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In the last ten years there has been a significant change in mainstream content from information (what) to personalities (who). A major driver has been the adop

by osobo 5y ago

In the last ten years there has been a significant change in mainstream content from information (what) to personalities (who). A major driver has been the adoption of social media by the mainstream: Uncle Bob pawing his cell phone while on the toilet. Both closed circle SM (checking on your friends and acquaintances) and public facing SM (checking the influencers) have created a whole new, uncontrolled feeding ground to some old vices: Jaleousy and greed. Watching other people's lives and see them spending money and enjoying fineries in an (supposedly) unedited, reality-like format makes a lot of people feel that it must all be real and they should be living that live themselves. Whether it's about wealth, ideologies or any other aspect of lifestyle: Suddenly it's right there, dangled in front of them. This, coupled with the ease of packing in actionable links and buttons, creates a whole new dynamic where people get lured in by shiny things (crypto/NFS/MLM etc) only to get duped. It's a really old phenomenon, though.

mschuster91 5y ago
> Whether it's about wealth, ideologies or any other aspect of lifestyle: Suddenly it's right there, dangled in front of them. And for what it's worth, what is considered "luxury" has become more and more accessible/affordable or is not a status symbol any more: 7-series BMW models can be leased for ~800€ a month, luxury watches have fallen out of fashion, expensive clothing items can be rented or you just go for the trend of "fast fashion", even extremely expensive cell phones like Samsung's Galaxy Fold series can be had with a contract for under 100€ a month. And if you're just looking for something to prop up your Instagram profile, everything you need sans cosmetic products can be rented for cheap - no need to actually buy all that stuff.
- Hokusai 5y ago
  > what is considered "luxury" has become more and more accessible/affordable or is not a status symbol any more This seems to be the reality for many HN users. But not being able to buy a home or even pay rent seems quite common in the general population.
  - beaconstudios 5y ago
    Yeah the tech bubble is one of the worse ones. 800eur/month is not even possible for most people, let alone pocket change.
    - foepys 5y ago
      Not disagreeing with you but quite a few younger people driving those cars are living at their parents and have little to no other significant expenses. Yes, 800€/mo is a lot for many but for some it's in the "affordable if I don't do much else" category. I've also heard about people pooling their money and driving them on alternating weekends. Luxury car ownership has gotten a lot cheaper than before when you needed to pay upfront or with hefty interest.
  - SuoDuanDao 5y ago
    It would seem luxuries have gotten more accessible while necessities have gotten more dear. Not sure what that says about global versus local inequality.
  - RC_ITR 5y ago
    The real weirdness is that bad local policy has led to uneven inflation, so our cultural 'anchors' of luxury are all thrown off. A luxury car? We've gotten 10x+ better at making those since the 1950's, so ofc it's cheaper. A trip to the Maldives? Same. A reasonable house to live in? Well, we've sort of gotten better at making those, but not as drastically, AND we've decided to make laws that make it harder to build more of them anyway. Lot's of fun hierarchy of needs debates to be had from that.
- Kye 5y ago
  That's almost $1k/month. I don't know where you live or what life you live that $1k/month for a car that's probably not very practical is viable, but that's not normal in the US. That's rent in the exurbs, never mind the city. That's over a third of median annual salary before taxes. Now add fuel, maintenance, registration, and insurance. And leases usually require better than minimum insurance, so factor in good insurance on a $90-100k car.
  - nradov 5y ago
    Those leases include maintenance.
- hammock 5y ago
  Well, the financing plans you use which make luxury "affordable" are more a symptom of our debt based economy and monetary policy. Most people expect it to crash at some point
- beckman466 5y ago
