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Get lost in this bleak alternate reality Facebook from 2016

Get lost in this bleak alternate reality Facebook from 2016

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In 2016, Facebook as we understand it is dead. Following the unexpected disappearance of CEO Mark Zuckerberg and all of the company's data, Facebook is sold to Texas tycoon Buck Calhoun for a song. The mattress mogul, determined to salvage the social network, organizes what he calls a "data drive," which works like a food drive, except instead of food, Calhoun wishes to collect all of our valuable personal information.

That's the premise of The Data Drive, a conceptual website by Daniel Kolitz. The artist previously ran a Tumblr called The Printed Internet, where he posted rearranged printouts of websites. Created entirely from scans of printed images and text, the fictional website is full of advertorial quizzes, mindless content, and brands desperate for engagement. Upon loading the site, a chat window appears in which Chipotle Mexican Grill tries to get your attention with a mix of praise, humility, and utter desperation.

The Data Drive, on a superficial level, resembles Clickhole, The Onion's parody of the internet content traffickers, but The Data Drive is both rougher and more holistic than Clickhole. It's like what you imagined your creative arts thesis would be in college, before your advisor recommended you try something not so weird.