Scrawled in Wax

This isn’t exactly timely, but the following is a slightly modified version of a column that appeared in the May/June issue of THIS Magazine. I’m putting it up here because of my previous post on indie rock, a hastily put-together bit where I make the argument that while hipster elitism may be leaving indie rock, that kind of personal showmanship has now found a home on a web. That, ultimately, is the (belated) argument I make here about the rise of snark, but also the way it has seeped into mainstream culture as well.

You there: you seem like a pretty hip person. Why don’t you give me your best Boxxy impression? No? Okay, how about you tell me the latest the ‘Yo Dawg’ joke making the rounds? You don’t know that one, huh? Well, did you at least see the latest post on “This is Why You’re Fat”? Oh. You didn’t. Oh dear.

As much as it pains me to say, in the world of web geeks, you would be profoundly uncool. And while, as insults go, that may not be much of one, it does mean that as the web begins to develop a culture, it is also cultivating its own fashion. Much like the world of fashion itself, those who can follow the latest trends do, while those who cannot, languish by the wayside. And the catch is, as online culture leaks into the mainstream, it seems we’re all on the hook for staying current with it.

In order to be ‘a savvy web surfer’, one has to show off his or her command of the latest bits of buzz that float across the online horizon. And how does one find the latest fashion of the web? Here’s a tip: head to the geekiest, snarkiest corner of the internet you can find.

Whether it’s an obscure videogame forum or a popular site like Gizmodo or Jezebel, these concentrated bits of web culture will quickly teach you that staying current is of the utmost importance. Witness, for instance, the frighteningly fast rise and fall of ‘Boxxy’, a widely-mocked, hyperactive teenager prone to making babbling, semi-coherent videos. Like so many web fads before her, Boxxy was chewed up and spit out in a matter of weeks, and much of the discussion around her was simply about making fun of both her eagerness and obliviousness.

Or, take the captioned pictures of rapper Xzibit that begin with the phrase ‘Yo Dawg’ and go on to make absurd assertions of excess. Regardless of who they affect or offend – even Xzibit himself recently Twittered that those using the meme should “jump on something sharp” – web surfers who wish to remain in the loop must stay abreast of a torrent of trends.

Fashion has always been about the display of social and economic privilege. While the barriers to entry are lower for web fashion, its tone is disturbingly similar: not only does one require the time and savvy to stay on top of it all, you must also learn to express it with the condescending irony of the web-hipster. Find a discussion of blog “This is Why You’re Fat” – a catalogue of obscenely indulgent meals like ‘chicken-fried bacon’ – and you will also find a distinct tone of urban, classist disdain for the poor saps whom might actually eat such things.

If this all sounds like the dog-eat-dog world of high school, you’re probably right. If the web has become a virtual catwalk, then it’s not only where we display our knowledge, but also a place where we prove how much better than others we are. Like fashion itself, the internet has become an arena for showing off and, bit by bit, the egalitarian dreams with which the internet began give way to a culture of performance, derision and snark.

But lest we think this is limited to the nerdiness of the internet, just turn on the TV. If NBC’s 30 Rock has become the hipster sitcom of choice, then its success stems from the way it has so cleverly co-opted the rapid-fire pace of internet conversation, its droll irony and self-deprecation. Similarly, it seems no coincidence that Family Guy has usurped The Simpsons’ position in the zeitgeist, its love-them-or-hate-them segues and cuts, as the Associated Press’ Frazier Moore once described them, more like hyperlinks than traditional narrative. By linking themselves to the culture of the ‘net, these shows scream ‘contemporary’.

Indeed, having a working knowledge of web culture has become part of an increasingly popular geek chic, and web fashion is beginning to take its place alongside the MacBooks, lattes and lumber jackets of the urbane modern repertoire. In some ways, this can be great: Christian Lander’s blog “Stuff White People Like” generated a fruitful discussion on race that may not have happened otherwise.

But in other ways, it is more disturbing. If web fashion is spilling over into popular culture, then it also brings with it its inherent flaws. Perhaps the last thing North American culture needs is a further sense that we must constantly attempt to outdo each other. There is also the question of access: internet connections and time cost money; ironic wit often stems from being well-read. These things are not available to everyone, but only to those with the capacity to get them. Sadly, web fashion, like fashion itself, may work to heighten the parallel divisions between cool and uncool, haves and have-nots.

If the devil may have once worn wear Prada, sneering at your shoes from last year, he or she is now more likely sniping behind a keyboard, like a vulture searching for weakness, waiting to spread its wings so that others might see.