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Isn't it because depression and anxiety were taboo topics then? I think these topics have been normalized only relatively recently. Even in the 1980s none of th
by mojuba 4y ago
Isn't it because depression and anxiety were taboo topics then? I think these topics have been normalized only relatively recently. Even in the 1980s none of the superstars would come out and admit they are suffering depression (Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson come to mind). Or a more recent "coming out" by Sinead O'Connor that she's in deep depression was a complete shock to me (and to many). I couldn't even watch her video in full, was so painful to see her saying those things.
So I think it's more about the "coming out" and normalization of the darker side of human nature, which was always there of course, just wasn't OK to talk about out loud, at work or on stage and especially if you are a celebrity.
- danjoredd 4y agoTrue, but I also think the romanticization of depression is a factor as well. Just look at "Doomer" culture on the internet, or "black pill" types. Watch one of those videos on youtube, and all of a sudden you get a deluge of those types of vids. That is what I fear for future generations. When depression is seen as an aesthetic, some people(mostly teenagers) try to identify with it and accidentally end up depressed for real. For most people, it is more complex than that. However this is a trend that I worry about.
- vitiral 4y agoYou can (and IMO should) disable youtube suggestions based on your past browsing. You can also have it only store 3 months worth of tracking (in case you ever turn the suggestions back on). It definitely lowers the quality of the suggestions... but that's kind of the point.
- godshatter 4y agoI take it one step farther and only watch YouTube in a private session and don't log in. When the recommendations get strange, I close the window and open a new one.
- vitiral 4y agodoesn't work for premium, but it used to be my very same strategy!
- BlargMcLarg 4y agoIt's important to realize where doomer culture came from. It largely began as a response to feel good messages which were decorating the truth of things at the benefit of no one. The main issue being, doomer culture can be embraced as a way to accept things that are beyond your power and double efforts on what you can change, or as a way to toss away all efforts and be in a perpetual state of not caring. It also serves as a counter to society continuing to polish turds.
- danjoredd 4y agoMy problem is when you lean too far in to that, it can quickly transform into defeatism, which is worse than simply not caring.
- Apocryphon 4y agoDoes no one remember goths? Or before them, whatever the '80s subculture around gloomy New Wave bands like Joy Division, Depeche Mode, or New Order were called? And before them, the punk movement that was a reaction against the carefree utopianism of the hippies? Rockers? Greasers? Romanticism? Yeah, the over-romanticizing of mental illness, and how prevalent it is thanks to always-on digital culture, is a real concern. But historically, there are always subcultures centered on unhappy and negative emotions, in contrast to the subcultures that focus on happy and positive ones.
- danjoredd 4y agoI agree, but back then they didn't have algorithms based on online activity to fuel the spiral. What we are getting is that, but worse because it is harder to escape