one of the worst things to happen to culture is being able to buy tickets to things, online. it has completely changed people's relationship to public spaces, making them into little more than extensions of our individually curated, highly convenient realities. - ThreadSky

coreyatad.com • 11 days ago

one of the worst things to happen to culture is being able to buy tickets to things, online. it has completely changed people's relationship to public spaces, making them into little more than extensions of our individually curated, highly convenient realities.

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shawnmicallef.bsky.social•11 days ago

You want to camp outside the Long & McQuade in Windsor to get a wristband in order to get a ticket to see Madonna's Blond Ambition tour?

coreyatad.com•11 days ago

you know what... yeah

shawnmicallef.bsky.social•11 days ago

I do sorta think about this whenever I see a box office w somebody in at like 2 in the afternoon. The Royal Conservatory, opera house etc - always a tinge of nostalgia.

coreyatad.com•11 days ago

was just checking seat selections online for a movie to see what was available, and then i thought, "You know, in the past, I would have just rolled up, and maybe got in, or if not, I'd have just seen something else." less convenient, but better for society.

tigerpournelle.bsky.social•10 days ago

And what did you think rural people were doing, besides not getting to go to those things.

coreyatad.com•10 days ago

same thing people in the suburbs did, call the box office or buy tickets at the local record store

ihavethatonvinyl.com•11 days ago

i miss waiting in line at the box office or record world or tower. i made tons of friends that way. it always felt like a big party

deadheadlawyer.bsky.social•8 days ago

Anyone who was, as I was, one of the people waiting in line overnight for Grateful Dead tickets two months before the shows at Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan, knows EXACTLY what you're talking about. 😉

hiiiikat.bsky.social•11 days ago

when i was bitching about ticket app fees recently someone tried to tell me that it's impossible to sell paper tickets in today's world, as if i didn't specifically go to a record shop to buy some tix just before the pandemic. this isn't a 'let's get you to bed grandma' situation lol, like what.

heydavidbailey.bsky.social•11 days ago

There’s a collective of venues in Portland that let you buy tickets at a kiosk with just a $1 service fee (compared to $5-10 fees for online tickets). Plus you get a little paper souvenir record of the show! 🎫🎟

paraqueer.bsky.social•10 days ago

This is why I try to avoid buying tickets online unless I know the event is gonna sell out. That and the smaller venues tend to appreciate it when you pay in cash.

arkymorgan.bsky.social•11 days ago

Fave memory of being 15 and camping out for 3 nights to get Rolling Stones tix. Along with so many other kids...like a nonstop party with about 1500 of my closest friends.

(And my dad dropping off coffee every morning on his way to work.)

wesheywes.bsky.social•11 days ago

I’d love to see an artist do a 48 hour, venue only sale before opening up online sales.

fedbook.bsky.social•11 days ago

Yeah man I want a 24/7 thunderdome rave fest, free to public and $1 beer

epvh.bsky.social•11 days ago

The ‘individually curated’ experience is tearing us apart. There is an effectively infinite amount of content targeted so narrowly that there is no common experience anymore. There is no common experience to relate to your neighbors anymore. Everyone experiences their individual world.

coreyatad.com•11 days ago

funny thing is, people do crave the other way, which you see in every city where people will stand in long lines for some pop-up. people do actually *want* to have to go out and experience the world on terms other than their own.

lmday95.bsky.social•11 days ago

A few years ago Nine Inch Nails did in person tickets to avoid Ticketmaster scalpers, and while my dad and I may have been mildly annoyed at first, I still remember that experience. Like, everyone there is there for the same artist, it’s an easy in to conversation.

coreyatad.com•11 days ago

the secret, of course, is nothing online is happening on our terms anyway, we traded that all away for pure convenience. and half the time the convenience is annoyingly implemented.

heydavidbailey.bsky.social•11 days ago

And has lots of “convenience fees”

legalizenc2025.bsky.social•10 days ago

There’s also a different feeling you get enjoying a show you waited 2 days in line sleeping in a tent outside of a ticket booth window to get decent seats before it sold out

ghaslerecho.bsky.social•11 days ago

curious what made u say this, i view buying tickets online as better in every way (but it’s also all I’ve ever rly known)

Worst things to happen to culture seems a bit harsh tho.

hiiiikat.bsky.social•11 days ago

i miss buying paper tickets in person bc it was a reason to stop into the good record shop, and the tiny $2 fee helped the good shop continue to exist vs $15 to ghouls like ticketmaster. i'd talk to the girl working, hear what they were playing, many good opportunities for serendipity vs online.

coreyatad.com•11 days ago

it’s more convenient in most ways, but as i said, that makes public experiences into mere extensions of a personally curated life of convenience, rather than actually allowing the world we interact with to affect us in turn

ghaslerecho.bsky.social•11 days ago

I think i see what ur saying. But couldn’t you say me buying a ticket on my computer is me “interacting with the world” even if im not getting a physical ticket from a human. Also how is this diff than like Amazon or food delivery, are you against those as well?

coreyatad.com•11 days ago

buying a ticket online is not “interacting with the world” in any meaningful sense of the word. it’s systems designed specifically so you have to interact with the world as little as possible. when we’re talking about culture, which is literally about engaging with the world, it’s antithetical.

coreyatad.com•11 days ago

delivery, meanwhile, has always existed. the problems with Amazon are more to do with monopolistic practices. plenty of smaller shops rely quite a bit on delivery for sales. that’s great. it can certainly contribute to vibrant, diversified communities.

chrissteller.bsky.social•11 days ago

https://bsky.app/profile/chrissteller.bsky.social/post/3llhtmlutkc24

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