The Internet is Over
It was fun while it lasted!
I’ve asked a dozen of my favorite people to submit theirs below. While I can’t endorse everything they’re advocating, I do agree with Rachel and Brent: Social Media and Content are OUT.
In fact, the internet itself is totally OUT.
Instead of a fertile ground of discovery, a place where niche communities could thrive, a playful resource for wasting time learning about new things, the internet is in its late stage where it has become nothing more than a service. It’s not something I desire anymore, the way I once desired to log on and DM my crush, read gossip, shop for vintage hair accessories, or post party pics. To me, the internet in 2025 felt like the postal service: Something I need to get emails, keep up with (horrific) news, and do my job. Merely a service, not a joy.
Getting offline has been branded as sentimental and nostalgic. It’s just not like that. Billions of dollars are being spent to keep you online, using apps and platforms that, through advanced data mining and AI automation, are becoming more successful at keeping you ensnared. Instagram used to be about looking cute, sending outfit pics, and stalking your crush. Now it’s about watching AI cat slop. TikTok used to be about learning witchcraft from a cool teen in the Midwest—now it’s about AI cat slop. Twitter (ugh X) used to be the best place to LOL after a haywire newsday, now it’s a right-wing hotbed of misinformation and also AI cat slop. All this slop—the Merriam-Webster word of the year—exists to keep the lowest common denominator of people addicted in this garbage K-hole. It’s so easy for corporations to game the internet, like a prize to be won, that even following the fight to have the highest time spent isn’t interesting anymore. The best way to be online is to be slop—meaning that many of our brightest, most creative, most provocative minds aren’t there now or will not be there for long.
Exposure to new people, places, things is one of the greatest joys—that at any moment a new person or idea can take hold of your life, change it, improve it, or break it. That’s the primary reason we are still posting cool shit on i-D’s social media and why I just post random cool people on my own IG: You deserve better than to find newness in slop. Find it in adventure, provocation, reaction, protest, sex. Mostly things better done offline—if you ask me.
Today, New Year’s Eve 2026, I’m vowing to get offline—no more streaming services (except Criterion, per Chris’ suggestion below), no more random scrolling, no more viral garbaggio. It is making me stupider—and you too, actually. I’ll remain on Substack because I like the community of readers and writers here that reminds me a lot of StumbleUpon, a website I frequented as a teen where I just wanted to see lots of COOL NEW STUFF.
OUT: Being online.
IN: Being along for the ride, beautiful little trinkets, hugging and smooching, buying too many zines, saying yes to schemes, mysteries, going to random (non blue-chip) gallery openings, folk art, sitting on the floor, being yourself and only yourself
And now… here’s what everybody else thinks.
Zoe Latta, founder Eckhaus Latta, brilliant mind behind Rotting On The Vine
IN: Walking pads, clutter, body hair, blue cheese
OUT: Mood boards, shopping guide, martinis, options
Rachel Seville Tashjian, CNN Style Correspondent, Opulent Tips founder
IN: Getting dressed as private performance art, taking in a beautiful vista, tartan, garments with a ton of buttons
OUT: “The discourse,” social media, quiet luxury (finally)
Emilia Petrarca, writer, Shop Rat founder
IN: Dressing how you want.
OUT: Describing a runway collection as “how women actually want to dress.”
IN: Fútbol
OUT: Football
IN: Desk clocks/pocket watches
OUT: Bag charms
Hunter Abrams, photographer
IN: Caring, eating without self judgement, sincerity, having love and openness in your heart, family style dining, Dutch still life paintings, shoes that don’t have me asking “how long can I last in these?”, music with lyrics played in a club before midnight filled with age appropriate single men who maybe wanna date me (this is highly unrealistic on account of the whole before midnight thing, but I figure I’d try laying the ground work here), Moroccan food, Christian Lacroix, microdosing maximalism, hiring and paying trans people, butter
OUT: Transphobia, not loving your life and doing nothing about it, situationships, credit card debt, thinking how many times I have to wear a quiet luxury cashmere sweater for its cost per wear to be worth it to me, telling someone something is a dinner but it’s really passed apps, being talked into going to another party when you’re ready to go home/having fun where you are, small plates that cost $40 for 4 bites of delicious food that I want way more than 4 bites of TO SHARE with 1-3 other people so I’m getting what? ONE BITE?!?!?!
