Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails Waves Goodbye to Social Networking

by Lee Bains on June 17, 2009 at 06:23 AM

Trent Reznor, the man behind industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails (NIN), is no straggler when it comes to embracing the Internet-age. Way back in 2007, months before Radiohead offered its album 'In Rainbows' for free via download, Trent straight-up told fans at a show in Australia to steal music via peer-to-peer sites. Several months later, in 2008, he gave away the first part of NIN's four-part album 'Ghosts' to eager downloaders, encouraging them to share the rest of the album on torrent sites. His Internet-savviness hasn't just been restricted to music sharing. Last month, the musician used his popular Twitter account to help raise $850,000 for an uninsured fan in need of a heart transplant. Needless to say, we were shocked when Pitchfork.com informed us last week that Trent will soon be bringing his long Web foray to a close.

"I will be tuning out of the social networking sites because it's now doing more harm than good," the musician posted to the NIN discussion forum. His post, which can be read in its substantial entirety here, raises some truly provocative questions concerning celebrity, social networking, anonymity, and privacy. In the post, the online community comes to light as a largely anonymous, celebrity-obsessed, amorphous mob, enchanted with the sound of its own confused and oft-malicious hollering.

While such questions and conclusions are by no means new to discussions surrounding the Web, they do carry some additional weight here. After all, Mr. Reznor is by no means a luddite, a naysayer, or a traditionalist. At the end of the day, he is a tech-savvy (and we'd say tech-loving) Gen X-er who has submerged himself in the uncharted cyber-waters of the Web 2.0. And if even he has bobbed to the top, yearning for terra firma, where does that leave the rest of us? [From: NIN Discussion Forum and Pitchfork]

Tags: anonymous, nine inch nails, NineInchNails, privacy, social networking, SocialNetworking, trent reznor, TrentReznor, web 2.0, Web2.0

Comments

GailJun 17th 2009 6:51AM

Neutral

I don't text - prefer voices. I don't Twitter - it is Fritter. Good for Trent...what can anyone say in 140 characters? I read books that have more characters than that in the first sentence. Insane.

Dislike

Report

Ed HusarJun 17th 2009 11:22AM

Neutral

What can you say in 140 character or less? Well you just said it in 125 characters.

I would say you are a dinosaur. You act like it is one or the other (txt or voice). It is not. A blanket statement to not use something that clearly makes life and work easier is just bone headedness if I ever heard it.

Just my 2 cents.

Dislike

Report

trendlessJun 17th 2009 2:46PM

Neutral

I can empathize. It's been said many times before, "the internet is the bathroom wall of modern society." I've abandoned sites/forums/w.h.y. for the very same reason: too much drama. I had been following his twitter account for quite a few months previous to his social networking exit, so I certainly don't know him on any kind of personal level, but someone who is openly/publicly opinionated and inflammatory -- and seems to care as much as Trent Reznor does -- is *always* going to raise the ire of more than a few internet trolls, fanboys and sometimes even the 'common man'. He paints a pretty big target on his own back -- and if you're gonna give, you gotta be able to take.

That's fame though, right? Or at least, it is what people in the public eye often complain about. And if it is indeed true, it is probably a lot of hard work. But for the people who reciprocate (ie fans), whether it's buying albums, attending concerts, or whatever other type of support they throw behind you -- don't give up on them. I would be willing to go out on a limb and say a majority (and maybe a significant one) of the people really enjoyed the interaction.

And, like it has also been said many times before, "the few ruin it for the many."

Dislike

Report

rocknroll41Jun 21st 2009 11:28AM

Neutral

so he's breaking up his own band (which is a really good band) and will no longer tour,(just realease cd's) and will not promote them and is pushing his fans away by no longer getting online.

sounds like trent is pulling an Axl Rose on us

Dislike

Report

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.