  > 7-series BMW models can be leased for ~800€ a month €800 a month? i have an income of €1100 per month. so after rent and bills (€500), i have €600 per month for all my other costs. no BMW for me. although (like you(?)) i do live in a European country (Holland) where there is excellent, although expensive, rail/bus travel and biking infrastructure.
  - 999900000999 5y ago
    Are you a programmer. €1100 is not a lot of money. But now I'm thinking that's a possible retirement destination
  - zoover2020 5y ago
  - msh 5y ago
    Is that a full time job? I thought holland was better paid than that. Short term unemployment benefits in Denmark would pay out approx 1808 eur a month after taxes.
- brimble 5y ago
  That's luxury brands moving downmarket to cash in. I've seen a lot more Maseratis out in my part of the 'burbs than before. We're not the rich 'burbs or area of the city, but deeply middle-class, and I'm quite certain that hasn't changed. I suspect instead that brand has moved down-market. Some try to ride the line and do both. Create an overpriced line that's maybe less well-made than the "real" ones, and slap your brand name all over it because some segments of society think advertising the right brand names and lots of fake gold and such are what rich people like, and they want to be like them while prominently advertising that they can afford "luxury". Then you sell them in different stores from where you sell your actually-luxury goods. A Gucci bag with the most prominent design element being "Gucci" tiled all over it isn't actually a luxury item. "Big pony" Ralph Lauren isn't even luxury-adjacent like the mainline brand is (or, at least, has been), it's trashy as hell—but they produce them for a reason, and in some stores that's nearly all they have. That's a signal of the kind of store you're in and who they're selling to, not a sign that luxury has become more accessible. None of this is "luxury" becoming more affordable.
AnthonyMouse 5y ago
> Both closed circle SM (checking on your friends and acquaintances) and public facing SM (checking the influencers) It's even worse than that because of the algorithms. They show you more of what they think you like, but the bubbles are quite narrow. For example, suppose you want to see what's going on with all the vaccine skepticism. There is a bubble centered around Joe Rogan. They're talking about how the existing vaccines aren't as effective against Omicron as they were against previous variants, and debating whether the (in both cases low) incidence of myocarditis in adolescents is higher from the vaccine or from the virus. Then there is a bubble centered around Alex Jones. They're telling you that Bill Gates is putting microchips in the vaccines and that the vaccines cause protein folding and therefore prions. You click on the wrong thing and the algorithm decides you want to see more of that. It surrounds you with the people who already believe those things. Now you're the skeptic and they're the establishment and you're trying to remember enough of high school biology to describe the relationship between protein folding and prions while conceding that maybe Bill Gates does suck and maybe that does make him technically a vampire, but could someone explain what that has to do with population control? Meanwhile there are plenty of scientists who are happy to explain it to you, but once it decides you want to see fear porn, you don't get to see the people debunking it anymore. And Alex Jones is just the canonical exemplar. The bubbles like that form everywhere. You have people who still believe that the people Kyle Rittenhouse shot were black, or that Julian Assange reports to Putin. One of the most self-perpetuating ones is the myth that "misinformation" is caused by not banning "bad" people, when it's actually caused by not exposing everyone to contrary viewpoints so that they lose the opportunity to have their mistakes corrected. But telling people what they want to hear sells more advertising than eat your vegetables, so doing the wrong thing is more profitable.
- logifail 5y ago
  > when it's actually caused by not exposing everyone to contrary viewpoints so that they lose the opportunity to have their mistakes corrected There appears to be a growing trend that claims it's innately harmful to experience contrary viewpoints.
  - GenerocUsername 5y ago

