To those who need to read this: Congrats, your knowledge of internet culture & irony is very impressive. But when you use it as a discursive strategy to stake your position as part of an in-group, you’re really just assigning yourself as a gatekeeper because you enjoy the power.

Toxic internet subcultures are built on power imbalances that are kept in place, in part, by informal gatekeepers who enforce group boundaries & norms to create distance & division from perceived outsiders. If that’s not your goal, then stop doing it.

You want to do something helpful? Explain this stuff to people. Don’t make yourself feel superior by making others feel stupid for not understanding the nuances of some niche internet subculture that will be irrelevant in 6 months. Seriously, stop wasting everyone’s time.