I don’t care if it’s embarrassing to say this, but I want the internet to be kind again. I want people to care out loud without fear. I want sincerity not to feel like weakness.

I don’t want to live in a world where caring about stuff is shameful.
#blog #internet

August 25, 2025 - 09:50 UTC

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God damn Alli, you once again knock it out of the park! I feel that undersells this article though because you did an absolutely stellar job here. You cut straight to the heart of the problem with cringe and how it makes us afraid. It echoes a lot of my own thoughts I've had on "cringe" for awhile
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I feel like personally I hate the idea of irony and cringe being the default state because in a lot of ways its already harder for me to understand tone online. It makes it so hard to trust or read a person if they fill their feed with irony. I want to connect with people! Not just read "jokes"
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well, finally found someone understanding what was on my mind. thank you~! ♡⸜(˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶)⸝♡
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HELL YEAH ♥️🤟

I've spent wayyyyy too much time as a teenager trying anything and everything on how to be "cool" (which is a very late 90s/early 00s to say it because that was then 😅)

Was only towards my late 20s/early 30s that I finally started to actually be... more me?

Being cringe is SO freeing
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To echo another reply you got, since I'm in my late 30s and towards the 40s I definitely can see how a dude could feel more free of all that social burdain of trying to not be cringe/be cool, definitely looking forward to that!!!

Hope you have a very nice day 👍

And THANK YOU for this blog 😄
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"We need the courage to treat sincerity not as weakness but as strength, and to call cruelty for what it is, cowardice masquerading as cleverness, and to insist on the value of opinions formed in conviction rather than consensus."

this so freaking hard omg
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Aw thank you! Sincerity is absolutely everything to me.
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The feeling of absolute liberation you get once you stop caring about being "cringe" is amazing. It's mostly an internal change, which actually makes it harder, but once you get past that the weapon stops working on you.
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EXACTLY! It's such a liberating feeling when you cast that weight aside, and such a point of growth from oneself too.
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A message worth spreading.
It's incredible how the Cringe/Based dynamic has so many people paralyzed and pretending to be someone they're not just to please strangers on the internet. In the end, I feel like it's just another way to perpetuate the old "what will they say?"
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Stopping people from trying things they might like, or know they like; or even pushing them away from people. Truly hurting themselves without realizing it.
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"The internet has become so damn allergic to sincerity that it treats any unguarded moment like a contagion to be quarantined, mocked, and destroyed"

This is a very eloquently put sentence that very much echoes how I feel about modern internet spaces. Thank you for this blog article!
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I really do hope it changes. And thank you for reading!
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I have no shame.
I have no cringe.
I am a free woman.
I am going to enjoy my life~
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Yes!
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this "Cringe bad >:(" sentiment people have is basically the reason I became a relentless, unhealthy people pleaser. the Internet is my main form of socialization (no support groups in my city) and I really think people on social media... should be just more forgiving.
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like, as long as it doesn't hurt them or others... why should one fucking bother? this kind of mindset doesn't just make the people on the receiving end, but the people on the giving end miserable. people should just... loosen the fuck up and be chill.
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Honestly, I feel one person's cringe is another person's based. There's enough variance in taste for all kinds of things to exist.

And I agree with you that sincerity in what one makes is welcome. I'd rather that media be sincere jank over polished slop.

People should share stuff. Period.
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Yeah! Sincerity is always key. I always bang on about jank, and seeing the creators hands and vision through that jank. Shit's wonderful.
Thank you for your words!
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I approve of this message.
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Agreed ^.^
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Thanks for writing this!

For me, turning 40 was liberating because I realized I don't need to worry about being 'cringe' or not anymore; I'm in my 40s so who cares anymore!

I wish I had figured it out sooner because I spent my 20s and 30s repressed, but now I'm looking forward to a fun back 40!
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Thank you for reading! And yeah, I'm so excited to more... me i guess, as I grow! Those chains will break for sure! ^_^
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Lovely and important read as always, Alli <3 The part about sincerity particularly got to me as while it's on paper valued, I don't think it is often in practice. Otherwise, all the insincere videos, thumbnails, posts, etc, would have zero traction.

Something everyone has the power to change.
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Aww, thank you Sasha! <3
Sincerity definitely isn't properly valued, and it's such an important thing that we can all properly start to re-learn. It's really needed, now more than ever.
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I was feeling like Omg I feel this way! 😮💗
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This cuts straight to the bleeding heart of how I've felt about the irony-poisoning present in many things nowadays, both in a social media context as well as elsewhere. Thank you for writing this.

Hopefully the more people that realize this, the more collective courage we'll all have.
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Why, thank you. I really hope we do start to see a change in this normalised way of thinking.
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As someone who recently cut ties with a friend who was very much irony poisoned I now grasp how pervasive that attitude is and how you feel forced to act like it's the default. I'm going to blame south park and 4chan as the origins of that problem
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First off, i'm sorry about that. Once you’re close to someone like that, you really see how much it drains out any chance of sincerity, because every moment has to be deflected or undercut.
It’s exhausting, and it does make you feel like detachment is just the normal way to exist online.
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I dunno, I've been on the internet for quite a while now and umm, I don't remember there ever being a time when the internet was particularly kind... If anything, it feels more like that now than ever, at least from the perspective of an autistic womanchild...
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I'll repeat what I said to this person, although not as harsh ^^; and yeah, as a fellow autistic womanchild... The 'net has always been unkind to us.
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YES!!! My bio even says ‘proud member of the Cringe Community’ because I am as cringe as all get out.
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Let's go!! Cringe as a badge of honour is something I can get behind!
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As always, sharing is appreciated. 🩷
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(going to head to bed now, hope y'all enjoy your day. ^_^)
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Do you mind if I cross-post this onto the Fediverse?
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_thank you_ for this, this is a message worth spreading.
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This was a truly poignant read - I love your writing so much and your thoughts really resonate with me

Thank you for another banger article!
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Aw, thank you so much for the kind words!
I've been watching your videos since the Toy Commander one a year or two ago! (no surprise there xD)
So thank you for the hours of rich and fun DC content you've given me too! ^_^ 🌀
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Again? When was the first time? You can find yourself nice little corners and communities of kindness on it, I've found quite a few, but the internet has never been kind. It's just now everyone has access to it in the palm of their hand, and it creates engagement which algorithms latch onto.
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I suppose like 94-03 was some pretty nice internet times.
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I wish it was. It's just a large chunk of it was trapped in 4chan and reddit forever because places didn't put up with that shit. Now that shit creates engagement which drives ad revenue.

What you really want is the end of capitalism. That's why nothing is kind anymore.
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Sorry, I can’t just brush it off as “the internet’s always been mean.” The web hasn't some pure utopia, yeah, but as a black woman I’ve had way more racist shit thrown at me now than I ever did back then. It's escalated a ton, and pretending otherwise feels like letting that stuff off the hook tbh
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Be the love and kindness you want to see in the world.
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Yessss omg I can tell this writing really came from a place of frustration. To me, "cringe" is things like bigotry, cruelty, general judginess. Being sincere and vulnerable is how you connect with people!

What a great article. True to its message, it really came from the heart. ❤️
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Aww, thank you as always Mia! ^_^
Hopefully we can all start to be more sincere and vulnerable. 🩷
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were you on cohost? i feel like ive seen your site before
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I was! was much more of a lurker honestly, but I was! wow, that's the first time i've ever been noticed from cohost haha
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