Our generation has never known the internet to be a place of sincerity. At the core of our experience with the internet, there has always been a layer of performativity, a glimmer of fakeness, and a whole lot of Photoshop. More recently, the internet’s fakeness has extended to how we perceive the world, surfacing as the “irony epidemic.” It was Ethel Cain who coined the term in a now-deleted Tumblr post where she discussed the outpouring of memes after the release of her latest album, Perverts. “There is such a loss of sincerity and everything has to be a joke at all times,” Cain states. In short, the irony epidemic is an overall lack of genuineness and meaningful engagement shown by people on the internet. To replace the deleted post, Cain posted a much lengthier explanation of her thoughts on the irony epidemic, wherein she expanded the concept to how people responded to her friends’ comments on police brutality with comments like “yasss” and “mothered.”
The lack of seriousness that Cain’s friend received regarding a weighty political matter parallels how meme culture drove the 2024 Kamala Harris presidential campaign. Soon after Harris was announced as Biden’s replacement for the Democratic nominee, and even before, she was being memed. Prior to the announcement of her campaign, social media was rife with memes of her laughing, dancing, and the iconic “we did it, Joe.” The virality of the memes only increased when she was running for President. During the summer of 2024, TikTok ran rampant with soundbites of Harris’ viral “You think you fell out of a coconut tree?” Video edits that merged brat by charli xcx with Harris’ campaign also flooded the internet. In a YouTube essay, Mina Le discusses the relevance of the ironic internet and the Harris campaign. Le points out that these videos didn’t do much for the campaign, despite generating a viral trend. These videos, mostly created by young people, didn’t include any of the tenets of the Harris campaign or communicate her goals as President. They solely memed her and removed her from the very important and dire context of the presidential race.
While it’s very easy to fault social media users, the platforms themselves are also to blame for the irony epidemic. Many different social media platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, and TikTok are algorithm-driven and value the content that gets the most engagement. Often, that content isn’t the most genuine or sincere but rather the funniest or most reaction-provoking. Beyond the effect of the algorithms, the nature of these platforms often contribute to the atmosphere that fuels an ironic culture. Many social media platforms have shifted away from a chronological feed and 24-hour cycle, opting instead for feeds that constantly refresh and present content to the user as soon as they open the app, like TikTok’s For You page or Instagram’s feed. This kind of fast-paced atmosphere doesn’t allow time for critical thinking or true engagement with the content’s core message. Instead, it fuels the environment that favors quick memeing of moments before moving on to the next funniest thing.
The way we interact with each other on the internet has real consequences in our lives as well. Ever since lockdown, discourse around social media’s negative impact on young people’s mental states has exploded. However, the irony epidemic takes things further. Social media isn’t just affecting our moods, it also affects the way that we see the world. A deep seated sense of nihilism and existentialism on social media is ever present, seen in recurring corecore videos, even as users generate trends like hopecore to combat it. Here at McGill, we are no strangers to the irony epidemic. Instagram pages like Spotted McGill or the r/mcgill subreddit are full of anonymous students commenting on the lives of strangers, often taking on a mean-spirited tone for the sake of “humour.” Being in this constant state of cynicism makes us less empathetic towards the people around us.
Even though being chronically online is “in,” do not solely occupy digital spaces that perpetuate insincerity. You can be the change in these platforms, or you can seek calmer waters on PI.FYI, Pixelfed, and Spread. Though it seems like social media is here to stay, you have the ultimate say on its role in your life. To reduce screen time, you can set time limits, delete the apps, or set reminders to put your phone down. In your interactions on social media, take serious things seriously! There’s always a balance: sometimes it is appropriate to meme or poke fun at a situation, but a presidential race or political matter is not that time. It can be difficult to contend with heavy issues, but using humour to dismiss their significance is beneficial to no one and only offers short term relief, if any.