It actually occurred to me that this style of writing feels mass-generated at this point: it's the default mannerist tone if you were going to knock out a fairl

It actually occurred to me that this style of writing feels mass-generated at this point: it's the default mannerist tone if you were going to knock out a fairly surface assessment of a new online phenomenon. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Max Read was one of the people who defined that tone in the 2010s[1], so I'm pretty sure that's what people come to his substack to read. But I must admit, my meta-snark was whispering all through this piece: "Maybe it would have saved time to just type 'Here are some titles of things I have been advertised on Kindle, please knock out 800 words on them in the American Internet Journalist House Style". [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20140429233811/http://www.cision.com/us/2014/03/max-read-takes-reins-at-gawker/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140429233811/http://www.cision...