The world is one big reality TV show now. And we're all out of the loop | Sean Monahan

Aren't we all a bit fake these days, playing our small parts in the grand drama of life?

A meme page incredulously asks if the Travis Scott x McDonald's collab is real. True, the idea of McDonald's selling a Travis Scott-branded McNugget body pillow seems absurd. But ultimately it's not so much a glitch in the algorithm as a glitch in the simulation. There are so many scams and deepfakes floating in the feed. When you make a risque joke about period panties, Thinx replies. One subtweet and you've elicited the attention of a bored social media manager. They're desperate to loop you into a post-relevant conversation about a forgotten brand from 2015.

These little micro-viral moments remind you that no one is in The Loop any more. There are simply too many loops going on at once. You get this feeling most intensely when you're somewhere like Dimes Square in New York or Soma in San Francisco -hot little brand crucibles. You don't listen to X podcast?" You don't get ads from this brand?" The people that populate these little scenes are incredulous because you, a visitor, have, if only for a moment, popped their little reality distortion field.