I remembered reading that they were making sausages out of fish, and fish, no doubt, out of something different. It gave me the feeling that I’d bitten into the modern world and discovered what it was really made of.”
This passage from George Orwell’s 1939 novel Coming Up for Air has become a haunting metaphor. It describes this glittery, fast-moving age we find ourselves racing to embrace and understand.
First published just before World War II and the creation of the atomic bomb, Orwell’s novel captured the fear and fragility of a world on the edge of change. It is a feeling that still lingers in 2025.
From War to Wi-Fi: The unease of progress
More than eight decades later, the unease and paranoia Orwell wrote about have evolved into something else. It has become a fear born from technological and industrial innovation.
After surviving the Covid-19 pandemic, we emerged into a world reshaped by digital transformation. Hybrid work became the norm, governments faced new distrust, and theatres and record stores faded away. Meanwhile, podcasts, YouTube, and streaming platforms took centre stage.
We saw YouTube become the new television. Now we are bombarded with unskippable ads and more spam calls than ever before.
Cooped up in our homes, we turned to screens for comfort and connection. These videos and social feeds became our escape from an uncertain reality.
The rise of aesthetic culture
We are now living through what might be called the golden age of technology, an era defined by speed, data, and aesthetics.
On Instagram, the obsession with appearing stylish or “curated” has turned authenticity into performance.
A photograph that once captured a fleeting moment is now filtered, polished, and staged to fit an online ideal of perfection.
From Journalism to algorithms
In Orwell’s day, reporters and radio were the primary sources of information. Facts were verified before publication.
Today, social media platforms such as TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook spread breaking news and graphic content at lightning speed. This often happens without verification or ethical consideration.
A violent video can be shared and reshared thousands of times before anyone confirms whether it truly happened or if the footage is appropriate for public viewing.
Worse still, when a young person lingers on one such video, algorithms ensure they see more of the same. This shapes their perception of the world through trauma and desensitisation.
It is as if social media has become a colourful zoo, where users gawk at chaos and pain yet cannot look away. Many become numb and overstimulated.
Fast Food News, Fast Food Truth
Like fast food, online information is designed for speed and gratification.
We want our news, our opinions, and our outrage served instantly , cheap and digestible.
And when truth takes too long, we grow impatient.
We must remember that convenience often comes at the cost of integrity.
Just as we rarely question what is in our burger, we seldom question what is in the information we consume.
The challenge for journalists , and citizens , is to remain vigilant. We must distinguish between truth and the lies being packaged, marketed, and sold to us as fact.
