The Era of Cringe

As constructed as they are, our posting habits often inadvertently reveal something intimate about our fears, needs, and desires, so it only makes sense that our fatigue would present itself there, too – and when the duckfacing of the optimistic 2010s proved too tiresome, perhaps it was inevitable that our lips would land in a pout.

While I was thinking through the cringe matrix, I thought a lot about celebrities. Given one of their main purposes as public figures is to both establish and violate social norms, thus providing us with both guidance and gossip, they’re always operating with a high cringe risk.

I suspect the rise of inspiration-sharing platforms might be making me, and everyone else on the collaborative internet, more focused on publicising our taste rather than feeding it. It’s easier to go viral on Twitter (err, X) by posting “vintage design inspiration” than it is by posting your own work. New sites like PI.FYI, a social network from t... See more