Introducing Posting Nexus’ "Halftime" — the Best Data, Arguments, and Stories of the Week
This Week’s Thesis: Intention, Not Distraction
A Quick Introduction (or reintroduction)
At the end of last year, I announced that I was going to try and publish Posting Nexus twice a week: one essay (as usual) and one links round-up. This is the second post.
Unlike the essays, which are sometimes dense and long, the goal of Posting Nexus’ Halftime is to run through a series of quick links to stories, charts, essays, and arguments that I’ve found particularly interesting over the course of the week. It’ll start with data — always — and then move into three important arguments about the three cornerstones of Posting Nexus: attention, identity, and platform. We’ll then run through seven must-read stories of the week, with the goal of hopefully introducing readers to other Substackers (or bloggers in general), and then three “fun” stories that can offer a quick reprieve from the violence of the world. That last section will end on four recommendations — a movie, podcast, book, and TV show.
Finally, Posting Nexus’ Halftime will introduce one quick “big thought” that I have about random things. I’m hopeful that it’ll be a fun way to get to know me a little more. This week’s, for example, is all about my intentions to sit with more physical media in 2025 and not just mindlessly browse apps designed for browsing mindlessly. Browsing is great — until it’s not.
I’d like to try and publish Halftime on Thursdays, but there’s a chance it could change. Everything is an experiment. This is one of the more fun ones. Today’s is going out on a Friday because it’s a weird week.
As always, thank you for reading Posting Nexus. This little blog means the world to me, and I love feeling like you and I have some kind of connection over the shared stories we read. In this world, those little bits of connective tissue to strangers around the world help to heal the thousand digital paper cuts we face every day.
-julia
Fun with Data
Our annual recap of the 100 most watched broadcasts reaffirm that people fucking love football…and Young Sheldon (Variety)
Neil Paine has a great chart illustrating my number one frustration with the NBA right now: stop taking so many three-point shots (Neil Paine)
Understanding the Internet in Three Posts
Identity — Elon Musk riles up Trump’s far-right base by praising immigrants (The Verge)
Platform — PornHub is now blocked in almost all of the U.S. South (404 Media)
Seven Must Reads of the Week
YouTube is Testing a “Play Something” Feature (9to5 Google)
Casey Lewis breaks down the most popular things Gen Z wants, as defined by Christmas gift hauls on TikTok (After School)
Wattpad continues to be a force in young adult film (Vulture)
Bonus: I wrote about Wattpad’s Hollywood desires four years ago over at The Verge → “From Fanfiction to Netflix”
Marvel Rivals is having a banger year in what appears to be a huge win for NetEast, Disney, and mobile gaming (Bloomberg)
One Kind of American Dream: The Year in Hawk Tuah and Crypto Memecoin (The Ringer)
CNBC+ will try to hook the Robinhood generation with a $15 per month subscription streaming service (Variety)
Why Red One is Still Another Big Miss for Dwayne Johnson (The Outside Scoop)
A Few Fun Stories to Lighten the Mood
Funny One — The fight over cellphones in theaters is sparking up again because of the Alamo Drafthouse’s Instagram page (Alamo Drafthouse/Reddit)
Prediction: this will be a never ending story this year as theatricality continues to “return” but in a way that some theatergoers may find obnoxious. I wrote about new incentives for theater going audiences last year.
Endearing One — Disney’s The Skeleton Dance has entered the public domain! (Internet Archive)
For Your Consideration
Movie — The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
TV show — Squid Game 2 (obviously)
Podcast — Plain English: The Productivity Paradox
Book — The Twenty Days of Turin
A Halftime Thesis
Spend More Time with Physical Media in 2024
I’m not one for resolutions. I do, however, like the idea of focusing on interests that I want to make more of an effort to dig into. In 2025, that’s becoming more intentional with where I give my attention, and slowing down to experience actual immersion rather than overwhelming my senses with an abundance of distractions. Less TikTok, more books or articles. Less background TV, more purposeful time with engaging entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with background TV, of course. My partner and I have Law and Order: SVU on in the apartment all the time, and I love a lazy Sunday afternoon with reruns of any Real Housewives playing on Bravo.
None of these activities, these hours that I choose to give my attention to, however, leaves me ever feeling fulfilled. Perhaps it’s pretentious. It probably is, but I miss the way that I feel when I give my attention to a physical book, something that I can hold and catch the soft waft of as I flip through the pages. I miss director commentary tracks on movies, or even just the act of selecting a Blu-ray to watch, the process of browsing creating an undeniable attachment to whatever is selected, a level of care that isn’t as strong when sifting through digital rows on streaming services. Recognizing that the size of New York City apartments and the cost of physical goods means I won’t buy a new Blu-ray each week or only watch something that I own, streaming services will still have their place — but I want to go in as intentional with my time as possible, not giving into the frustration of not being able to find something and throwing another thing on in the background just to have something to stare at before bed.
Books are easier. I’ve reconnected with a lost friend, the library, and now find myself looking for reasons to head to the biggest one near me to spend time gliding my fingers over the spines of books that promise fantastic stories and depths of knowledge I can’t ever fully grasp. I find myself looking forward to spending more time on my favorite forest green chair in my living room, my legs tucked under me in wooly socks, the sound of the spine cracking with every new hand position that’s something akin to literary ASMR. I’m reading more than I have in the last few years, I’m spending less (always good), and I’m finding myself more satisfied with my time when I reflect on the day.
I don’t want to hack a daily grind; I want to ground myself and feel the flow of thought to pen
Even writing. I took to journaling in 2024, using a daily planner, drawing out monthly calendars for Posting Nexus’ schedule, jotting down outlines for projects, and even using smaller notebooks to track health concerns, like blood pressure. There are apps for all of these things, of course. Like movies and books though I find myself forgetting to use these apps or I find myself not holding myself accountable as much, or I find it plain unenjoyable. I don’t want to hack a daily grind; I want to ground myself and feel the flow of thought to pen.
That’s my big recommendation of 2025: spend more time away from your phone, but not ignoring your device. Spend more time away from screens in order to better enjoy the time you give to screens. Reconnect with the feeling of something physical in your hand, in giving your attention over fully to an hour that will make you feel satisfied instead of feeling distracted. Our attention is the most valuable currency we have. There is a time and place for social media. I’m not planning on giving up TikTok or Instagram entirely. But I want to find ways to continue grounding myself more with physical items that bring a semblance of peace, joy, and reset. That reprieve will go much further months from now than another hour on your phone.