by osobo 5y ago

mschuster91 5y ago

> Whether it's about wealth, ideologies or any other aspect of lifestyle: Suddenly it's right there, dangled in front of them. And for what it's worth, what is considered "luxury" has become more and more accessible/affordable or is not a status symbol any more: 7-series BMW models can be leased for ~800€ a month, luxury watches have fallen out of fashion, expensive clothing items can be rented or you just go for the trend of "fast fashion", even extremely expensive cell phones like Samsung's Galaxy Fold series can be had with a contract for under 100€ a month. And if you're just looking for something to prop up your Instagram profile, everything you need sans cosmetic products can be rented for cheap - no need to actually buy all that stuff.

Hokusai 5y ago
> what is considered "luxury" has become more and more accessible/affordable or is not a status symbol any more This seems to be the reality for many HN users. But not being able to buy a home or even pay rent seems quite common in the general population.
- beaconstudios 5y ago
  Yeah the tech bubble is one of the worse ones. 800eur/month is not even possible for most people, let alone pocket change.
  - foepys 5y ago
    Not disagreeing with you but quite a few younger people driving those cars are living at their parents and have little to no other significant expenses. Yes, 800€/mo is a lot for many but for some it's in the "affordable if I don't do much else" category. I've also heard about people pooling their money and driving them on alternating weekends. Luxury car ownership has gotten a lot cheaper than before when you needed to pay upfront or with hefty interest.
- SuoDuanDao 5y ago
  It would seem luxuries have gotten more accessible while necessities have gotten more dear. Not sure what that says about global versus local inequality.
- RC_ITR 5y ago
  The real weirdness is that bad local policy has led to uneven inflation, so our cultural 'anchors' of luxury are all thrown off. A luxury car? We've gotten 10x+ better at making those since the 1950's, so ofc it's cheaper. A trip to the Maldives? Same. A reasonable house to live in? Well, we've sort of gotten better at making those, but not as drastically, AND we've decided to make laws that make it harder to build more of them anyway. Lot's of fun hierarchy of needs debates to be had from that.
Kye 5y ago
That's almost $1k/month. I don't know where you live or what life you live that $1k/month for a car that's probably not very practical is viable, but that's not normal in the US. That's rent in the exurbs, never mind the city. That's over a third of median annual salary before taxes. Now add fuel, maintenance, registration, and insurance. And leases usually require better than minimum insurance, so factor in good insurance on a $90-100k car.
- nradov 5y ago
  Those leases include maintenance.
hammock 5y ago
Well, the financing plans you use which make luxury "affordable" are more a symptom of our debt based economy and monetary policy. Most people expect it to crash at some point
beckman466 5y ago
> 7-series BMW models can be leased for ~800€ a month €800 a month? i have an income of €1100 per month. so after rent and bills (€500), i have €600 per month for all my other costs. no BMW for me. although (like you(?)) i do live in a European country (Holland) where there is excellent, although expensive, rail/bus travel and biking infrastructure.
- 999900000999 5y ago
  Are you a programmer. €1100 is not a lot of money. But now I'm thinking that's a possible retirement destination
- zoover2020 5y ago
- msh 5y ago
  Is that a full time job? I thought holland was better paid than that. Short term unemployment benefits in Denmark would pay out approx 1808 eur a month after taxes.
brimble 5y ago
That's luxury brands moving downmarket to cash in. I've seen a lot more Maseratis out in my part of the 'burbs than before. We're not the rich 'burbs or area of the city, but deeply middle-class, and I'm quite certain that hasn't changed. I suspect instead that brand has moved down-market. Some try to ride the line and do both. Create an overpriced line that's maybe less well-made than the "real" ones, and slap your brand name all over it because some segments of society think advertising the right brand names and lots of fake gold and such are what rich people like, and they want to be like them while prominently advertising that they can afford "luxury". Then you sell them in different stores from where you sell your actually-luxury goods. A Gucci bag with the most prominent design element being "Gucci" tiled all over it isn't actually a luxury item. "Big pony" Ralph Lauren isn't even luxury-adjacent like the mainline brand is (or, at least, has been), it's trashy as hell—but they produce them for a reason, and in some stores that's nearly all they have. That's a signal of the kind of store you're in and who they're selling to, not a sign that luxury has become more accessible. None of this is "luxury" becoming more affordable.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago

> Both closed circle SM (checking on your friends and acquaintances) and public facing SM (checking the influencers) It's even worse than that because of the algorithms. They show you more of what they think you like, but the bubbles are quite narrow. For example, suppose you want to see what's going on with all the vaccine skepticism. There is a bubble centered around Joe Rogan. They're talking about how the existing vaccines aren't as effective against Omicron as they were against previous variants, and debating whether the (in both cases low) incidence of myocarditis in adolescents is higher from the vaccine or from the virus. Then there is a bubble centered around Alex Jones. They're telling you that Bill Gates is putting microchips in the vaccines and that the vaccines cause protein folding and therefore prions. You click on the wrong thing and the algorithm decides you want to see more of that. It surrounds you with the people who already believe those things. Now you're the skeptic and they're the establishment and you're trying to remember enough of high school biology to describe the relationship between protein folding and prions while conceding that maybe Bill Gates does suck and maybe that does make him technically a vampire, but could someone explain what that has to do with population control? Meanwhile there are plenty of scientists who are happy to explain it to you, but once it decides you want to see fear porn, you don't get to see the people debunking it anymore. And Alex Jones is just the canonical exemplar. The bubbles like that form everywhere. You have people who still believe that the people Kyle Rittenhouse shot were black, or that Julian Assange reports to Putin. One of the most self-perpetuating ones is the myth that "misinformation" is caused by not banning "bad" people, when it's actually caused by not exposing everyone to contrary viewpoints so that they lose the opportunity to have their mistakes corrected. But telling people what they want to hear sells more advertising than eat your vegetables, so doing the wrong thing is more profitable.

logifail 5y ago
> when it's actually caused by not exposing everyone to contrary viewpoints so that they lose the opportunity to have their mistakes corrected There appears to be a growing trend that claims it's innately harmful to experience contrary viewpoints.
- GenerocUsername 5y ago