• RageAgainstTheRich@lemmy.worldEnglish
      22·
      16 hours ago

      I have noticed people have changed the way they type since around 2016, when trump became president. The amount of people putting “Sad.” Behind a sentence is mindblowing. He gave so many people severe brainworms.

      • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.worldEnglish
        241·
        16 hours ago

        Using caps for emphasis in places where formatting options don’t exist is a practice as old as the internet. I remember doing it in the usenet days.

        • derek@infosec.pubEnglish
          5·
          7 hours ago

          It’s a practice at least as old as type itself. It seems the attention Trump garnered, and the highlighting of his stereotypical Boomer typing, have merged the two in some people’s minds.

          We’re at a unique crossroad where Gen X and Y grew up with their grandparents mostly refusing to use cell phones and their parents mostly fumbling with them. Now Gen Z and “Alpha” are growing up with grandparents who have mostly been shamed into acceptable text etiquette, and parents who are mostly as tech savvy as the next parent and who were there when the deep magic was written (so to speak).

          Mango Mussolini’s narcissism is as pervasive as his parasitism so it’s no wonder the lecherous rapist’s sins against modern digital convention survived along with him. Some spin that as brilliant tactics but I’m not so sure. I’d wager it’s a coincidence he leaned into because it garnered attention.

          Most of those now driving online discourse hadn’t had the same exposure to that style of texting prior to the 2016 US Presidential election cycle as preceding generations. So it seems novel to them. It’s history and perspective bring formed in real time.

        • bassomitron@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          10 hours ago

          I think it’s still mostly used ironically. Though, it’s hard to know anymore. I know it is among my social circles, at least.

      • HugeNerd@lemmy.caEnglish
        21·
        14 hours ago

        He gave so many people severe brainworms.

        Luckily not you though. That Ivermectin helped!

    • Zink@programming.devEnglish
      111·
      16 hours ago

      With a single word in caps like that, I read it as yelling the word loudly.

      The way it’s used here, by a PR conscious intermediary, it comes across more like bitter sarcasm. Like he would not let them release the statement on his behalf unless they yelled Facebook’s name when calling them out. It is similar to when a child tells their sibling they aren’t allowed to do something, but they say it loudly enough so that everybody understands the parent in the next room hears it too.

      Edit to clarify: It is an awesome move to call them out, especially to people who blindly just use Meta’s stuff. I read my own comment and worried it would sound like I was calling the Facebook call-out childish itself. It is not. It is a very good thing to fight for a better world, especially when you have the fame or resources that give you a louder voice.