In this post we shall examine a problem concerning the new social media trend I have observed. Although it is worth noting that I do not use traditional social media websites where this trend has been occurring inside of. Media conglomerates such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube the latter of which I do use, have seen quite a bizarre trend I will examine shortly. It is worth noting that this is not any attack on specific person's or media analysis I shall analyse and keep myself in the philosophical mindset where I detach myself from the world and observe as an outsider looking inside and noting the concepts I observe. With that out of the way I will provide specific source that inspired the blog post at the end for those who wish to observe from a more closer perspective, although I do advise caution when engaging with the addictive nature of such social media and the rabbit-hole effect.[0]
The trend in question is "cringe" a term which has shifted meaning in recent times but always had specific annotations associated with it. It refers to the act of embarrassment on somebody else's behalf. Internet culture or should I call it "cringe culture" has popularised the term and abused throughout its entire existence. Its purpose always remained the same, find a person who does something different than it is the norm and apply the label to them so the rest of the ingroup can initiate a laughter response. It servers as an agent of social conformity as none of the members wish to be labeled as such, there is a mentality associated with is that draws its roots in the herd morality coined by Friedrich Nietzsche.[1]
An explanation I would like to provide for this phenomena is the fear of ostracization[2] A survival instinct deeply ingrained within the human nature, as one before would likely perish if left out of the group. As such this behavior explains the growing tribalistic mentality that is ever prevalent within social media landscapes. Nietzsche is key here as his concept of herd morality accurately explains the condition in which man surrenders his own freedom of action and behavior to groupthink.
Going further this explains the origins of the mentality that let the word "cringe" enter into the collective Zeitgeist of the modern man. From here I would like to get back to the trend that has in quite a recent year or so accelerated itself into a new and radical form of group think largely happening in the territories of the United States however it is expanding to the west in general.[3]
Now these people have seemingly attacked the very notion of hobbies themselves?
As bizarre this idea seems there seems to be some kind of consensus that 'attempting' a hobby that you are not immediately 'good' at and posting your progress on learning itself on social media is interpreted by the numb consumerist social media user as an 'act of failure worthy of being called cringe'. Which taken to analysis from the outside seems as a bizarre twist in the meaning of the word 'failure' as the roles have been reversed where the one who attempts at a creative endeavour and posts it to social media is interpreted to be 'inferior' to the one who merely consumes. Nietzsche in his Genealogy of Morals[4] identifies a similar trend between master and slave morality. It is almost as they have internalised sense of failure so somebody attempting to overcome their own condition awakes something inside of them, "sour grapes".
A sense of resentment and an inner failure inside of the empty mind of these social media users seems to be the cause of the lashing out at the ones who seek to overcome that sorry state with creative endeavor. Nietzsche would call such people Letzter Mensch[5] the man who has let himself into nihilism and consumption. So such people see a person acting outside the norm (mode being that is passive and numb) so they seek to beat them back into submission to the condition by usage of the term 'cringe'.
The sense of the collective numbness in the West where one becomes a blind consumer only defined by what he consumes (they identify themselves with the shows they watch, books they read, games they play, etc) no by what they create, which oddly correlates to the profit motives of capitalistic societies. As for capital it does not matter what a person creates it only matters what one purchases and consumes. This condition mirrors what Marcuse wrote inside of his One Dimensional Man[6] a quite pessimistic outlook on man under late stage capitalism. Briefly conditioning of man under capitalism by overworking him until his life forces are too empty for creation, then advertising to him products which he should by to fulfill himself conditions the mind, which results in a passive lack of interest in expression of oneself in the world as an active agent. Rather it leads to submission of oneself to the passivity of consumption as he gets number and number to the world around him.
This mentality accurately explains the recent trend in social media where man has fallen to consumption to the point where he longer sees himself inside of anything not even labor itself. The subject becomes unable to develop a passionate experience in life, thus negating life itself. As explained by the phenomena where one talks about their interests to another is called in slang terms a "yapper" in order to be "put in their place" for their passionate interest in a topic is looked down upon as the receiver of the talk is unable to engage themselves with such depth into anything of their own.
This leads to the general conformism rule, where the subject is directly acting out to extinguish any acts of passionate interest in anything which in turn leads to developed resentment not at the system that has caused them to be unable to experience it, but at the very thing itself. The psychological mechanism at play that is directed towards the "cringe yapper" where one is capable of observing the act they are unable to evoke inside of themselves thus a deep sense of resentment builds up inside of them. So their reaction to the low feelings of self-worth is expressed in the devaluation of the sincerity[7] expressed inside another. They have a realisation that their own lack of an inner world and an inability to express themselves in any of the creative pursuits.
In turn they are being purely reactive which requires no intellectual effort of their own for self-examination or critiques of the external world which a more reflective analysis or even creative one might evoke once taken to the same or similar circumstances the only difference being with a different interpretation of such state of being. Here we shift the beliefs of the subject towards a healthier "growth mindset".
In conclusion the internet has accelerated conditions in which man gets enslaved to consumerism. This lead to an inability for the general population to be able to form their own creative endeavors and a variety of social and psychological problems. This phenomena is a collective issue that is growing by the alienated and disinterested and apathetic youth blinded completely by the shiny and new. There is a growing anti-intellectualism that adds fuel to the fire as people distrust intellectuals and academics alike. This makes them ignorant to the weight of their own chains as they live in the endless cycle of consumption that fuels their own demise.
The problems at hand are vast and overwhelming, however not unsolvable. The solution I do not know, but we can educate ourselves and attempt at finding one's own passionate interests and not be afraid to express ourselves in the world. We should not forget that the one's attacking us are also the victims of the system we all live in together. We have to become resistant towards alienation through introspection. There are ways to express oneself online, through art projects and blogs such as this one. The future is on its way.
The trend and problem with calling things cringe and the general conformism promoted on social media, a collective numbness where one becomes a blind consumer only defined by what he consumes, not by what he creates, this condition seems to reflect the capitalist conditioning of the mind, the result of which is active lack of interest of expressing oneself in the world and an active agent, rather submission of oneself to the passivity of consumption, Subject is unable to develop passionate experiences of life, thus negating life itself and is numbed by the world around him, The general conformism rule, where the subject is directly acting out to extinguish any acts of passionate interest in things seen as expressed by others, this development is a bizarre development in the subject, where one is capable of observing the act they are unable to evoke in themselves thus a deep sense of resentment builds up inside them, so they seek to devalue the sincere expression of another, the resentment is built upon the realisation that their own lack of an inner world and an inability to express it as such in the form of creative pursuits, they turn to masked(by irony) attempts at devaluing the other in purely reactive manner which requires no intellectual input on their end.