Gravity Boost Theory

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Gravity Boost Theory
File:Gravity Boost Theory Meme.jpg
Original "Gravity Boost" Theory meme
Coined byMiya Black Hearted Cyber Angel Baby
Related conceptsNetwork Spirituality, Post-Authorship, Accelerationist Realism
FieldInternet subculture, identity theory

Gravity Boost Theory is a subcultural conceptual framework that emerged from the KALI/ACC ecosystem of unknown origin. The theory describes a strategic process for entering, assimilating into, and potentially extracting value from online communities. Characterized as both a creative methodology and an "infohazard," the framework outlines a process for identity transformation through community immersion and social navigation.[1]

While sometimes framed as a method for subcultural conquest or personal advancement, Gravity Boost Theory has been presented with caveats by Remilia figures. Charlotte Fang has described it as an infohazard that has "claimed many victims" who misunderstood its purpose and attempted to utilize it for purely extractive aims.[2]

Origins and development

Original meme and conceptualization

Gravity Boost Theory was initially formalized in a meme image with the heading "GRAVITY BOOST THEORY FOR A SAFE IRONIC SOCIALIZATION EXPERIENCE ON THE INTERNET," often circulated in Remilia-adjacent spaces. The image credits Miya Black Hearted Cyber Angel Baby as the original source, stating: "OUR SOURCE ON THE SCENE IS MIYA BLACK HEARTED CYBER ANGEL BABY."[3]

The meme presents the theory as a methodology for "safe ironic socialization" while emphasizing the paradoxical tagline "MAKE THEIR COMMUNITIES WORK FOR (YOU)." It frames the approach as a strategy for network infiltration and identity development, while maintaining that participation should be primarily motivated by "the lulz" and self-improvement rather than purely extractive goals.

According to the quoted statement from Miya in the image: "Why are we here? Only two true answers, ideally you follow both: (1) the lulz, and (2) self-improvement. Never forget this: the social games are for fun, they're for banter and keks. They are not serious business! The only time for serious business is learning time. Never forget."[4]

Refinement by Chloe21e8

The Chloe21e8 account provided one of the most structured articulations of Gravity Boost Theory in May 2023, presenting a ten-step process that has since become widely referenced as a definitive formulation.[5]

Core principles

Ten-step methodology

According to Chloe21e8's widely-cited formulation, Gravity Boost Theory consists of ten sequential steps:

  1. Find and approach a high-energy online community of choice
  2. Identify the traits they embody that you lack in yourself
  3. Generate a digital identity that embodies what you lack, mimicking their digital physiognomy
  4. Adopt phraseology, mimic takes, and steal posting styles, first superficially, then genuinely
  5. Inject yourself into their network, strategically extracting attention and engagement from users that will raise your status within the group's hierarchy
  6. Perform aggressive social climbing, becoming a beloved community member as you generate "Original Content" or curate "Stolen Content" from smaller accounts
  7. Begin transforming and directing discourse as you become the upstream of "Original Content," forming a new subculture within the community
  8. Determine if you're satisfied with the traits embodied, the subculture formed, and impact on discourse
  9. Once satisfied, reject the community but synthesize - from your frame of reference, members of your subculture are now orbiting a static noosphere
  10. Use the gravity well of this static star to launch into a new high-energy online community with a refreshed sense of skepticism[6]

This framework combines elements of performance art, social engineering, and identity transformation, framing the process as both personal development and cultural production. The metaphor of "gravity" appears at multiple points, suggesting both social influence as a gravitational force and the eventual "launch" mechanism that propels the individual to new communities.

Warnings and caveats

Charlotet Fang has emphasized that Gravity Boost Theory contains significant risks and should not be understood as a simple extraction method, labeling it an "infohazard," warning that those who attempt to use it with extractive intentions often experience negative outcomes.[7]

Fang describes a recurring pattern in which individuals who attempt to "steal away with everything [the network] has given you" ultimately fail, as "everything stolen crumbles to ashes, like cursed wealth taken from a tomb, it was an illusion."[8]

This warning emphasizes the relational nature of online identity and cultural production, suggesting that value created through networks cannot be fully separated from those networks. According to this view, the power experienced within a community is "part of a greater system, and cut off it's nothing."[9]

