If you are reading this, you likely grew up in an era in which irony was the primary way of engaging with the world. Not only did it have to do with goods, but was (and continues to be) pervasive in interpersonal relations. Asserting one’s individuality and refusing group labels on principle is not unique to hipsters but can be seen in dozens of... See more

Irony is already a hallmark of Gen Z’s cultural expression and a coping mechanism honed in the hyper-visibility of the internet. When you’ve grown up always aware that anything you post could become part of a permanent digital footprint, doing something “ironically” offers a kind of social insurance. If it lands poorly, you were never serious. If... See more

To insulate ourselves from these seemingly guaranteed failures, Millennials, and Gen Z after us, adopted irony as a cultural strategy. Irony allowed us to continue life under late capitalism while psychologically sheltering ourselves from the demoralizing reality. Irony as culture became: “The band I like will inevitably sell out, so I might as

... See more