After hearing about Reddit snark pages on Tiktok, I recently bumped into a few and was shocked to see how detailed they are. At all hours of the day, people are following the minutia of so many people at once. It's interesting because these redditors claim to hate influencer culture, but the forums are full of names I've never heard of, aside from a few huge names, so the people who frequent these forums seem to be extremely plugged into the lives almost every major influencer in their cities while also deeply resenting their existences LOL.
Everyone has a few influencers they really dislike of course, but the level of dedication to the hatred in a such a concentrated way seems so exhausting. Really enjoyed this piece, and so true that if this energy was exerted elsewhere, the possibilities would be amazing. -- MF
I remember thinking a lot about this during the Depp vs. Heard trial, when so many Depp defenders (many of which are women) used the occasion as an opportunity to dogpile on Amber Heard, mainly drawing attention to her “ugly” crying faces in court. I’m sure many of these people care about stopping domestic abuse, but most only chose to organize when they decided the victim was a grown man and the abuser was a conventionally beautiful woman they could snark on. So convenient.
ive always had a morbid fascination with this sector of the internet, it seems downstream of 4chan culture and inherent to anonymous forums as a medium. so many reddits devolve into snark. crazy stuff!
More broadly, I find it incredibly annoying when people feel a compulsive need to morally justify disliking someone. Critically analyzing your subjective experience is out, hating women behind the guise of being woke is in! Like, you can just dislike something. Say it with your chest. Bring back being a negative nancy, unabashedly.
The whole celebrity-takedown-culture-masquerading-as-social-justice thing is one of the most annoying (at best) and destructive (at worst) aspects of online culture in the last decade. As you said in your piece, you don't even actually have to be a celebrity to be a target of this, with even non-famous people being victims. We've seen this play out on social media where people go after one another under the flimsiest of moral reasons.
But I don't think we choose to go after influencers instead of people like the Kochs or Bezos because the latter are too powerful. We do so because we actually envy the influencers more because we see live the kind of lifestyles we want and have cultural relevance among the people we aspire to be. Not everyone wants to live in some mega-mansion on a private island and go to Davos. A lot of people would rather have a cute apartment in a cool part of NYC and be part of some social circle full of hot people.
These days, billionaires seem to act more like influencers than vice versa. See the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Ackman. Not even billions can compare to the euphoric rush of the social media spotlight.
Intra-community conflict, if one considers such a term relevant here, is interesting because it's logic is sort of self-defeating: the punching bag we aim at is those akin to "us", that the person to our left is more accessible than the person far out of our reach causing the pain and suffering (it is easier to mock an influencer than a marketing company or CEO that set the standards that hurt the very people whom moral protection is claimed over), and so we take what is available to express our rage, what is visible and representative of one's rage, rather than seeing the alternatives. It is "never wrong" to dull out insults, pain, or track others to a degree that voyeurism warps into some de facto digital patriot act when you have the moral backing of individualistic failings manifested from systemic issues. I think it's an extension of the internet as a medium of righteousness: to express unsavory feelings in socially acceptable or morally admissible reasons. In the way terrifying romantic gestures become acceptable under the appropriate context, the mawkish influencer panopticon transforms conceited vitriol into justice. Voilà. Catharsis.
I'm so glad you wrote about this! These "snark" pages confuse me. Isn't it easier to unfollow an influencer if you dislike them than to constantly chime in on all their perceived wrongdoings? Even just quickly browsing one of those snark pages is exhausting!
this kinda reminds me of lolcow culture. it’s probably nowhere near to the crazy extent but it’s interesting how there are multiple forms of “groups of people coming together to compile things about (and sometimes borderline stalk) a public figure to berate them” on the internet
Interesting. I never subscribed to a snark page, but I had checked a few out.
I’m not white so I don’t understand the “white hating other white girl” thing, just have to point that out before I continue.
I was drawn to the Kardashians snark forum and for various reasons. When learning about the lives of the Kardashians before the show, they seemed like such an interesting family. I mean their history is rather fascinating. But also...I resent them for their anti blackness and etc. So it’s kinda like....I think.....where disappointment is voiced.
