[qiskit]

> There's such a low cost of entry on most forms of digital media / art now that more people than ever just seem to be copying what's popular and adding to the non-stop barrage of beige unoriginality.

There is low cost of entry, but all major platforms appeared to be manned by the same types of people. Who cares if it is easy to produce content when the censors demand conformity.

Consolidation/monopolization/globalism/etc has led to homogenization not just in the virtual world, but in the real world. All the cities in the world look alike. All the homes look alike. Everyone learns english and studies the same things. I watched a youtube vlog of the effects of sanctions on russia. A russian couple takes you to a russian mall and it's pretty much the exact same thing you'd find in any mall in the US. It's not like that just in russia but everywhere in the world. Why does burger king exist in japan, starbucks in france and mcdonalds in russia? The worst in many ways is china which mindlessly copied everything we did.

There was a time where I supported it for selfish reasons. If everyone spoke english and had american stores, it'd be easy for me as a visitor. And it was. But now, I find it pathetic and sad. Sadly, the homogenization will only accelerate as globalism gets even more entrenched.

[randcraw]

A "low cost of entry" for creating new content ignores the "high cost of entry" to distribute it. To actually get eyeballs/ears, new media must somehow get noticed. That used to be done through the sponsorship of mainstream outlets like movie theaters, AM/FM radio and TV stations, etc. But the revenue of all of these has diminished greatly since the birth of WWW, making it ever harder to monetize new content, especially if its small niche isn't recognizable and thus promotable by moneyed distributors and advertisers. Successful art needs access to eyeballs, and before that can happen, it needs nontrivial promotion. While studio time may be dirt cheap today, it's the distribution that continues to be the rate limiter in selling your masterwork and making a living doing it.

[jgod]

The irony of the push for "diversity" everywhere is that it all gets averaged together over time, becoming more homogeneous. To increase diversity, you need zones of heterogeneity that express wider differences.

[ishjoh]

I think you've put your finger on something I've been thinking about for a while.

Why should I travel anywhere if everywhere looks the same as the place I left.