Sometimes, I get a bee in my bonnet about something I see/hear/watch and toss it around in my head for a while, vacillating between these two thoughts:
This might be a good thing to write about, and other people might agree —hit publish!
You can think about this, but don’t write it because it may come off as “pick me” and “not like the other girls”
Today, the former thought won out by a skosh. But just barely! I think what put me over the edge was sitting down to scroll Instagram on my computer to find my usual LOLs of the week, many of which I find during the week and save, but like to round it out with a few from the explore page. And personally, I like browsing on the computer instead of my phone, both so my aging eyes don’t have to strain at a small screen, and because you’re able to get a bird’s eye view of a lot of posts at once, especially when viewed at 50% zoom. Efficiency!
As usual, I was bombarded with 80% reels —can’t a girl find a photo meme easily anymore? Sheesh. But of the remaining ~20% static posts, nearly all of them were some variation of the “kinda chic” trend, Now, as a chronically online woman, I’ve of course seen the trend take off in recent weeks.
If you haven’t seen it, the gist of it is: a carousel of aesthetic photos with butter yellow font highlighting stuff that most people wouldn’t consider traditionally chic.
But unlike most trends which I think are kind of fun and entertaining, this one, to borrow Love Island UK parlance, gave me the immediate ick.
And I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but I think I’ve narrowed it down: the trend is inherently one of the worst encapsulations of the naval gazing that we’ve all come to associate with social media. Now, I have always had qualms with my own social media usage, and have deleted it for months at a time because I get very existential with it, pondering why I want to post stuff? Who actually cares? Isn’t it narcissistic to post anything about my life?
Usually, I can reason myself out of a spiral with my mantra: WWMD (What Would Martha Do).
But you know what I think Martha would not do? The “kinda chic” trend. Even at her most boastful, for lack of a better word, she always comes across as simply stating that it’s how she does something, never directly attacking how someone else might do something. Does she think she’s better than other people? Undoubtedly —she didn’t get to where she is by having imposter syndrome!
But the “kinda chic” trend shines a light on what used to be at least partially camouflaged: a humblebrag.
And it’s the algorithm at work! If all you see are “kinda chic” slop carousels in butter yellow (the cool color to use now), then you’re inclined to post something like that because it’ll get views. But it kind of feels like an emperor has no clothes situation, because I’ve talked to multiple IRL friends who have seen the trend and expressed their distaste for it, yet it’s all I see on Instagram currently. If we all dislike it why is it everywhere? Are people pretending to hop on board because it’s just the trend du jour, but secretly think it’s dumb? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
Of course, now my brain is worried that by not doing the kinda chic trend, and worse, writing about not doing it, am I contributing to the problem? Do I think I’m above a trend, and am I just naval gazing and overanalyzing? Probably, but also we are living through strange Internet times and I think it’s only natural to question why we do the things we do, especially at the behest of social media.
As always, it feels like we’re all little puppets and the social media companies are the ones pulling the strings, convinced that no actually, we’re the ones in control.
Until next week, overthinking random Internet trends while out on long mental health walks,
Amy
P.S.: I just noticed that Substack made a change and now free subscribers are able to comment on paywalled posts, which makes me so happy! You know it was a fraught decision to try this paid model (more on that decision here), and one of my main gripes was I missed the comment section discourse, as that change made it open to only paid subs on those paywalled posts. Let’s chat!!
Test Your Tomato I.Q. [New York Times] — A fun little tomato quiz from Margaret Roach — I got a 5/9, crap! I’m ashamed but had to be honest.
The Return of the Monarch [The Atlantic] — After many dismal years with decreasing populations, estimates have been increasing for the past two years. This seems to be connected to herculean efforts to save butterfly habitats in Canada, the US, and Mexico. Good news!
The spotted lanternfly is ravaging the eastern US. Pet dogs are coming to the rescue [BBC] — In another instance of “we don’t deserve dogs!!!”: a citizen science program is training pet dogs to find spotted lantern fly eggs before they hatch so they can be destroyed.
In These Orchards, Fruit Has All But Disappeared This Year [Civil Eats] Due to freak late frosts after fruit blossoms set, farmers across the country are faced with catastrophic losses, ranging from 70-100% across apples and various stone fruit depending on location.
Organic Farmers: Resilient in the Face of War [Offrange] — The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is still affecting US farmers, with 70% of them saying they’re unable to afford all the fertilizer they need for their farms. Meanwhile, organic farmers, which make up 1% of US farms, remain relatively unscathed. Perhaps now is a good time to reevaluate our dependence on fossil fuel-derived synthetic fertilizers?
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.