And I wanna thank you (Dido voice)
Spice World tradition, Chrismukkah rewatch, digital data & memories 🎄
Welcome to the 52nd and last Nicstalgia newsletter of 2024! 🎁 I was typing “Thursday morning” in a text yesterday and gasped when I realized it was, in fact, Thursday morning! Not only had I forgotten to send this letter, I’d forgotten to write it entirely (despite getting asked about it at Christmas dinner!) I completely suspended belief in a linear time construct so I could drink an iced gingerbread latte, eat Italian anisette cookies, and engage in my favorite Boxing Day tradition: rewatching Spice World. What a life!
Also rewatched The OC’s season 1 Chrismukkah episode, where Seth Cohen is Peak Annoying. While there is truly not a dull moment in this episode, there unfortunately is no TW for Ol*ver’s first appearance. I will power through to the New Year’s episode because although Ryan and Marissa are a terrible couple and quite literally repeat patterns of their respective generational traumas, the slow motion scene still makes me believe in love. “Roll The Dice” is perfect. [Music supervisor] Alexandra Patsavas remains my idol. Yes I am teaching a ‘Welcome to The OC’-themed fitness class this week to commemorate the occasion.
✍️ Thank you, dear readers!!!!!!!
First and foremost, thank YOU for reading this letter week over week. It’s been a true pleasure hearing about how Nicstalgia has continuously encouraged people in my world to be curious, think deep, and add fun, whimsy, joy, and play their lives! You enjoyed my seasonal bucket lists, ongoing creative projects (Physical Media Renaissance, My Digital Archiving Project), and cultural theories (The Chasm, Paintball Theory). My readers really care about substance!!! In a sea of internet slop and incessant content churn, that is very nice to be reminded of.
I would especially like to thank my paid subscribers, Janine, Marie, Liv, Mitra, CY, Chet, and Jack. Your belief in me means the world!!!!!!!! 💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓💓
To celebrate 52 issues in 2024, I’m running a NEW YEAR NEW YOU special. Enjoy 24% off an annual Nicstalgia subscription! (Or you can still pay full price, I would never deny you that opportunity.)
The last 3 years, I’ve averaged 31 Nicstalgia newsletters (27 in 2022, 16 in 2023, and 52 in 2024). With the discount, that’s $1.43 per issue. (143!!!! <3) Hurry up and press the button. Offer expires on 1/4/25.
📺 Here’s what you missed on Glee The Nicole Show
Most of last week’s edition got cut off, so you need to click on ‘Read More’ or whatever it says at the bottom of your email. Didn’t realize how much valuable real estate the Substack links take up, so going forward, I’ll be formatting them differently.
In case you missed the December issues: You got me feeling emotions, My 50th newsletter of 2024!, and The internet is reality; technology killed reality.
💻 Digital data and the memories they carry
My Digital Archiving Project (MDAP) was inspired by my fascination with digital media ephemerality and its impact on memory. The first phase in MDAP was retrieving data from my social media accounts. Downloading my Xanga blog archive from 2004-2007 was a delightful and nostalgic experience, so I decided to dig into Facebook and Instagram next. I had to pause the project before moving onto the second phase, data cleanup, because of what I found.
Do we remember moments more or less vividly if we do or don’t memorialize them? Do we recall the past more fondly because of a lack of photographic evidence? Do tangible physical photos leave a greater emotional impact than digital photos or social media posts? When the mundane minutiae of our day-to-day life is captured on-camera, do our milestones occupying the same digital space hold the same resonance? How do we decide what files to keep, what to get rid of, and how to curate remembrance and reverence in the digital age?
Does easy accessibility and lack of friction make it less special? There’s no cleanup crew, à la Inside Out. How does this affect our mental processing? Are we allowed to forget? Don’t we have a right to forget? I’m constantly asking myself questions about data and the memories they carry. So does my friend
, who has also dug into their archives with mixed emotions. I’m excited to be included in Adryan’s latest, How our social media data tells stories:Friend of Adryan's POV, Nicole Tremaglio of Nicstalgia, has her own Digital Archiving Project, inspired by her fascination with digital media and its impact on memory. While began by retrieving data from her various social media accounts, she has since paused on the project because of the emotions the process evoked:
“I was so emotionally overwhelmed by my discovery. I'd found many videos of myself and my friends, from when leaving Photo Booth videos on each others’ Facebook walls was the norm. There was one video in particular that left me completely brokenhearted. I spoke to a group of my friends (perhaps in a private group) in a hushed whisper, and my sadness was palpable. I'd deleted probably 99% of my photos from that time long ago, trying to erase my memories of that dark time. I felt embarrassed having my rock bottom documented at all, let alone publicly.”
Social media data tells stories. Though our data harnesses storytelling, it's mediated on digital platforms created and moderated by for-profit tech corporations. Growing up as a millennial, it was common to hear that the internet was a place of permanence: “What your post online is forever.” As these corporations dominate the digital media ecosystem, Tremaglio and I agree that couldn't be farther from the truth today.
“Now, though I know that sentiment [of 'what you post online is forever'] to be false, there are still some things I'd rather forget,” Tremaglio added. “Will social media let me?”
🦋 Social butterfly
Newsletter ☆ Instagram ⟡ Website ♡ Podcast ☆ Fitness Schedule ⟡
Love our collabs!