original description:
"The idea of the lovers who meet on a forum, with their in-person marriage as culmination, perhaps emerged on Usenet forms around 2001, maybe even earlier - I will not claim to be an expert. At any rate, though, it's now the tarot card read out to every LDR, as we have since come to call them, read out for better or worse. Digital authenticity and inauthenticity balance each other out in the ideal long-distance; since the only dating sites actively promoting long-distance love are outright scams, introductions and identity verifications happen in the darkest corners, even if things play out ordinarily in the digital public. We prove we are real to one another with each use of characteristic phraseologies, building trust over courses of computer mediation. Everything ideally feels correct, provided the setup isn't exploitative and all things are said out loud - in those characteristic ways. However, there is no safety except in total verification: every unknown is a dark potential, and many of us suppose that there is likewise potential for communication services to have seen everything, sold you products based on how you cyber or whatever, but in reality, the greatest risk is things ending."
originally released on Next Year's Snow (NYS#161) 2024.01.04
nextyearssnow.bandcamp.com/album/i-will-never-understand-you
re-released on this page 2024.01.06