There has been a stark increase in depression humor in the past few years.  It wasn't nearly as prevalent when I was first on the internet in mid 2000s.  What caused the change?  Why has there been such a sudden uptake in these kinds of posts across all social platforms?


Depression Humor

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- LIFE in a leotard

- 'me irl' with something dying or negative

- - "Me getting euthanized 👍😊"

- Self Depreciation Humor

- - Can be done well with Ronnie (more comedic) or Peanuts (introspective)

- - (Cartoon character with a greedy or comedic face) -> (Receiving an item or being hit by something with words like that gay shit/insecurities/anxiety)

- Anxiety jokes "college debt" "none of your friends like you" "when you're trying your best and nothings going right"

- - Facebook sadposting

Not everyone posting these are depressed or sad.  A good amount of people who share one of these images will have a sensible chuckle(tm) at the dichotomy of the image and implications of the text on them and post them because they see it so often.


Millenials had a double whammy of reality TV (kardashians, teen mom, etc.) and all sorts of social media exposure through their developing years.


How does being in an instant communication world change how people cope and act?  Are millennials little wimpy babies who have been coddled their whole life or is it more?


Narcissism

- I saw a video on Facebook posted by someone I know.  It was them being mad at a theme park they went to not for treating a disabled guest with respect.  They went over to help the guest out which is good.  Looking out for their fellow man and all that.  But before actually helping they made sure to have it recorded on their phone that they were doing it.

 - - This is something I see a lot.  It falls into this virtue signaling category and its always a little tricky to talk about because what they are doing on a surface level is good.  However theres an underlying "look at how great a person I am!" that's consistent across the entire thing.  If the thought at the front of your mind is 'I should help this person' you shouldn't take the time to get your phone out to record yourself helping them and showing everyone how great a person you are.

- - - This also reminds me of when an unnamed friend showed me a video prefaced with "look at this motorcyclist and this asshole driver."  In the video the driver left his wallet on top of his car and this motorcyclist drives right up the cars ass to try and give the wallet back.  The dude on the motorcycle was driving super dangerously and like a total asshole but on the surface level you think "wow that driver is a jerk for being mad at this guy trying to give back his wallet!"  When I saw the video the first thing that came to mind was "wow that motorcyclist is total asshole for driving so recklessly instead of just signaling to the driver from a safe distance.  He could have caused way more problems by trying to show off for the recording."


I've watched and read a good amount about 'those damn millenials' and a lot of articles try to pin the blame on social media narcissism.  Getting those likes, those followers on twitter, getting those fucking uh snapchat snapbacks (I have no idea how snapchat works but im sure theres a feature where people can +1 your snapchats).  I can see where they're coming from with this angle.  If you spend a lot of time online putting things out and receiving attention and adoration from those around you its going to feed into a kind of narcissism.  And a lot of these articles I was reading would pin the surge of depression and unhappiness in millenials on this social media presense and instant gratification.  And its a solid theory.  But the people that I associate with are not posting on snapchat about getting super fucked up LMAO!  So drunk pay attention to me.  They're posting on internet chatrooms about big titty anime girls or posting pepe memes on a Mongolian basketweaving centers.  What I think the primary reason for sadboyz is...


People really want approval from others

- Basing your self worth on what others think

- Being ashamed of your hobbies and interests

- - Spotify and online playlists as opposed to downloaded or owned music.  A fear of being judged.


Negative attitude and how it effects you

- Road Ranger attitude

- - I was brighteyed and bushy tailed as I started work a few months after leaving school.  I saw a very high turnover rate while I was one of 3 who stayed past a year.  I worked there for 4 years and every time I was inside the building I had to brace myself for the awful attitudes of my coworkers.  Road Ranger by itself wasn't too bad a job but I was maintenance and as such almost never had to deal with customers.  My coworkers were all cashiers and had to be the face for a lot of stuff.  That caused a good amount of stress but what really pushed people over the edge was infighting.  Some people at the workplace just did not like being there and they had a whole laundry list of reasons.  But their negative attitude bled out to the rest of their coworkers.  If you go to work and sit next to someone who is always muttering "ugh. god fuck this job.  I fucking hate this place this sucks."  It's going to wipe off on you.  That's just human nature.  We empathize and sympathize unconsciously.  You stick around that person for so long and you start getting into a bad mood too.  Then your bad mood and attitude grows and grows and you keep the chain of negativity going.  I liked my job at Road Ranger.  I found ways to enjoy it by listening to 6 hours of podcasts a day and making a routine of things to check off my list.  Near the end I was actually dreading coming to work because I knew I'd be slogging through the day and dealing with passive aggressive jabs and sour attitudes for the next 8 hours.  That dread made me sluggish and reluctant to do any actual real work until I was let go at the end.

- Results attitude (and a little luck)

- - 'Nancy' [Debbie from road ranger] (negativity round 2)

Lady worked here for 7 years.  Seven years.  And she greeted each morning with "fucking bullshit this job god damnit.  unbelievable.  this place is a fucking mess..." She'd stay in this sour mood all day and as a result end up escalating a lot of non-problems into issues because of her curt attitude which would be recursive in making her have a bad day.  I was worried she was going to have a heart attack from the stress she was causing herself.

- - Francisca CONSTANTLY GOSSIP AND MAKING HERSELF THE FUCKING VICTIM.  EVEN WHEN CONFRONTED BECAUSE SHE WAS SHITTALKING PEOPLE FOR LEAVING WORK FOR THEIR KID WHO WAS IN SURGERY.  GOTTA MAKE MYSELF THE VICTIM OR I COULD BE WRONG.  CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN!  Wont even apologize.  Takes the stance of "oh well I didn't mean to call you a piece of shit when I said it."


My philosophy when shit goes wrong:  If you make a mistake or do something bad.  You should think about it for a bit and analyze what you did wrong, what lead to you making the wrong decision, think about the things you did incorrectly, keep them in mind and move right on.  There's no point in dwelling on it any further because you can't change it.  Just learn and apply it next time.

Examples: I don't kick myself for having to redo an episode of the podcast too much.  I'll mumble and grumble but I know that a second go at it will generally be better than the first and was good practice.


Positivity:

Panoots creates a very upbeat and enjoyable stream via his positive attitude and enjoyment in what he's doing.  Hes one of the only streamers I watch besides GeePM and Bro_Operatives.  Humans are empathetic creatures and like I've been saying if you surround yourself with negativity you start getting cranky and the emotional snickers bar is taking yourself out of these sour pits to bask in the sun periodically