25 Comments
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Ennie's avatar

This was very delectable, especially the part about understanding context. It's as thought a lot of internet moments are written without them, and trying to explain it is like trying to explain a joke.

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Thank you!! Trying to explain a joke is the perfect way to put it, it’s like when you reference a meme in real life that a person has never heard of

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dani's avatar

as kamala said, you exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

It took everything in me not to slide that quote into this article LOL

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Zeina Nassif's avatar

This article was so well-written and explained a phenomenon that I have had trouble breaking down. Looking forward to keeping up with more of your writing!!

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Thank you so much Zeina :)

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emily north's avatar

THIS IS SO GOOD AND SOMETHING I THINK ABOUT ALL THE TIME

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Thank you emily!!!!!!!!!

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siren's avatar

damn, this goes hard. I had honestly been thinking about this topic significantly, especially as an elder gen z. most kids nowadays are honestly scary, and their parents have no idea what they are getting into. it's almost like the internet just takes childhood games and puts them on steroids. i really like how you wrote this, great perspective and well researched!

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Thank you so much Glyn :) glad you enjoyed it. As an elder Gen Z, this has been on my mind quite a bit as well. It feels like there's a real cultural divide between those closer to the Millennial cusp and those closer to the Gen Alpha cusp.

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Anisa Daniel-Oniko's avatar

This perfectly verbalizes something I’ve felt for quite a while! Loved it.

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Rowan Born's avatar

matty healy as the og flushed away rodent bf (unfortunately) walked so josh o’connor could run!

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Couldn’t agree more 🙏

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Winn's avatar

Just as old people think there’s a litter box in every classroom corner in America, people who do not know internet meme-speak will take these things literal. Old media explaining these “trends” don’t really help either. Well made article!

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gwen's avatar

AMAZING! the juxtaposition between the fluidity of the internet and the “hardness” of technology is something that ive always thought reflected human nature in a way that i could never quite describe but this article (although it’s not directly related) made smth click in my brain

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Thank you so much Gwen!! Glad you enjoyed the read and got something from it :)

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Ciara ★'s avatar

Very interesting read!

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Emily Parsons's avatar

Excellently written.

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Thank you Emily :)!

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octavia's avatar

Gave me the words to describe something I’ve felt for a decade, it reminds me alot of also all the Gen Z vs Millennial debates we see online as well.

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

I’m so glad Octavia! Thank you so much for reading :)

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Marco Marquez's avatar

This was a marvel, thank you for sharing

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Madison Huizinga's avatar

Thank you Marco :)!

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Quiara Vasquez's avatar

I'm sure you write these posts in advance and then queue them up, but it is kind of funny reading this less than 24 hours after an *actual* WTF honest-to-god decade-defining news story broke, both because it's a funny contrast but also because I think in many ways you see the same phenomenon going on with coverage of this shooting. Momentous as it is, there's nothing to it beyond the five seconds of footage, so all you can do is blather on in the default blather mode of the medium you're in. For web-first media that's pop feminism; for cable news it's punditspeak from a CIA agent turned talking head. ("It is what it is... moving on!" would be the truthful response, but you can't write an article or fill airtime with that.)

Also I did in fact watch that Kamala clip you linked to, and I think it's a confirmation that I am now officially Too Old For Memes. Who or what is "Von Dutch?"

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Zoe's avatar

“is there life on mars?”

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