The sincerity movement

The Internet did two important things. First, it changed people's expectations of what entertainment is, Gareth Barkin says. Reality TV can be confessional to the point of nausea, but it's still professionally produced, largely scripted, and hardly raw.

"People have a longing for authenticity," Barkin says. "They want to consume content by people just like them – it's very grounding."

Second, the Internet allowed these projects to speak to a wide audience that didn't care for sarcasm and mockery. "I'm very tired of entertainment that isn't vulnerable," says "Mortified's" Mr. Nadelberg. "Why can't we be vulnerable? There is such a level of 'snark' that has infected everything and it's so annoying, because it's not truthful. Is that really what it's come to – that even when we like something we have to cage it in 'Here's how lame it wasn't'?"

-- "Confessional Culture Draws a Crowd," CSM, Jan 31, 07

I fnd the timing of this story very interesting, coming as it does on the heels of the buzz around "photolurking" (looking at Flickr streams of total strangers), which seems like one of those activities you do because you do like seeing people's lives through the lenses of their choosing.

However, as the earliest of Rage Diaries readers will remember, I happen to believe that there is plenty of room in the cultural ecosystem for the snark (Here, here and here.) And so, to beat my metaphor into the ground, I am baffled when people persist in treating snark and sincerity as competiing species when, in fact, they are damn near symbiotic.

Comments

[Roger]

Darn right. Shoot, snark, sarcasm, mockery, and satire in general are often more sincere than sincerity. They're the mask we wear when we have to say things we can't just say plainly. For example, criticize the establishment and you're just considered a cynical malcontent. But say the very same things with satirical wit, and you're considered entertaining... and just possibly thought-provoking as well.

[Alice]

Do you think it could be because snark and sarcasm add a distance to what you're commenting on, while posts that are straight from the heart feel more exposed and real?

Because it is hard to say things plainly, when people manage to do it, it can resonate more with readers. I understand why some people feel alienated by snarkiness and sarcasm. It's a kind of humour not everyone relates to.

Don't get me wrong - I loves me some snark. That's the way I write as well. But I do know people who just don't get my sense of humour.

[drunken monkey]

Likewise, I don't "get" much of what passes for sincerity. Genuine sincerity is one thing, but am I a terrible person if I find much of this online confessional stuff a bit tedious? It really depends on the skill with which it's executed, I guess -- hey, just like snark. (And that was snarky of me. But not untrue!)

And as a film studies veteran, I will throw it out there that genuine or not, all of this output -- video, theatre productions, writing -- still has a filter attached. I'm also not really buying the assertion that this has somehow made high school embarrassment more tolerable. Isn't it making it worse, somehow, if not just the whole school but everybody, ever, has seen you doing your Luke Skywalker routine? Cyber bullying must fit in with this somewhere as well.