Hello reader! I just wanted to say that I’m sorry if the article is too long; there’s just a lot that I want to talk about. Sorry if my writing isn’t the best; it’s Tuesday, and I already feel like it’s been a long week. I’m sorry if you don’t like the introduction to this article… it was the first thing I could come up with.
As artists, we’re always apologizing to our future audience—preemptively accounting for negative comments. Just like the first few sentences of this article, internet artist Molly Soda explores this theme of apologizing in her video titled “My Apology,” a compilation of messages from other YouTube content creators. To Soda, the internet, and specifically social media, must be viewed as a whole. Everything around an actual video, from the comments to the suggested videos on the side, is an integral part of the YouTube experience. The way in which others interact, leaving their mark on a post, becomes part of the art piece.
To kick off the year, on January 23rd, 2025, Search Engines* hosted a talk/performance by Molly Soda, followed by a Q&A, titled “everything and nothing at the same time.” Soda’s title was inspired by her Myspace bio, which stated, “I want to tell you everything and nothing at the same time.” Virtual platforms like Myspace and Blogspot mark the beginnings of Soda’s internet journey. Soda then gained notoriety on Tumblr in the late 2000s and was first recognized for her college senior thesis, Tween Dreams. Since then, Soda has continued to express her creativity on platforms like YouTube and Instagram and recently showcased her talents beyond digital art with a play she wrote, titled Trivial Pursuit.
Listening to Soda’s talk, I found her to be incredibly personable. Her stage presence allowed a casual intimacy that I was drawn to. Even though she had no idea who I was, I had a feeling that we were friends. I think many of Soda’s fans are captured by her vulnerability, which is interwoven with relatability and humor. She’s quirky, but in a cool way; she’s analytical, but also, she’s “just here for the vibes.”
Ever since Soda was 14, she has made an effort to document and save everything. Although she is interested in the present moment, she also studies how trends change and adapt over time. What fads come back in style? How are things existing online in a state of decay? What was the most interesting thing happening 5, 10, or 20 years ago? How has our access to social media changed the ways that we incorporate technology into our lives?
When trends emerge on the internet, Soda likes to take her own spin on them, creating a version that may be considered “weird” or “wrong.” For Soda’s “what’s in my bag” video, she prints pictures of random objects that could be in her bag. Obviously, it’s so much easier to carry more items around by having pictures of them instead of the real objects, right? When lip-syncing to trending audio, Soda will give the video a funny title that relates to what most people are doing with the trend, such as her video “imagine i’m running through a parking lot.” Soda loves to take her own spin on modern-day trends and compare them to her early days as one of the first online content creators. By participating in these trends, she continues to play a role within the mass of internet users and creators. For Soda, her work as an individual artist is less important than noticing how she fits into the internet as a whole.
Recently, Soda has been working on “desktop diaries,” where she compiles everything saved on her desktop into a desktop dump and then wipes everything at the end of every month. She saves everything interesting and identifies as a “collector of trash,” because any random photo has the potential to be saved. Usually, a desktop is a very private collection; everyone has their own system and organization, but Soda breaks this norm by putting everything in a collage for the world to see.
Archiving everything is important. Files upon files, uploads, downloads, and physical copies to preserve and give life in the “real world.” Soda was always the “friend with the camera,” and this habit of capturing everything, both the important and the mundane, has become a lifelong project. Even if a webcam video or photo seems irrelevant to a project she’s working on, she saves it nonetheless because there’s always the possibility that it will become interesting later.
Although I personally shy away from saving every image that crosses my interest, like a juicy cheeseburger or a dancing angel PNG, I do relate to the desire and need for countless photos. Some of my friends will roll their eyes when I pull out my phone and say, “Guys, let’s take a picture!” But for me, their brief annoyance is always worth the beautiful collection of moments, scenes, and faces frozen in time. We’ll never be able to recreate every karaoke party driving in the car or every conversation over a hot cup of coffee, but I find joy in the lasting evidence of our smiles and contentment.
Soda is unashamed by her “internet hoarder” tendencies. Most of her files are backed up to multiple different places, stored on hard drives, or even printed into a physical form. The internet today is only possible by our collective contributions; every day, we generate an incomprehensible number of photos, uploads, and comments. It’s up to us how we interact with the sea of content available. What gets saved, and what gets lost in the abyss of family photos, famous quotes, and cat memes?
*Search Engines is a programming series housed within the DISCO Network that focuses on the intersection of art, technology, and justice. To learn more, check out our website