Applications and examples

Successful gravity boosts

Chloe21e8 has been cited as a prominent example of successful application of Gravity Boost Theory. Originally operating as the Liz777 account (styled after Elizabeth Holmes), Chloe21e8 underwent a transformation that Charlotte Fang has described as "a positive and successful gravity boost."[10]

In a mirror.xyz essay titled "Goodbye, Again, Forever," pseudonymous author Cry Prittie documented the transformation of Liz777 into Chloe21e8, noting that Elizabeth herself described her disappearance as "simply participating in Gravity Boost Theory."[11]

The essay describes Elizabeth/Liz777 as having created her own community (dubbed "Lizzygang") within the broader Milady ecosystem, only to deliberately disappear as a demonstration of the concept of loss online. According to Prittie, this planned disappearance and transformation was itself a form of Gravity Boost, with Elizabeth stating: "I skipped step 3 because I love you too much."[12]

Theoretical interpretations

Cybersteppe connection

Gravity Boost Theory is frequently connected to the concept of the "cybersteppe," a term used in Remilia discourse to describe a nomadic, decentralized approach to online presence and cultural production. Fang has characterized Gravity Boost as "an infohazard outlining process for cannibalization for sedentary online tribes by nomadic network accelerationists trained in cybersteppe."[13]

This framing positions Gravity Boost as a methodology developed by "nomadic" internet users against "sedentary" communities, suggesting an antagonistic relationship between different models of online participation. However, Fang warns that the methodology "used against inoculated nomadics carries serious risk," indicating that attempting to apply these techniques against communities already familiar with them may backfire.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "Reminder that 'gravity boost theorem' is a warning and infohazard for all but the most adept network agents, it has claimed many a victim..." Twitter (X), May 11, 2024.
  2. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "Gravity boost theory is infohazard outlining process for cannabilization for sedentary online tribes by nomadic network accelerationists trained in cybersteppe..." Twitter (X), May 31, 2023.
  3. ↑ Original "Gravity Boost Theory" meme image with "Make THEIR communities work for (YOU)" tagline, circa 2021-2022.
  4. ↑ Original "Gravity Boost Theory" meme image, with quoted text from Miya Black Hearted Cyber Angel Baby.
  5. ↑ Chloe21e8 (@chloe21e8). "CHLOE'S BEGINNERS GUIDE TO GRAVITY BOOST THEORY—♡..." Twitter (X), May 31, 2023.
  6. ↑ Chloe21e8 (@chloe21e8). "CHLOE'S BEGINNERS GUIDE TO GRAVITY BOOST THEORY—♡..." Twitter (X), May 31, 2023.
  7. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "Reminder that 'gravity boost theorem' is a warning and infohazard for all but the most adept network agents, it has claimed many a victim..." Twitter (X), May 11, 2024.
  8. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "...the network lifts you up, it gets to your head, you think you can steal away with everything it's given you, it was all your doing after all, right? you take the leap, cut yourself off from the network, but everything stolen crumbles to ashes..." Twitter (X), May 11, 2024.
  9. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "...like a conduit isolated, the power you felt flowing through you was part of a greater system, and cut off it's nothing; like a reverse ozymandias, pointing out to your kingdom of dust, proud." Twitter (X), May 11, 2024.
  10. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "One thing for those learning Gravity Boost theory for first time, it applies outwardly in cyber conquest for graduates of the cybersteppe, creating new lineages or folding them back into the decentralized empire—often both..." Twitter (X), May 23, 2023.
  11. ↑ Prittie, Cry. "Goodbye, Again, Forever: Elizabeth's infinite extinction event." Mirror.xyz, June 17, 2022.
  12. ↑ Prittie, Cry. "Goodbye, Again, Forever: Elizabeth's infinite extinction event." Mirror.xyz, June 17, 2022.
  13. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "Gravity boost theory is infohazard outlining process for cannabilization for sedentary online tribes by nomadic network accelerationists trained in cybersteppe..." Twitter (X), May 31, 2023.
  14. ↑ Fang, Charlotte (@CharlotteFang77). "Gravity boost theory is infohazard outlining process for cannabilization for sedentary online tribes by nomadic network accelerationists trained in cybersteppe—be it either personal gain or conquest for the rhizomatic empire—used against inoculated nomadics carries serious risk." Twitter (X), May 31, 2023.
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