this is all super off the cuff but i think the "rise" of snark is also possibly partially due to:
-covid isolation depriving all of us of a normal level of gossip-producing social interaction and opportunities for petty gossip, so some people sought it out on the internet, see also the rise of podcasts like normal gossip
-as the digital panopticon has increased (eg., tiktoks people make of strangers?? in public??), our own reflexive self-critique and awareness has increased. being in online forums where people have some level of anonymity allows them to feel a level of escape from this and succumb to the behaviors that they now fear doing in public spaces. AND we cant ever really escape the judgments of the panopticon (plenty of which are aesthetic or normative judgments rather than moral ones) so people in these anonymous spaces still turn to the same judgments
-last thought is even more underbaked than the others but i think there's something to the younger generations being the first ones who grew up with influencers as part of the culture since adolescence
May 9, 2024
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the social internet (and rapid, inescapable commercialization thereof) makes it so that you are what you consume, not what you do, not where you go, not who you spend your time with. before if you bought the clothes or the gear without doing it or without being in community, you were a poser. if you monetized or commercialized that interest and put those incentives over expression and connection, you were a sellout. but that doesn’t exist anymore — democratization and anti-gatekeeping as both ideas and ends of an algorithm to maximize surface area for consumption have made it so that there isn’t a distinct authority on what you can attach to your identity or how you express yourself
but if the extent of our agency in a democratized landscape is to only to consume more instead of producing or connecting, or to produce only to commodify ourselves for money or internet points, then maybe it’s a different kind of “being influenced by social trends rather than authentic interest” than going to a skate park, or an open mic, or a restaurant, or whatever because we heard about it somewhere and wanted to check it out, and de-centering the internet from what we see on it and how we engage with it is a way to make that healthier or more generative for ourselves, and can create beauty without immediately thinking about how to fit into a box along lines drawn by advertisers
Jan 15, 2025
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irony and a lack of sincerity seems to be a big part of how a lot of gen z seems to operate. you have to be nonchalant, you can't be too excited about something because that's cringe, but when someone makes an account being cringe ironically that's funny, and this commitment to the bit is very important- this leads us to meta-irony. and I can't hate much, I've been known to laugh at these things too
the cynicism is, at least in the perspective of an american zoomer, due to the state of things in the country/planet. at my high school, we were encouraged to go to college in STEM fields because that's more financially stable but now people with those degrees can't find employment, and that's happening with every degree. entry level jobs are requiring experience- like buddy, you are the experience. and when you're working minimum wage after college outside of your field with student loan debt, you're watching the housing crisis and knowing you'll be a renter forever. and you're also watching the climate crisis and trying to enjoy the planet before you're swept up by a tornado or get dust pneumonia or get hit by a hurricane. and you're watching our current administration take us into authoritarianism and some people are even happy that they have a dictator now. scary and uncertain times lead to the level of cynicism that we have finally reached and I worry for the generations following ours, especially seeing how the alt-right has been exploiting the growing cynicism in our generation
Mar 21, 2025
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I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes.
In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time.
Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.
Feb 18, 2024
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Jun 15, 2024
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Put on the robe, turn on adult swim or whatever, crank the ac, eat a late night snack in one bed and sleep in the other. The freedom of impersonal liminal space.
Oct 21, 2024
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hundreds of thousands of times over
The context may be different but no emotion is completely new— i can cope
Aug 1, 2024