But you are so right. Being on a sub like that you try to find more reasons to not like them
Your reference to the 2010 article falls flat. Influencers are not in "power," they are fragile semblances of humanity dissapearing into a brand that was once a person. "Snarking" on a racist, ridiculous woman who has somehow monetized her stupidity is in no way different than gossiping about the worst girl you went to high school with, the only difference is that this influencer has decided to monetize herself and her "troubles". If you put yourself on the internet, and decide to publicize your most malicious acts, how could you ever dare say the public can't have an opinion. I think this "essay" would have more depth, or perhaps more meaning if it were not written by a woman who if my memory serves correct, "blew up" on tiktok. I don't think you're as unbiased as you have dreamt yourself be. Critical thought is always needed and appreciated but I don't think your voice is as necessary in this conversation as you believe it to be. Though as a white woman I'm sure your voice will forever be where ever it pleases.
The ED recovery snark sub seems to be one of the most alarming examples of everything you discussed here. In the name of "supporting ED recovery," they send the message that if you ever are brave enough to go public with your recovery efforts, you will have to face their own unbending and dehumanizing scrutiny. It's like a warning to not be brave and not share your story because you will be treated as one-dimensional and fake by the same community who claims to support that effort.
I stumbled upon one of these "snark pages" early on in the pandemic. This post is correct: If you dig hard enough, you'll find the sad stuff, and if these snarkers organized around, say, politics, universal healthcare might just be a thing at this point.
But alas, we live here, in this 2024, and we've got to deal with it. Envy and jealous are just things we're going to feel as humans, there's no getting around it. But not every emotion needs to be processed in a public arena!
As a long time fashion blogger I grew up knowing there was probably a a snark encyclopedia dedicated to me the entire time I’ve been present on the internet and it’s given me a few breakdowns over the years lol. I definitely appreciate this piece because of it 😅
After hearing about Reddit snark pages on Tiktok, I recently bumped into a few and was shocked to see how detailed they are. At all hours of the day, people are following the minutia of so many people at once. It's interesting because these redditors claim to hate influencer culture, but the forums are full of names I've never heard of, aside from a few huge names, so the people who frequent these forums seem to be extremely plugged into the lives almost every major influencer in their cities while also deeply resenting their existences LOL.
Everyone has a few influencers they really dislike of course, but the level of dedication to the hatred in a such a concentrated way seems so exhausting. Really enjoyed this piece, and so true that if this energy was exerted elsewhere, the possibilities would be amazing. -- MF
I remember thinking a lot about this during the Depp vs. Heard trial, when so many Depp defenders (many of which are women) used the occasion as an opportunity to dogpile on Amber Heard, mainly drawing attention to her “ugly” crying faces in court. I’m sure many of these people care about stopping domestic abuse, but most only chose to organize when they decided the victim was a grown man and the abuser was a conventionally beautiful woman they could snark on. So convenient.
Great piece as always!
ive always had a morbid fascination with this sector of the internet, it seems downstream of 4chan culture and inherent to anonymous forums as a medium. so many reddits devolve into snark. crazy stuff!
Envy by Contra Points!!!!
More broadly, I find it incredibly annoying when people feel a compulsive need to morally justify disliking someone. Critically analyzing your subjective experience is out, hating women behind the guise of being woke is in! Like, you can just dislike something. Say it with your chest. Bring back being a negative nancy, unabashedly.
The whole celebrity-takedown-culture-masquerading-as-social-justice thing is one of the most annoying (at best) and destructive (at worst) aspects of online culture in the last decade. As you said in your piece, you don't even actually have to be a celebrity to be a target of this, with even non-famous people being victims. We've seen this play out on social media where people go after one another under the flimsiest of moral reasons.
But I don't think we choose to go after influencers instead of people like the Kochs or Bezos because the latter are too powerful. We do so because we actually envy the influencers more because we see live the kind of lifestyles we want and have cultural relevance among the people we aspire to be. Not everyone wants to live in some mega-mansion on a private island and go to Davos. A lot of people would rather have a cute apartment in a cool part of NYC and be part of some social circle full of hot people.
