I subscribe and listen to this podcast and a few others in the category in order to stay up on social media culture because I for the most part do not partake. I think that when creators decide to start a podcast, the implication is that they think they have something to say and that the potential audience could benefit and learn from listening. I recently turned an episode of “10k” off in a rage, admittedly, because Phoebe was saying the word “like” after every word. If you care to get your opinion across to the audience, assume the best, which is that your audience is listening and engaged. When the diction devolves in such a way, it should perhaps be edited out of the podcast altogether. The words one uses are reflective directly of the thoughts one is having, so when I hear this coming from my speaker it sends the message that there are no more thoughts being had. One must practice both speaking and, most critically, thinking, before presuming that others should listen to one in order to avoid disrespecting one’s audience. I am grateful for the time and energy these and other podcasters put into thinking about popular internet culture and discussing it on podcasts because I (as a historian) spend most of my time engaging in other forms/ mediums and I prefer to hear about the internet through secondary sources. But Phoebe’s bored, self-satisfied, and intellectually lazy ethos (conveyed through her rhetoric) which I am criticizing does not qualify as criticism; I could just go to the internet myself if I wanted to feel so frustrated at the level of discussion.
