Raunak

Here, I post whatever I feel like and write whatever I want to. Not kidding bjabfmnsbfsdbhjfsasb.

💼: LinkedIn, India.
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[Raunak @MeraHandle]

What happens when AI slop no longer looks sloppy?

Right now a lot of AI generated content is easy to dismiss because it still feels generic or slightly off. We call it slop and move on. But that phase is temporary. Models will improve and the artifacts will disappear. Images, videos, writing, music will all start looking perfectly polished. At that point, producing content will no longer be the challenge. AI can already do that, and it will only get better at it.

And when that happens, the problem will quietly shift. The question will no longer be whether something looks real. The question will be whether it is worth your attention at all. In a world where anyone can generate good content instantly, the scarce things will no longer be production or polish. They will be credibility, taste, point of view, and the trust attached to the person sharing it.

Which is why in the future, the most valuable signal online may not be how well something is produced, but who it comes from.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

@thetanmay Have a really fun idea about the food account. Can I just share that? Seems like all Briefs are compulsory.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

@ZoSpringwala Hello Zoya! Could you please DM the details, just followed you. Thanks!

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

One of the most interesting shifts of the last few years is how decentralised entertainment has quietly pushed us into living in our own worlds.

A few years ago, I was deeply plugged into cricket. I knew what series was on, who was playing, what the talking points were. It was almost impossible to miss something big. Today, there is a T20 international match that India is playing in my hometown Nagpur and I had no clue about it until this morning. I only found out because I saw a few random reels of cricketers roaming around in my city, which made me curious enough to look it up.

Nothing changed about cricket. What changed was how much choice we now have.

With an abundance of entertainment options, most of us have subconsciously picked the worlds we want to live in. Some follow sports closely. Some are deep into films, gaming, podcasts, stand up comedy, books, creators, or niche internet cultures. And when something big happens inside one of these worlds, it can feel massive to the people inside it and almost invisible to everyone else.

Earlier, when entertainment options were limited, there was a shared cultural experience. Everyone watched the same matches, the same shows, the same movies. Today, culture has splintered into many parallel streams. You can be fully immersed in something that defines your week, while the person sitting next to you has absolutely no idea it even exists.

This is not a bad thing. It gives people the freedom to choose what resonates with them instead of consuming everything by default. But it also explains why community has become so important. When attention is fragmented, shared interest becomes the glue. Communities give people a sense of belonging inside these smaller worlds we now live in.

We no longer live in one collective entertainment universe. We live in many. And finding your people inside the world you care about has become far more valuable than trying to keep up with everything.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

Feels like 2027 already 🗓️

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

@ShoaibDaniyal There is nothing called as "mainstream media" and "alternate media" anymore. Internet has made it a level playing field. Now we have "mainstream content" (appeals to a mass audience) and "alternate content" (appeals to a niche).

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

Two of India’s biggest airlines went through headline-making incidents that clearly hurt their reputation. But their follow-up was minimal because they know very well that we don’t really have alternatives, and we’ll end up flying with them anyway.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

@IndiGo6E Hello team,

My flight today from Nagpur to Mumbai (6E-5002), PNR: P9LJVT got cancelled and I need a full refund of 2 tickets booked on it.

Also, because of that I will not be able to take my return flight from Mumbai to Nagpur too. Flight 6E-5124. PNR: R4UGHS. I want a full refund for this one too.

Please help me out!

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

@IndiGo6E Hello, can I know the Flight Status for 6E 5002. PNR: P9LJVT.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

Why are subtitles still so flat and emotionless in 2025?

I have been thinking about this a lot. When I am watching something in a language I do not understand, the subtitles become my only connection to the story, but the way they appear on screen feels so disconnected from how the characters actually sound. Everyone gets reduced to the same simple font, the same straight line of text, the same neutral delivery, even when the performance is full of emotion. A whispered confession looks the same as an angry scream. A moment of humour looks exactly like a moment of heartbreak. It almost feels unfair to the actors and unfair to the viewer.

Imagine if subtitles were visually adapted to the tone of the speaker. If a loud line appeared slightly bolder or larger. If a whisper gently faded in lighter text. If a fast, excited dialogue tightened the spacing and a slow, emotional line stretched itself out so you could feel the pause. Imagine a sarcastic comment bending slightly or a fearful line trembling just a little. Suddenly the text would stop being an afterthought and start becoming part of the storytelling.

This could also change things for Deaf and Hard of Hearing audiences in a meaningful way. They rely entirely on the subtitles to understand not just the words but the intent. Visual cues about pitch, loudness, rhythm, or emotional energy could help make the performance more complete, giving them access to aspects of the scene that plain text simply cannot convey.

Of course, this is just a first thought. I do not know how this would work from an accessibility point of view, whether it would distract viewers, or whether it would complicate things for people who already struggle with reading subtitles. But I still feel there is an opportunity here. Subtitles have remained almost unchanged for decades and maybe it is time to rethink them. Not to make them flashy, but to make them more expressive and more connected to the story they are trying to translate.

