Life on the leaderboard

Perfection has never felt more achievable. I’ve never felt worse.

Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.

If you enjoy this post, please like it so I know exactly how to feel about it. —Kate

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A Greta Thunberg joke on a recent episode of Emergency Intercom may have ended up alienating their entire fanbase:

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There’s nothing I think about more than what other people might be thinking about me. I replay every social interaction, rewatch my own Instagram Stories, try to anticipate every possible way something might be misconstrued (and still often fail). I can’t handle the idea of a single human being, whether coworker or barista, not liking me. I need to be the world’s first perfect person.

You might rightfully advise me that this is not attainable, that human beings are flawed and growing and changing at all times, that failure is a part of life. Sorry, but I’m different. At any given time, I can see just how many people like my Instagram Story. I know what my passenger rating is on Uber. I know exactly how fast or slow I was in comparison to my peers in spin class because our respective paces and times are projected onto the big screen. With so many metrics about myself available for me to check at all times, perfection has never felt more achievable. I’ve never felt worse.