Brent David Freaney, founder and art director, Special Offer
IN: Exercising, homemaking, solitude
OUT: Pop music (or any music with lyrics), content, new clothing, international travel, making decks, careerism, the structure of money, sexual identity, therapy
Quil Lemons, photographer
IN: Monogamy (radical, chic, stabilizing), Mona Tougaard (face card never declines), Gregg Araki (forever, obviously), actress Charli XCX (thespian era activated), Rapstress Trim, Thelma Golden’s Studio Museum, Bernard James, candy cigs from Korea, Commission NYC, Simone Rocha
OUT: situationships, The Party of Ostbahnhof (condolences), skinny jeans (let them rest), streetwear, vaping
Jeannie Sui Wonders, photographer
IN: Mystery, vintage fur, being a little bit twee, Equator Magazine, ’80s design
OUT: Hot takes, nihilism, optimization
Brenda, writer brendstack
IN: Politely (!!!!!!) telling the nail tech, hairdresser, etc. when you’re not happy while they can still turn the plane around; experiencing inconvenience in return for having community (pick up your friend from the airport); flip phones, phone-free weekends, app child locks, not owing a response after 6 p.m.; finding a trusted tailor and cobbler and fixing things instead of buying new; dog friendly anything (behaved dogs only); flossing (your teeth); the block button
OUT: Asking someone, or yourself, how much protein is in something; avoiding politics at the dinner table (let’s have it!!!!); ghosting your therapist; red carpet reviews; capsule wardrobe; brand dinners; net90
Nellie Eden, beauty editor
IN: Smoking, crying, pale pink lipstick, pigtails, old school nail polish, being polite, big knickers, heels, being honest, ladybirds, taking the tube, clip-on earrings, “riddle me this,” blotting paper, tomfoolery, not being nonchalant, blurred lips, two belts/ big belts, taking notes, lace
OUT: Nostalgia, straight teeth, Reels, snootiness, foundation, taking stuff personally, barrel jeans (please), The Row, sharing plates, celebrities wearing archival looks, other people’s children, slicked back hair, over-lining lips, checking your phone at dinner, trainers, “It’s giving,” the 2000s, “the intersection of art and technology”
Jackson Bowley, photographer
IN: Pots of tea, cat AI feature-length films, flaming Sambuca, telephoto lenses, Dance Dance Revolution as a hobby, scratch cards
OUT: Biting your tongue (figuratively), having Popeyes more than twice a week, side hustle/multi-hyphenate creatives, ADHD, on-camera flash
Chris Gayomali, writer, founder HEAVIES
IN: Tai chi and Qigong, creatine, genderless swole, temporary third spaces, zero-drop shoes—basically a continuation of the Prada collapse sneakers all the other brands copied, boxing, specifically working with a trainer and hitting mitts, 432Hz, long stretches of not being productive just because, micro dramas
OUT: Lymphatic drainage, clothes made of synthetic fibers (lots of chemicals, high in microplastics that come out in the wash), scrolling (embarrassing), plant-based protein powders (high concentrations of heavy metals), masculinity crisis, martinis, corporate gooning, more than 1 post from your vacation, streaming platforms except maybe Criterion, chic
Franziska Bachofen-Echt, casting director
IN: Cathy Horyn, NYC, Cherry Lane Theater, Oh, Mary!
OUT: Chanel
Courtney Wittich, founder S.P.A.
