Letterboxd, Last.fm, physical media and the online presence of your modern day pretentious indiehead

Tumblrinas, hipsters, twee, I think if you’ve been online long enough or have watched enough video essays then you’ve probably heard it all before. I however am actually not old enough to fully understand what it was like to experience 2010s Tumblr as I was merely a child at the time but I did spend a lot of time on YouTube if that makes up for it. 

I think how you are presented online has always been such a key part of the internet. On the good old world wide web you could be anybody you want and pretend to be whoever you want. Unless people you knew in the real world acknowledged your presence on social platforms, there is practically nobody who are able to know what you’re really like in reality. It’s almost like a little secret between you and everyone else on said platform, your account was your little space that can be managed however you wanted (as long as you didn’t cross any community guidelines that is).

I believe that being cool online has simply been watered down to the type of media you consume in terms of films and music and literature or perhaps it!s always been that way. Platforms like Letterboxd and Last.fm apparently are supposed to tell a lot about a person. Nowadays you’re average cool person on the internet probably watches indie films during their spare time, listens to a lot of shoegaze, reads Franz Kafka and probably wears band tees and oversized jeans for a living.  Their coolness in the real world however rather depends. Sometimes they’re socially inept and sometimes they hang out at your local record store in the hopes of finding their soulmate (which of course never actually happens, better luck next time buddy…). Speaking of record store, they also most likely have a love for physical media, more specifically vinyls and CDs (Cassettes not so much but they still think they’re cool). They also most likely dislike streaming services but use Spotify anyways because hey you gotta get those scrobbles somehow. Spotify Wrapped is probably more exciting to them than any public holiday. Anwyays enough of that, let’s move on.

The type of clothes you wear can play a big role as well on your online presence. And this has not only lead to stigmatization but has also built up the belief in people that you have to look or act a certain way just because you like X media or listen to X band. This however is not true at all and trust me when I say the people walking across the street in your neighbourhood couldn’t care less if you didn’t dress in 5 layers of Pinterest worthy clothing in the middle of the scorching heat. Self expression is important but it’s rather unnecassary to waste your money on shirts that you’ll only wear twice. Once you get bored of it you’ll move on to some other core aesthetic that didn’t exist until 2 weeks ago or perhaps you’re going back with something more outdated yet in trend online but is no longer mainstream enough to actually have those types of clothing around. Now you’re only hope is getting lucky at the thrift store a few blocks away from you or some middle aged person selling their old clothes on Depop. And just like that another purchase is made using money that could’ve been saved up for something far more valuable. You could’ve DIYed stuff like your elder alternative people using the patches you bought from Etsy but who has time for that! 

Hobbies, I think we all have them. Crochet seems to be a pretty common thing nowadays for some reason, as a kid that used to be a sort of grandma kind of activity but in today’s world you can probably find your average cottagecore girl crocheting a cat beanie at your local library. Besides the never ending overconsumption of media and endless doomscrolling, sometimes there’s nothing like posting an opinion on Pinterest through the form of a block of text over a random photo. These are called Whispers although it’s rather unclear to me why we’re whispering. Once upon a time ago these Whisper girlies used to run Tumblr and Wattpad accounts like the navy or perhaps they were born from their ancestors from here, either way they all use Pinterest now since any other mainstream platform istoo toxic for them apparently. They have boards filled with pins ofbclothes they wish to have, photos of Europe because that’s where they plan on living in a few years time and pictures of their favourite men who are most likely musicians old enough to be their father. Now the guy version of this is that weird boy at your school who wears sports tech and runs a meme account on Twitter. Memes they make either range from borderline problematic or extremely depressing, sometimes both. They’re favourite films usually  consists of a bunch of cinephile stuff that they don’t quite comprehend since they’re probably 14 and I think by now you get the deal.

By now you’re probably wondering where I’m going with all of this and the truth is I started to lose everything halfway through writing this. I’m trying to make a point here but it seems that I’ve practically just spent more time describing things rather than explaining what there is to criticise about them. I guess my original message is that it’s not necessary to tick all the boxes on a list just because you want to be liked or seem interesting to others online. It’s fine to dislike that film or that band, just because something else you like is associated with it and is frequently liked by other fans of that media. I think we’re so far down in showing everything we like to watch and listen to that we forget if we’re actually enjoying it or if we’re merely doing it for the sake of presentation. Phases are normal, some things you liked during the pandemic are probably ridiculed now but I don’t think it’s really a problem if you still like it (kinda depends sometimes though). Some people just hate fun y’know and I’d say being a little cringe doesn’t hurt and is all worth it to get out of that pool of misery you drown in ever so often. #Cringecultureisdead or whatever they say. And with that I think I’ll end my rant here.

-Statiscit (18/7/2024 8:03pm)