An Out-of-Touch Adult’s Guide to Children’s Culture: What Are Dirty Sodas?
We have become a nation of squares. Young people drink less, use fewer drugs, have less sex, and generally don’t party as hard as previous generations. Back in my day, we gave birth to strangers and drank until we almost died from alcohol poisoning every damn weekend! Where to start to find out what is wrong with modern children? Let’s start with what they drink.
What is “dirty soda”? What do they say about the country’s new Puritanism?
Despite their promising name, “dirty sodas” are soft drinks typically consisting of carbonated water topped with cream and flavored syrups—like Italian soda, but with a different name. The drinks have become popular in Utah, where ownership is claimed by Swigs Auto Service, and were popularized by the cast of the Hulu TV show The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives .
The rise in popularity of dirty sodas in Utah mirrors the growing popularity of mocktails across the country, especially among young people. Fine cocktails have become a mainstay on bar menus around the world, with completely non-alcoholic “cocktail bars” opening in urban areas . These are not dreary drinking establishments for former drunks working on their programs, but fashionable places where beautiful people go – who don’t drink, I assume?
Soft drinks are part of an even larger societal shift towards sobriety and chastity. Not only are young people drinking less than previous generations, they are having less sex and using fewer drugs . They don’t even like rock and roll.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a little hard for an old cat like me to get over. What do you even do at a bar if you don’t have a couple of drinks? And what are today’s teenagers anyway, if they are not scoundrels and thrill-seekers, more daring and immoral than I ever was?
Why do people search for #glasscleaner on TikTok?
Young people are not entirely puritanical. A seemingly random hashtag #glasscleaner has popped up on TikTok, purporting to illegally view images that TikTok doesn’t approve of. A closer look at the tag reveals many videos telling people not to search for the term on social media , as well as other seemingly innocent videos with very high view rates.
The idea is that some videos tagged #glasscleaner or #bmw actually contain hidden, prohibited images. Apparently someone has discovered that if you hide lewd content under enough filters, it can get past TikTok’s automatic lewd content detection technology. For unknown reasons they are tagged #glassclearner and #BMW.
Although I’m not entirely sure that this actually happens. I did try to find photos that I’m not supposed to see (it’s in my nature), but I can’t make anything out, so either TikTok has figured out what methods people are using to display prohibited content. images and nuke the offending displays from orbit, or there was never anything illegal under these hashtags and it was all a ploy or hoax.
Anyway, I heard that there are internet sites dedicated to showing only immoral photos and videos and you don’t need a secret hashtag to view them. (Don’t quote me on this.)
“Shine” and the new recognition of neurodiversity
Young people may be sobering up the Mormons by channeling their lust into fighting TikTok’s content moderation, but they are definitely better people than previous generations. When I was in high school, if someone had autism, they were given a bad nickname and left to fend for themselves at the bottom of the hierarchy. But today’s children don’t go down that way. Having autism is not only welcomed, but celebrated. This brings me to YNG Martyr’s hip-hop track “Gleaming,” which contains the lyrics: “The gang is not neurotypical. My brother got autism. She thought he was throwing gang signs around; It’s just my dude stimulating.” Bars !
On October 29, YNG Martyr posted a video for the song on his Instagram , where it quickly became popular, receiving nearly 6 million views in less than a week, leading to people using the video to show off their neurodivergent gangs and their loved ones . throwing up the autistic gang sign . Touching, especially for those who have an autistic family member.
The full music video appeared a week later. This is good. Check it out below.
Battle of the Child Influencers: Baby Gronk vs. Rizzler
Remember Baby Gronk ? The Instagram influencer rose to fame online with soccer highlight videos and a social media presence designed to make it seem like the 12-year-old boy was already a famous and in-demand athlete . Baby Gronk is a product of this age, and the crass materialism he embodies is a kind of excess, different from the binge drinking of generations past, but no less excessive.
On the other side of the cultural coin is Rizzler. Today’s hot young dude on the internet achieved his viral fame as a member of the Costco Guys , a group of unpretentious, everyday guys who go to Costco, say “Boom” and… I don’t even know what else these people do, but they Sure, do it aggressively , and a lot of people probably like it. Unlike Baby Gronk, Rizzler and co-stars AJ and Big Justice became popular enough to appear on The Tonight Show .
That doesn’t seem to sit well with Baby Gronk, who tweeted a video of himself threatening to kick Rizzler’s “fat ass.”
This tweet is currently unavailable. It may be downloading or has been deleted.
But it’s always the ratio that tells the true story of the battle for the souls of online fan influencers : B. Gronk’s threat has nearly 5 million views and just 1.7k likes, which suggests people don’t want to see Baby Gronk. beat up Rizzler. Unlike Baby Gronk, Rizzler is considered age-appropriate, child-like, healthy, and sincere.
What does this all mean in the end? No one can say for sure, but if the fortunes of online child stars follow the same trajectory as traditional child stars, the long-term prognosis for both Gronk and Rizz is bleak.
Viral videos of the week: Kalimar’s calls with complaints
Stand-up comedian Kalimar White has found a simple recipe for viral video success: He collects anonymous workplace complaints from employees, then confronts their bosses by reading, verbatim, what the employees really think about management.
Taking on the persona of Agent Ratliff in “OCDA, Professional Diversity Issues,” White started out making phone calls , but didn’t reach the “millions of views on video” level of success until he started actually showing up in offices and warehouses in official, face-inducing uniforms. bad bosses. White always tells his reviews that OCDA is “a real company and these are real complaints,” and explains that “once I write it down, it becomes true.”
The reaction is mixed. Sometimes people immediately see this trick and tell him to get lost. Sometimes the whole office is trying to figure out who this guy really is and whether his words should be taken seriously. Some workplaces even sit down with him and try to solve the problem.
Watching authority figures fall to the ground has been a comedy classic since the days of silent films, but underneath that audacious premise lies something real that speaks to the nature of petty power under capitalism and how workers’ voices can be so minimized that a comedian has to be hired out to express them.
From a certain point of view, these videos represent harassment—the middle managers who are usually targeted do not have any more power or discretion than their employees—but on the other hand, it’s hard not to be entertained. Check out White’sTikTok or Instagram and see what you think.