" I don’t know what the absolute fuck anyone is saying anymore because they are so terrified of just saying “I feel this, and it matters to me.”"
Man, a-fuckin-men. Irony isn't bad, as such, and used in appropriate proportions its fine. It's funny and can be used insightfully. But everything and everyonw these days is dripping in so many layers of irony it frequently takes me quite a while just to unwrap what the fuck they are even trying to say. That's if they were even trying to say anything at all.
I appreciate you highlighting how dumb the hipster irony vs “New Sincerity” binary is. Such simplistic thinking.
It’s also a serious debasing of the infinite range of irony. Why is the only option a sneering I-hate-everything blank faced internet irony? Why not a generous irony? Or a gentle one? Or a grim and sophisticated one? So much is more possible!
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when the internet was young and populated mostly by thoughtful folks, Carl Beijer’s tweet would have been regarded as a fine troll (when "trolling" meant something besides behaving badly online). Perhaps it is still a fine troll. But today so many people post brainless shit like that in perfect sincerity it's very hard to get the joke unless you know more, as you suggested, about Carl Beijer himself.
But . . . Twitter. I don't really know WTF is going on there.
Perhaps it's my own particular insecurities that induce me to interpret the ubiquitousness of irony this way, but it seems like it's a reaction to a world that seems increasingly and reflexively critical of everything. One of irony's most potent side effects is that it masks vulnerability because irony creates distance for the speaker (or at least, the illusion of distance). That "side effect" has become the reason for its ubiquity. It's a way to protect oneself from criticism and judgement. Saying something in a straightforward manner -- even expressing straightforward criticism -- leaves one open to all kinds of judgement.
First, what do you expect from platforms like Twitter or tiktok? Neither were developed with the intent of sharing deep emotional expression. Second, if you are looking for authentic and deep content, it exists. It’s called OnlyFans (j/k). Actually, on YouTube there are some really good channels that promote authentic human connection. One channel I love is Noah Roth (https://youtube.com/c/noahroth), a YouTuber from Kentucky who documents coming of age, finding a boyfriend, traveling, and really trying to figure out the point of life. There is something deeply authentic about his content, which is missing from the tea-spilling, get rich quick, become your best self now content that is all over social media.
Since I spend a lot of time with teenagers in my job I don’t quite identify with the angst of this post. Most of the teenagers I’ve met in the past decade need a little more irony IMO. The current teenage culture is all about constantly expressing your sincere emotional desires all the time as a route to better mental health. Listen to the most popular teenage music and it’s all so much more emo than it was in the 2010s. I like a lot of it: the new Billie Eilish record is better than her first one, Lil Peep and JuiceWRLD are good, xxxtentacion is horrible. But it’s all really sincere.
It's a rough problem, but it reminds me of something I've noticed in my own life, which is that my own attitude affects how people respond to me. In person. Online...not so much.
But genuinely enjoying my job and life (helped along by some comparisons to folks who are far worse off) generally means that most of my interactions end up being positive, whether ironic/joking or sincere.
But that tone and general happiness doesn't translate online (sometimes admittedly because I'm not so happy online...which probably says something about how I should spend my time).
Nice article. So many in our millennial generation have been irony poisoned and my anecdotal experience has been the same as you: none of the folks I know who live behind a veil of irony and snark seem particularly happy.
I'm starting to notice signs of a thesis/antithesis/synthesis in pop culture though. Specially, I've listened to DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ more than anything else this year. Her work is flush with ironic signifiers - starting with that ridiculous name! But there's a simple, earnest joy at the heart of her music that is undeniable. My wife calls it girls music - but in a positive sense, like the films of Douglas Sirk were initially derided as women's films, then reassessed as deeply emotive works of art years later. Like Sabrina though, Sirk usually had the coy, ironic Rock Hudson gently smirking at the stuffy and restrictive heretonormative mores of the time. He reminds us that as beautiful as life can be, you always need a bit of a sense of humor. Maybe we're collectively rediscovering this delicate balance again.
The title is too good a metaphor. It will come to mind unbidden next time I am in a Twitter rabbit hole, and despite agreeing with you, I kind of hate you for that.
Sometimes I feel very grateful that my autism partially blinds me to sarcasm and irony. It makes people look stupider, but it also makes them look like actual human beings with actual human emotions which I think is an improvement.
Well, this made me sad.
" I don’t know what the absolute fuck anyone is saying anymore because they are so terrified of just saying “I feel this, and it matters to me.”"