I am not sure if this is being tried anywhere and maybe it already exists in pockets, but I have not come across it yet. I would genuinely love to see someone experiment with this idea and see how it changes the viewing experience.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

Mumbai AQI.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

Human memory is fragile. We rarely remember things exactly the way they happened. We remember impressions, feelings, and the broad strokes of a story more than the specific details. And this is where narrative becomes everything.

When you build a brand, you are essentially shaping the version of yourself or your work that people carry in their minds. As a creator, this is even more important because you are the brand. People will not remember every post, every reel, every idea, or every point you made. What they remember is the overall sense of who you are and what you consistently talk about. They remember a few themes, a few topics, a few emotions you create, and these fragments slowly become your narrative.

In a fast paced digital world where attention is scattered across hundreds of things in a day, this narrative becomes your anchor. It is what people say about you when you are not in the room. It is what they describe when they refer you to someone else. It is that vague but powerful impression that sits in their mind long after the content has faded.

This is why creators need to think beyond individual posts. You are not just posting to fill a feed. You are building a memory structure in someone else’s mind. A shape. A story. A feeling. And when you do this well, people will remember your narrative even when they forget your content.

The goal is simple. Make sure the story they reconstruct about you is the one you want to be known for.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

The teaser for Toy Story 5 just dropped, and it perfectly captures one of today’s most relevant debates: screens versus toys.

It ends with the line, “The age of toys is over…?” That one question mark says everything. It turns what could have been a statement of defeat into a question of hope.

In this new story, Woody and Buzz face their biggest challenge yet, not another toy, but a screen. The teaser introduces a tablet-like character called Lilypad that represents the flashy digital world competing for kids’ attention. For the toys, this isn’t about being outgrown anymore, it’s about being replaced.

It almost feels like their version of Avengers: Endgame. All the toys, united against one big threat: a screen that’s stealing their purpose.

What I love about this direction is how timely it feels. Every parent today talks about how their kids spend hours staring at screens. And Pixar, true to its legacy, seems ready to turn that reality into an emotional story about imagination, play, and rediscovery.

In the earlier films, the toys feared being forgotten as their kids grew up. This time, they’re fighting for relevance in a world where childhood itself looks different.

If the earlier Toy Story films taught us to let go, this one might remind us what it means to play again.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

I just love the time frame 45 minutes. There’s something about it that feels so precise. Not too long, not too short, just perfect.

📌 “Hey, let’s catch up for 30 minutes.” - Ah, what even is this meeting? Feels too rushed.

📌 “I’m blocking 1 hour for us to discuss.” - Wow, that sounds like a drag. Nothing good ever comes out of 1-hour meetings.

📌 “Setting up 45 minutes for us to chat.” - Perfect. Balanced. Feels like we’ll actually get things done.

Of course, this is an exaggeration, but somehow 45 minutes psychologically feels like the perfect time frame to hear lol.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

We’re entering a new phase of the creator economy where your taste will be your talent.

The people who stand out now won’t be the ones who create the most, but the ones who curate the best.

AI has made it incredibly easy to produce content. Anyone can write, design, edit, or animate at scale now. The barrier to creation has almost disappeared. But in a world where everyone can make something, what becomes scarce is not content, it’s taste. The ability to choose what deserves attention, what needs context, and what should simply be left out.

People don’t need more things to look at or listen to. They need clarity. They need someone to help them make sense of the noise, to guide them toward what truly matters. The creators who can filter through abundance and bring meaning to the surface will be the ones who thrive in this next wave.

Curation isn’t passive. It’s active, thoughtful, and deeply creative. It’s about connecting dots, adding context, and showing people why something is worth their time. It’s a skill built on perspective and judgment, not just production.

AI can generate infinite ideas, but it cannot replicate human discernment. It doesn’t know what will move people, what will resonate deeply, or what is worth revisiting. That ability to feel, to decide, to frame an idea in a way that changes how people see it, that’s where the next generation of creators will shine.

The creators who last will be the ones who build trust through taste. They’ll be known not just for what they make, but for what they choose to show, or recommend, or vouch for.

As creation becomes abundant, curation becomes valuable. And in a world that is always producing, those who pause to filter, frame, and explain will stand out the most.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

We used to feel nostalgic for the 90s or the early 2000s. Now, we even feel nostalgic for 2020.

The internet moves so fast that even a year or two ago feels like a different time. We miss the pre-Reels Instagram, the early YouTube vlogs, the Clubhouse summer, the kind of content that once felt fresh before everything started looking the same.

This is what many call micro nostalgia: the feeling of missing something that isn’t even that old. It is nostalgia in fast forward.

The pace of online culture has become so intense that trends are born, peak, and die in a matter of weeks. Algorithms constantly push new aesthetics and formats, leaving us no time to actually live with an idea. Nostalgia becomes our way to slow things down. It is how we try to make sense of an internet that moves faster than our ability to emotionally process it.

In fact, younger audiences, especially Gen Z, are now nostalgic for times they barely experienced themselves. It is a phenomenon some call anemoia: a longing for moments that weren’t even theirs. The internet has created this strange loop where we’re not just remembering the past, we’re missing the feeling of it.