IN: Shitposting on LinkedIn; glass bottle Cokes and full fat beverages; a daily bath; kooky themed weddings; millennial positivity; voice and sound therapies; goat wool socks; trinket home decor; sauna, bathing, and astronomy meetup clubs; buying clothes from independent designers directly, underproduction and limited run products, calisthenics and aerobics, affiliates for the people, strong arms (Madonna style); wave pools, gourmet water pairings, toe shoes and water shoes, wordplay and puns, hyperspecific peptide stacks, mood lights à la Rich Aybar, being comfortable with nonsexual nudity so we can all have realistic aging expectations; eating right for your blood type; weird hyper obsessions for 3-6 months at a time; universal human code of etiquette resurgence (travel especially); magic shows; slow travel; co-op grocery stores; healthy hedonism; mass hysteria
OUT: Anything “chic,” infrared sauna, run clubs, vaping, Ozempic face, aluminum furniture, orchestrated snooze fest brand events with the same 3 food installations, Gen Z brazenness, TikTok Dancing, electrolyte packets, puppy yoga, oversharing too soon, trad wife aspirations, Met gala, performative dinner parties, gourmet grocery stores, collaboration extravaganza, the U.S. political system, cool girl gift guides, wearing synthetics while you sweat, loud Euro summer, country club kid activities, stock photos, stand up comedy
Julia Silverman, PhD Candidate, my best friend from middle school & high school
IN: Duck decoys, hair forks (out: claw clips), making low-stakes bets with your friends, saying good morning to your neighbors, vegan chicken, blunt bangs on men (out: mullets), road trips, being (strictly platonic!!!) friends with your exes, beignets, esp. filled w. Jelly, coffee drinks that mix espresso with tea (out: excessive flavoring/sweetener), refusing to monetize your hobbies, digital cameras that are not your phone, being a little bit petty, finding enjoyment in things you’re not “good” at, Midwest emo, handmade carabiners (especially enamelled ones), moving to the woods never to be seen or heard from again, Florida (aesthetics, not politics), “nonnies” which is what I call nonalcoholic beers, bathtime, finishing what you started (note to self: dissertation), tube socks as merch (out: tote bags, dad caps), appropriating bro culture (watching sports, beer pong, not the toxic parts, just the fun parts)
OUT: Fake freckles, Babaa sweater obsessions, being obsessed w politicians’ non-politician family members, booktok, gotcha activism, 99% of vintage resellers AND the discourse about how vintage reselling is “real work,” Harvard emailing me about my “outstanding balance,” maximalist skincare routines, claiming to be shadowbanned on social media, self-diagnosing personality disorders, referring to anything as “the viral x,” posting yourself bouldering/climbing, ironic bumper stickers (sorry, I like them too), double knee pants (will still wear, don’t care), saying it’s not a thing while simultaneously making it a thing, Phoebe Bridgers and sad girl indie, this one is kind of a rant but selling low-effort pieces at makers’ markets: like pottery with sharp edges or too thick walls or those U-shape earrings that are just a piece of bent wire. Like, have respect for your art, and stop pandering to the lowest common denominator, ok!
Ariella Starkman, founder Starkman Associates
IN: Actually taking your supplements, expressing gratitude silently AND vocally, regularly, traveling places you’ve never been, spending more time with your parents if they are alive, not flaking, calling people out over email, developing a personal style like your life depends on it (it does TBH), not taking everything so seriously, weekends with no plans, Emily Sundberg, romance and vulnerability, eating out alone in public, spending bans, therapy (no matter the location), crying in public, believing in a God of your understanding
OUT: Taking the high road, mean girls, needing to be camera on as a sign of “something,” opening an agency when you cannot afford to pay your artists (aka stealing from them), CHAMPAGNE! TOWERS! (ENOUGH!!!!!!!), betrayal, holding onto clothes that don’t fit, closet sales (regretfully), leading people on (professionally or personally), staying in situations that don’t make you happy! (at least 85% of the time!), believing in “The One,” going to LA for fun, making fake plans (you will never meet for coffee and that’s OK), grazing tables that are full of inedible food (what am I supposed to do with a whole cantaloupe??)
I can definitely get on board with this. More visits to the museum and seeing weird art! Now!
The Internet will never be out.
We're still all going to be on the Internet. And this whole fake idea of “offline” is the new cool is actually part of the problem. People need to stop looking for cool and just start being it