Man, a-fuckin-men. Irony isn't bad, as such, and used in appropriate proportions its fine. It's funny and can be used insightfully. But everything and everyonw these days is dripping in so many layers of irony it frequently takes me quite a while just to unwrap what the fuck they are even trying to say. That's if they were even trying to say anything at all.
how can i be as happy as the guy who put the phrase "shitting into each other's mouths" right into my eyeballs over my morning coffee?
Ironic detachment is the key ingredient in social media, an opiate synthesized to poison us. Freddie hits the nail on the head here.
I appreciate you highlighting how dumb the hipster irony vs “New Sincerity” binary is. Such simplistic thinking.
It’s also a serious debasing of the infinite range of irony. Why is the only option a sneering I-hate-everything blank faced internet irony? Why not a generous irony? Or a gentle one? Or a grim and sophisticated one? So much is more possible!
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when the internet was young and populated mostly by thoughtful folks, Carl Beijer’s tweet would have been regarded as a fine troll (when "trolling" meant something besides behaving badly online). Perhaps it is still a fine troll. But today so many people post brainless shit like that in perfect sincerity it's very hard to get the joke unless you know more, as you suggested, about Carl Beijer himself.
But . . . Twitter. I don't really know WTF is going on there.
That Hanania tweet is very Jacob Wohl in a hipster coffee shop vibe
Perhaps it's my own particular insecurities that induce me to interpret the ubiquitousness of irony this way, but it seems like it's a reaction to a world that seems increasingly and reflexively critical of everything. One of irony's most potent side effects is that it masks vulnerability because irony creates distance for the speaker (or at least, the illusion of distance). That "side effect" has become the reason for its ubiquity. It's a way to protect oneself from criticism and judgement. Saying something in a straightforward manner -- even expressing straightforward criticism -- leaves one open to all kinds of judgement.
First, what do you expect from platforms like Twitter or tiktok? Neither were developed with the intent of sharing deep emotional expression. Second, if you are looking for authentic and deep content, it exists. It’s called OnlyFans (j/k). Actually, on YouTube there are some really good channels that promote authentic human connection. One channel I love is Noah Roth (https://youtube.com/c/noahroth), a YouTuber from Kentucky who documents coming of age, finding a boyfriend, traveling, and really trying to figure out the point of life. There is something deeply authentic about his content, which is missing from the tea-spilling, get rich quick, become your best self now content that is all over social media.
I'm very confused. I will take that as a good thing: maybe I haven't been on Twitter enough to understand
Since I spend a lot of time with teenagers in my job I don’t quite identify with the angst of this post. Most of the teenagers I’ve met in the past decade need a little more irony IMO. The current teenage culture is all about constantly expressing your sincere emotional desires all the time as a route to better mental health. Listen to the most popular teenage music and it’s all so much more emo than it was in the 2010s. I like a lot of it: the new Billie Eilish record is better than her first one, Lil Peep and JuiceWRLD are good, xxxtentacion is horrible. But it’s all really sincere.
It's a rough problem, but it reminds me of something I've noticed in my own life, which is that my own attitude affects how people respond to me. In person. Online...not so much.
But genuinely enjoying my job and life (helped along by some comparisons to folks who are far worse off) generally means that most of my interactions end up being positive, whether ironic/joking or sincere.
But that tone and general happiness doesn't translate online (sometimes admittedly because I'm not so happy online...which probably says something about how I should spend my time).
Nice article. So many in our millennial generation have been irony poisoned and my anecdotal experience has been the same as you: none of the folks I know who live behind a veil of irony and snark seem particularly happy.
I'm starting to notice signs of a thesis/antithesis/synthesis in pop culture though. Specially, I've listened to DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ more than anything else this year. Her work is flush with ironic signifiers - starting with that ridiculous name! But there's a simple, earnest joy at the heart of her music that is undeniable. My wife calls it girls music - but in a positive sense, like the films of Douglas Sirk were initially derided as women's films, then reassessed as deeply emotive works of art years later. Like Sabrina though, Sirk usually had the coy, ironic Rock Hudson gently smirking at the stuffy and restrictive heretonormative mores of the time. He reminds us that as beautiful as life can be, you always need a bit of a sense of humor. Maybe we're collectively rediscovering this delicate balance again.
The title is too good a metaphor. It will come to mind unbidden next time I am in a Twitter rabbit hole, and despite agreeing with you, I kind of hate you for that.
Sometimes I feel very grateful that my autism partially blinds me to sarcasm and irony. It makes people look stupider, but it also makes them look like actual human beings with actual human emotions which I think is an improvement.