I like YouTube but I’m only ever fed video essays on there that I’m not always in the mood for. I miss the days of tumblr where you could just scroll visual images with little commentary or discussions. I think what I am missing is visual inspiration and still images. Instagram used to provide that before the massive push to video. 

Yeah I think checking any of them is just a tick or a habit rather than any true desire. Kind of crazy that the apps are so bad now they’re forcing me, a chronically online person, to break my addiction 

There was a time when Facebook was my main source of music because my friends would regularly post niche YouTube videos of songs they liked! Crazy to even think of now!

Tbh the only reason I still have Facebook is for marketplace and even that is a Wild West in its own category. None of my friends use it anymore so my feed is entirely ads and posts from people I don’t know and groups I’m not part of. I do agree that Reddit feels like one of the last remnants of an “old internet”

My problem is they feed me the SAME content. I like one picture of a cake on Pinterest, here’s 80 pictures of ai generated cakes because all my former interests are disregarded. If I look at one orzo recipe video on Instagram, all I’m interested in cooking is orzo. Twitter is more diverse but the format is just only good in small amounts.