Nostalgia today is less about memory and more about emotion. We aren’t recalling specific moments, we’re revisiting how they made us feel. In a world of constant newness, familiarity becomes a safe zone. When everything around us is always changing, our recent past, even if it’s just from a year ago, becomes a kind of sanctuary.

Apps also encourage this. Every “memories from a year ago” or “on this day” notification pulls us back into a loop. Digital nostalgia now runs on schedule.
Maybe this is just how we cope with the overload. When everything is new all the time, familiarity starts feeling special.

The faster the internet moves, the shorter our nostalgia cycle gets. Maybe that’s why the internet feels both exciting and exhausting. We are living in a culture that keeps reinventing itself faster than we can remember it.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

Have you noticed how AI companies are suddenly launching their own browsers?

Yes, this is a significant trend. OpenAI recently introduced Atlas and Perplexity launched Comet. At first glance, it might seem odd. Why would AI companies build something as “basic” as a browser?

If you look closer, the answer becomes clearer. A browser is still the gateway to the internet. Even in a world of apps, most of our access to the web begins here. We search, read, and switch between tabs within it. By owning the browser, an AI company captures that gateway. Atlas aims to become your personal assistant across tabs, while Comet focuses on AI-driven productivity by integrating tasks, search, and summaries in one seamless flow.

Here’s the fundamental reason. If users set your browser as default, and your search or assistant sits front and center, you are no longer just a tool, you become the platform. You start controlling the context of use, the data flow, and the entry point. From there, you can embed your AI, understand user behavior, and personalise experiences. But it all begins with owning the access gate.

Of course, there are secondary reasons too. Embedded AI can summarise tabs, personalise content, automate workflows, and improve productivity. Features like memory, agents, and context awareness are how these browsers evolve into ecosystems. But without that “default browser” status, these features would remain at the edges.

So next time a browser prompts you to “Make this your default browser,” take note. It’s not just about convenience. It’s the first step in making you part of a tech ecosystem, where the company behind the browser doesn’t just sit on top of the web, it lives inside it.

Chrome still holds the largest market share among browsers, and it will be interesting to see how that changes or how Chrome itself evolves in this new wave of AI browsers.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

It’s funny how the em dash "—", once considered a mark of good writing, has suddenly become something people avoid using.

For years, the em dash was a favourite of writers who wanted to create rhythm in their sentences, add personality to their voice, or make their thoughts feel conversational. It was seen as a sign of sophistication, the kind of punctuation that separated a good writer from an average one. But in the age of AI, that perception has completely flipped.

Now, when people see a sentence full of em dashes, the first reaction is often, “Oh, this must have been written by AI.” What was once a mark of craft has become a mark of suspicion.

I think the reason for that is simple. Earlier, the em dash was used mostly by people who wrote for a living, like journalists, authors, and scriptwriters, people who understood its purpose. But as AI tools started generating text at scale, the em dash started appearing everywhere. And when something that was once a creative choice becomes a mass pattern, it loses its charm.

The irony, though, is that em dashes were originally meant to sound more human, not less. They capture pauses, hesitations, and the natural rhythm of thought. They mirror how we actually speak and think. But with AI using them so often, the script has flipped.

Maybe it’s time to give the em dash a second chance. We shouldn’t judge a piece of writing by how many em dashes it has, but by the strength of the ideas behind it.

Now people have even started removing em dashes from AI-generated posts before sharing them, hoping to make the writing feel more personal and original. But the truth is, when you read something carefully, you can usually tell whether it carries genuine thought or just borrowed phrasing.

At the end of the day, it’s not punctuation that makes writing human, it’s the thought behind it and the idea that is being conveyed.

P.S. I haven’t used any em dashes in this post because I don’t consider myself a good writer yet lol.

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

@nimish2592 Yeah!

[Raunak @MeraHandle]

The curious case of a festive song!

Diwali is one of the most important festivals for most Indians, and where there’s a celebration, there’s always music.

Every year, without fail, one song suddenly takes over people’s Diwali videos again: “Mere Tumhare Sabke Liye Happy Diwali” from the film Home Delivery. A song that was once low-key has now found new life online and quietly become the unofficial Diwali anthem of the internet.

Being the curious person I am, I went back to Google Trends to check how it performs every year. And as always, the graph tells the same story. The song is searched almost exclusively during Diwali week and then disappears completely until the next year. A perfect loop of nostalgia and habit.

What this shows is how nostalgia on the internet has its own rhythm. Predictable, emotional, and tied to moments that make us feel something familiar.

And on a lighter note, it is still surprising that even though Diwali is one of India’s biggest festivals, we don’t have a truly iconic Bollywood song for it. Holi has so many. Rakhi has emotional ones. Even Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi have their share. But Diwali, despite being such a massive festival, somehow never found its big musical moment.

It’s fascinating how one forgotten song has quietly become a festive tradition online, and how beautifully data captures that in those repeating peaks every year.