I Miss When Being Cringe Was Fine.

Mar 25
4 min read

By Deeply Indigo - March 25, 2026

Follow along with the audio companion, or simply tune in to hear me yap.

We live in a world that now revolves around aesthetics and marketability. I was born on March 15th, 2005. I was basically born at the start of a new world, just beginning to take form. Not long afterwards, we entered the 2010's- a decade that defined the internet's identity and acted as a sort of teenage era, or a renaissance, if you will. This was the first time in history that people could connect with each other from all over the world, and yap instantly.

Humans have an evolutionary need to be social, it's what helped us survive back when we relied on the rest of the group- when social standing was literally life or death. With the birth of social media, came a chance to be liked by millions and millions of people whose existence was previously unknown to you. If you weren't liked at school, in your community, or any social setting really, you now had an opportunity to reach a crowd who appreciated you. Because chances were no matter how odd, quirky, or different you were, someone out there could match your freak.

Over the course of the next decade, we saw a golden age of self expression, experimenting, creating, and basically just fun! Personalities like Trisha Peytas, Shane Dawson, PewDiePie, Fred, and so so so many more rose to stardom for their unique, undeniable ability to create art in the most idgaf way possible. The 2010's brought Vine, Musical.ly, Jacob Sartorius, Mukbangs, Vlogmas, and countless other stupid bullshit. It was a time of joy, expression, and creativity. So why is it that when we think about that era, the overarching consensus is "cringe"?

Well somewhere down the line, content creators slowly began being replaced with "influencers". Although now used interchangeably, I want to be very clear. Influencers do not create- they promote. Following the boom of content creators, the world saw how quickly and easily a social media account could blow up, and the goal very soon shifted away from creating for expression to creating for clout and validation. The change didn't happen overnight, it was a gradual shift that became apparent by about 2016, most notably on Instagram.

You see, when Instagram was first created, it served as a fun way to keep up with friends. Originally, the IG feed used a chronological format- it was a very simple and efficient design. But in 2016, IG shifted away from the chronological feed and introduced a data-learning computer system, your best and most influential friend- the algorithm. This new system showed you the posts it assumed you would enjoy, and ultimately learned from you. Your habits, your interests, your desires, were all turned into currency. Instagram was no longer about connecting people; it was a social business model. IG was now an advertisement company, and so the influencer was born.

Influencers serve to promote an 'ideal' lifestyle, a version of yourself you should aspire to reach. They had money, brand deals, aesthetics, fulfillment, but most importantly, they had followers- so clearly they must be doing something right. There was a massive culture shift away from expression and uniqueness. The new goal was to conform and fit into the ideal, attractive life that these influencers seemed to live. Content shifted from skits, parodies, and experimental videos to "get ready with me", shopping hauls, and brand reviews.

Slowly, we started to move away from authenticity and self-expression. Don't get me wrong, the next decade (2015-2025) marked huge advances in social movements like Me Too, Body Positivity, BLM, and Environmental Activism. We saw a new demand to be treated fairly across the board, a push to accept our differences and even embrace them. These movements advanced society by introducing new policies to our governments, demanding accountability, and inspiring a new generation to not settle for the status quo. But for the majority of the general population, and even within those movements, the goal was to assimilate and be allowed to blend in with the crowd. The rise of activism culture allowed for major advances socio-politically. But in the age of influencers and brand deals it's become increasingly difficult to distinguish who genuinely believes in the causes, and who's playing the role for clout.

Of course, there was and continues to be those who never gave way to the influencer mainstream lifestyle. There will always be black sheep, free-thinkers, contrarians, and those who dance to their own tune. Even now, with the regression into "clean-girl aesthetic" and ozempic body figures, a growing population continues to deny status-quo, unafraid to be authentic. But unfortunately, to the majority of the population- at least in the gen-z era- anything not an aesthetic presence is deemed less than. And anything not meeting cultural norms is labeled 'cringe'.

In this day and age, to be 'cringe' is an act of courage- at least from the mainstream pov- because in their eyes, standing out in a nonaesthetic manner is embarrassing. And embarrassment is social suicide.

So be yourself, and be cringe.