November 3, 2025
From water-cooler to flamewars
Is the Internet Making Culture Worse?
The web turned shared moments into scroll wars, say readers
TLDR: A new book argues the internet nudged culture toward safe, sellable hits over bold invention. Commenters mourn lost shared TV moments, cite Postman’s media warnings, and joke the headline finally breaks Betteridge’s law, while admitting social media turned conversations into fights.
Culture is worse? The internet made everything mediocre? W. David Marx’s new book, Blank Space, swings the bat, and the comment section screams back. The loudest chorus: nostalgia for the water‑cooler era. One reader misses asking “Did you see Seinfeld?” and laments that “nobody watches the same things” anymore—now it’s endless feeds and exhaustion. Another confesses social media turned them from kind to combative: friends became strangers, conversations became fights. Cue the meme: “rare violation of Betteridge’s law”—translation, commenters think the answer to the headline’s question is yes.
But there’s more than vibes. A commenter waves a well‑thumbed copy of Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, arguing that the medium—print, TV, TikTok—shapes our brains and public talk. Another digs up “skilled elitism” in old‑school journalism, pining for craft over clout. That dovetails with Marx’s claim that poptimism—cheering commercial success—lets big platforms and pop stars crowd out weird, risky art. Not everyone buys the doom; the article nods to a counter‑take: maybe nothing tops the music you loved at 16. Still, today’s mood is clear: less avant‑garde, more algorithm; fewer inventors, more sell‑outs; and a whole lot of cultural FOMO.
Key Points
- •The article reviews W. David Marx’s *Blank Space*, which argues the 21st century has fewer cultural inventors and less radical innovation.
- •Marx claims the internet and creator economy have led to content abundance but concentrated attention and mediocrity.
- •The book emphasizes American media, music, and fashion, highlighting commercialization (“poptimism”) over artistic innovation.
- •Nguyen references 20th-century avant-garde movements to illustrate the contrast with today’s cultural output.
- •Simon Reynolds’s *Retromania* and Sara Marcus’s critique are used to contextualize and challenge blanket claims of cultural decline.