Introducing Adryan Online

Cultural essays of internet culture and technology of now and then

You might notice something a little different around here. My publication name has a new name: Adryan Online! It’s like AOL except that’s already obviously taken.

Let’s rewind for a moment. In January 2023, I launched my Substack as a way to fall back in love with writing. I didn’t spend too much time thinking about the publication name because I really wanted to get it up as soon as possible. I actually spent years prior contemplating starting a Substack, but could never settle on a name or unifying theme, which stunted my entry onto the platform. It felt too limiting to choose any theme, so I said, “Fuck it, I’m the theme!” Thus, Adryan’s POV was born.

My first post ever was about lucid dreaming, a topic I intended to return to but never did since I shifted towards pop culture writing. I wrote a two-part series about growing up as a Britney Spears fan, which gave me a spike in subscribers. I wrote about my all-time favorite film, I Know Who Killed Me, which has since been read by the film’s screenwriter and director; that essay also inspired a later essay calling for Lindsay Lohan’s well-deserved cultural reckoning.

While I enjoy pop culture, I’m ready to identify a more specific niche: internet culture. Specifically, I’d like to explore more of my identity as a culture writer with a focus on technology, bringing in my journalism chops with research and commentary. Although I enjoy personal essays, I crave a pivot towards more narrative nonfiction rather than straight memoir.

The internet is an expansive enough theme to play with. I grew up alongside the emergence of social media. In fifth grade, I made my first AOL account. In middle school, I was active on Myspace and Xanga. By my first year of high school, I signed up for an account on a website called “Facebook” and was annoyed I couldn’t customize my profile with HTML and CSS. I would find some relief by my sophomore year when I created a Tumblr account.

From the inherent social nature of these platforms, I ended up meeting people on them, many who I never ended up meeting in real life. I don’t even remember all of their names. For someone who was rather isolated growing up and lacking close relationships, the internet bridged the gap for me.

My knack for being able to cultivate online friendships as a teenager still serves me today. Substack as a platform is a perfect example of relationship building. There are many Substackers who I know from elsewhere on the internet like Karrie Higgins, Raechel Anne Jolie, Katrina Eresman, Baxstar Jonmarie Ferguson, Diana Krach, Annamaria Scaccia, and so many more I’ve never met offline (yet). There are once-online friends I’ve made—like Shane Russo from the I Know Who Killed Me Letterboxd reviews, Kai Proschan of The Girls Book from a fully remote job, Lindsay from Twitter, flop from Lex, Julian Shendelman from shared professional connections, and Nicole Tremaglio from Substack itself—who’ve since become in-person friends. And of course, there are IRL friends who have become online friends (because we don’t see each other much offline) like Jeff Javed and Matt Dineen’s Substack.

I see my online relationships as constellations. The connections I have on Substack—those mentioned above as well as every single subscriber—might not have happened had it not for the connections I sought on AOL, Xanga, Myspace, and Tumblr during my developmental years.

Welcome to an new era, readers! You’ll hear from me again soon.