Katherine Dee, aka
on Substack, makes an intriguing point about the internet. She says there are two internets: the normie internet—polished, algorithm-driven, and built for engagement—and the subterranean internet—hidden, messy, and guarded by people who don’t care about clout.She’s right. But here’s where it gets interesting: most of us don’t choose one or the other. We live in both. And even on the same platform, we play different roles. We’re enthusiastic participants in one corner, silent lurkers in another. One moment, we’re liking memes and commenting on TikToks. The next, we’re scrolling through a heated debate, watching but saying nothing, like wallflowers at a digital party.
And if we’re honest—and we should be—we’d admit this isn’t that different from the rest of life. Think about it: aren’t we all a little different depending on the room we’re in? At work, we present one version of ourselves. At home with family, another. With friends, we’re open, but with strangers, maybe guarded. We adapt, we shift, we wear masks—not out of deceit, but because that’s what life asks of us.
The internet just amplifies this. It gives us more rooms to enter, more roles to play. The normie internet pulls us into public performances, polished and digestible for the algorithm. The subterranean internet lets us retreat, to be quieter, rougher around the edges. And just like in life, we need both spaces—one to connect broadly, the other to feel seen more deeply.
So, do you really have to choose one internet over the other? I don’t think so. What matters isn’t which space you belong to but how you navigate them. Whether you’re chasing clout or blending into the background, the roles we play tell us something about who we are.
What about you? Do you find yourself thriving in one space and lurking in another? And how different are the roles you play online from the ones you play in life?
Let me know and check out more at jamesbrowntv.substack.com.
On that note, I’m James Brown, and as always, be well.
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