I respect and appreciate the essayist's argument, but I think she might be stretching a bit in her interpretation of this subculture. I don't know anything about Furbies, but I still believe this sort of thing has less to do with anxiety related to robotics and more to do with the sorts of shenanigans people get up to on the internet. I went through a "Will It Blend?" phase a few years ago, so videos of electronics melting in the microwave or being crushed by industrial equipment don't phase me. I can understand that it's difficult to watch someone destroy an object you've formed an affective attachment to, but I get the feeling that this subculture is more playful than deliberately malicious.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2020-03-02 04:45 pm (UTC)I respect and appreciate the essayist's argument, but I think she might be stretching a bit in her interpretation of this subculture. I don't know anything about Furbies, but I still believe this sort of thing has less to do with anxiety related to robotics and more to do with the sorts of shenanigans people get up to on the internet. I went through a "Will It Blend?" phase a few years ago, so videos of electronics melting in the microwave or being crushed by industrial equipment don't phase me. I can understand that it's difficult to watch someone destroy an object you've formed an affective attachment to, but I get the feeling that this subculture is more playful than deliberately malicious.