These days, billionaires seem to act more like influencers than vice versa. See the likes of Elon Musk and Bill Ackman. Not even billions can compare to the euphoric rush of the social media spotlight.
Reddit snark pages are really nothing compared to the old days of Guru Gossip and other forums!!
Intra-community conflict, if one considers such a term relevant here, is interesting because it's logic is sort of self-defeating: the punching bag we aim at is those akin to "us", that the person to our left is more accessible than the person far out of our reach causing the pain and suffering (it is easier to mock an influencer than a marketing company or CEO that set the standards that hurt the very people whom moral protection is claimed over), and so we take what is available to express our rage, what is visible and representative of one's rage, rather than seeing the alternatives. It is "never wrong" to dull out insults, pain, or track others to a degree that voyeurism warps into some de facto digital patriot act when you have the moral backing of individualistic failings manifested from systemic issues. I think it's an extension of the internet as a medium of righteousness: to express unsavory feelings in socially acceptable or morally admissible reasons. In the way terrifying romantic gestures become acceptable under the appropriate context, the mawkish influencer panopticon transforms conceited vitriol into justice. Voilà. Catharsis.
“Christian evangelical influencers promoting borderline genocidal TERF ideology”
I don’t think there are many Christian evangelicals who hold radical feminist beliefs. Please learn what that term even means.
I'm so glad you wrote about this! These "snark" pages confuse me. Isn't it easier to unfollow an influencer if you dislike them than to constantly chime in on all their perceived wrongdoings? Even just quickly browsing one of those snark pages is exhausting!
this kinda reminds me of lolcow culture. it’s probably nowhere near to the crazy extent but it’s interesting how there are multiple forms of “groups of people coming together to compile things about (and sometimes borderline stalk) a public figure to berate them” on the internet
Interesting. I never subscribed to a snark page, but I had checked a few out.
I’m not white so I don’t understand the “white hating other white girl” thing, just have to point that out before I continue.
I was drawn to the Kardashians snark forum and for various reasons. When learning about the lives of the Kardashians before the show, they seemed like such an interesting family. I mean their history is rather fascinating. But also...I resent them for their anti blackness and etc. So it’s kinda like....I think.....where disappointment is voiced.
But you are so right. Being on a sub like that you try to find more reasons to not like them
Your reference to the 2010 article falls flat. Influencers are not in "power," they are fragile semblances of humanity dissapearing into a brand that was once a person. "Snarking" on a racist, ridiculous woman who has somehow monetized her stupidity is in no way different than gossiping about the worst girl you went to high school with, the only difference is that this influencer has decided to monetize herself and her "troubles". If you put yourself on the internet, and decide to publicize your most malicious acts, how could you ever dare say the public can't have an opinion. I think this "essay" would have more depth, or perhaps more meaning if it were not written by a woman who if my memory serves correct, "blew up" on tiktok. I don't think you're as unbiased as you have dreamt yourself be. Critical thought is always needed and appreciated but I don't think your voice is as necessary in this conversation as you believe it to be. Though as a white woman I'm sure your voice will forever be where ever it pleases.
The ED recovery snark sub seems to be one of the most alarming examples of everything you discussed here. In the name of "supporting ED recovery," they send the message that if you ever are brave enough to go public with your recovery efforts, you will have to face their own unbending and dehumanizing scrutiny. It's like a warning to not be brave and not share your story because you will be treated as one-dimensional and fake by the same community who claims to support that effort.
I stumbled upon one of these "snark pages" early on in the pandemic. This post is correct: If you dig hard enough, you'll find the sad stuff, and if these snarkers organized around, say, politics, universal healthcare might just be a thing at this point.
But alas, we live here, in this 2024, and we've got to deal with it. Envy and jealous are just things we're going to feel as humans, there's no getting around it. But not every emotion needs to be processed in a public arena!
As a long time fashion blogger I grew up knowing there was probably a a snark encyclopedia dedicated to me the entire time I’ve been present on the internet and it’s given me a few breakdowns over the years lol. I definitely appreciate this piece because of it 😅