Let people enjoy things: The end of cringe culture
Popular culture regulates the social world through avenues such as fashion, media, cuisine, and most anything that can be captured under the catch-all “lifestyle” category. Within the last decade, this baseline quantifier for what we as a community, state, nation, or even world decide to be “important” or “cool” is mostly determined by the best and worst thing since sliced bread: the internet, or more specifically, social media.
With the individualized experience that each social media platform codes algorithm after algorithm to result in the best engagement and most accurate advertisements, it can be shocking to certain online groups that people in the world-at-large might have no idea what a phrases that feel commonplace to you, such as, “#Booktok” or “girl dinner,” actually are. The public yet private purgatory of online communities or fandoms are where a large part of so-called “cringe culture” originates. Accidentally running into a community you have no reference for and that have very strong opinions or time-consuming hobbies can cause strong barriers to entry. There are even certain online communities that have become especially popular to make fun of or cringe at such as k-pop stans, bronies, or furries.
While I myself am no stranger to grimacing as I encounter a video of someone trying to learn to dance through teaching themselves their favorite artists choreography, I would like to propose a societal rehabilitation to this knee-jerk reaction, because let us be honest: everything we love, care about, and dedicate time towards is also something that another person will want nothing to do with.
This widespread distaste, or even very vocal minority distaste, can very quickly evolve from a small joke between friends in the groupchat to a groupthink that isolates people and their preferred groups. I do not like to think that everyone intentionally seeks to harm others or make them feel ashamed about the interests they feel intrinsically drawn to, but through routine public mocking.
My personal take is simple: as long as it does not harm anyone, let people like the things they like, and do not go out of your way to shame people into changing their interests to trade for a more “socially acceptable” one. Through this, I also think we can create more room for accepting the complexity that innately exists in us all. This is because it creates a culture that can allow people to openly engage with aspects that fall into both popular and “cringe” culture. Encouraging this open approach to enjoying things and engaging with those who might have interests widely different than yours may give us the ability to come closer to a society more accepting of all types of interests.
Through meaningful, intentional, and genuine desire to understand the appeal of different fandoms, hobbies, tv shows, lifestyles, identities, niches, etc., we can find ourselves interested in things we never would naturally gravitate towards, and better understand the people around you. While not everything will be of interest to you in the future, you will still walk away from the conversation having learned something and engaged with a perspective that the echochamber of most of our day-to-day lives are composed of.
My outgoing advice: steep in the cringe. Try returning to music, activities, or shows you enjoyed as a kid and try to rediscover what it is you appreciated about it back then and try to find something new to appreciate now. Also, examine what your “cringey” side loves, and try to consider what exactly about it makes you feel embarrassed. The answer is likely that encounters, direct or indirect, with others have resulted in you feeling defensive over this aspect of yourself.
Now, go play some Roblox or listen to Big Time Rush, and never be afraid to look like a fool. It is not your fault that people cannot keep up with your fun.
Thumbnail via Pexels