Not giving a fuck if you look cringe is a superpower for the great online game. Like Peter Parker getting bit by a spider, I had my superhero moment with the druggie days. And I’m glad it happened. But you don’t need to go down that path to realize this: internet embarrassment isn’t that bad. Stop living in fear of being called cringe. The fear is worse than it actually happening. You get over it. You learn to laugh about it. And it makes you stronger person and a better creator.

Not giving a fuck if you look cringe is a superpower for the great online game. Like Peter Parker getting bit by a spider, I had my superhero moment with the druggie days. And I’m glad it happened. But you don’t need to go down that path to realize this: internet embarrassment isn’t that bad. Stop living in fear of being called cringe. The fear is worse than it actually happening. You get over it. You learn to laugh about it. And it makes you stronger person and a better creator.

Cringe is The New Cool

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When you’re willing to look cringe, a whole world of opportunity opens up. You realize you can’t please everyone so you stop trying. You just focus on winning your game. If you’re trying to make in on the internet, you’re playing a different game than 99% of people—so stop trying to play their game. When you focus on your game 100%, you’re free to ... See more

Cringe is The New Cool

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surrender to the cringe

Take a moment to consider why you’ve heeded the call. What’s stopped you from doing the damn thing? A fear of being cringe? A fear of not being good enough?

It's all going to flicker out at some point with everything else.

When you first start out, life will be exactly how it was before you started doing the thing except now t... See more

Cissy Hu • Year of doing the damn thing

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Speaking of psychotics, the internet has made so many people go off the deep end. Or it’s also made so many become these disillusioned doomers, irony-poisoned and stuck with a nihilistic outlook. It’s important to acknowledge the realities of the horror show we call life, but also strive to move beyond that and not let the world beat you down or fo... See more

Dasha Nekrasova • Jon Rafman and Dasha Nekrasova on the Horror We Call Life

This is what growing up very visibly online is like. It’s hard not to internalize the sense that you’re constantly being watched and thus everything you do demands a defensible explanation. **Granted, there are many benefits to this — incredible opportunities are unlocked by constructing a digitally consumable caricature of yourself that makes you ... See more

Molly Mielke • callings

SpaceXponential added

if you truly believe in what you do, self promotion doesn’t feel cringe because the feeling that the world needs what you’re sharing trumps any embarrassment to put yourself out there. sharing is only cringe when you don’t actually believe in what you do/it feels out of alignment

sari and added

This is what growing up very visibly online is like. It’s hard not to internalize the sense that you’re constantly being watched and thus everything you do demands a defensible explanation.

Erikc Perez-Perez added

The public like occupied this funny zone where the experience of liking something on social media felt private, but was public. Very VERY few things online are like this. When I toss a double tap to a dank meme from like @da_midwestern_p00syzone while half-watching Netflix’ The Starting 5, I’m mostly not thinking about how it will be perceived, eve... See more

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I know that freedom is earned by confronting things that embarrass and trigger you, over and over again, until you are cringe-proof in your desired environment.

Sasha Chapin • 50 Things I Know

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