The Doomer: A Meme That Reflects Modern Society
The internet as we know it today has grown from being a network for business to a whole different world collecting, retaining, and sharing information across the real world through the digital and technological. One of the categories of content that has become a digital phenomenon is the meme. We all have seen a meme at least a hundred times online; even the earlier generations have seen a meme or two even if they haven’t known it.
But one subcategory of memes originating from sites like 4Chan and turned into YouTube comes from a world created by “shitposters” and well-meaning content creators alike. This meme is the Doomer. The Doomer is a person that has seen the negative effects of life whether in the real world or online, and have been so affected by all the darkness of it all that they live a life of seclusion, depression, and sometimes even anger at the world. Their viewpoint of the world is nihilistic and heavily pessimistic, and it can be a personal issue that they project onto the world, a deep hate for the human race, or anything that can trigger their want and need for seclusion. Despite this desire for seclusion, they still feel lonely. They tend to have little to no friends as they believe being by themselves is the best way, and they generally cut themselves off from people and society as much as possible.
Although this is a meme made by those on the web to stereotype, the idea of the Doomer is most certainly applicable to real life. They are a representation of a real person who used to be content with their life and aspired to be somebody. But they have either seen too much evil in the world online and offline, or they have gone through an event in their personal life (breakups, loss of a loved one, bullying, etc.) that has traumatized them to the point that they blame society and become a shut-in, not even looking inside themselves to see if they themselves are the problem. They are like punk rockers in that they are angry at the society they live in, but instead of taking action and making their voices and complaints heard, they decide to stay silent and lock themselves away from the world as much as possible to live.
But again, why is that? Why is the Doomer so dissatisfied with their life and angry at the world? Well, I will personally agree with the Doomer concept. Society is the problem, but not 100%. Technology plays a particular role in this. You see, the Doomer grew up sometime in the mid to late 1980s to around the early 2000s. The Doomer is essentially the by-product of Generation X or is usually a millennial or Gen Z person that grew up in the era where technological advances were exponential. Information has become accessible to just about anyone in the world, and the changes in things may invoke nostalgia in them. Doomers could pine for the glory days or a simpler time, and they could merely be struggling with adulthood, since everything is so different to what they had known before.
Technology has also made news fast and easy to cover and deliver. With this comes the issues the Doomer sees in his/her/their society. These days, the virtual marketplace is so saturated with content everywhere around the web. And with the ease of finding content comes the craving of wanting more content. Everyone wants a good story filled with drama, so much so that we have it in our real lives. We have now been so dependent on Google to find us information that we disconnect from people. We have been lied to about how life is and should be, that it should be simple when in reality it’s not.
The Doomer is of this opinion. They represent a group of people (or dare I say even the millennial generation as a whole) that have felt cheated by society about the truth of life. They were deemed failures if they tried deviating from the status quo one bit, when in reality individuality is what makes us all human, and failure is normal and actually more common than we tend to realize. Due in part to this, they do not know how to handle rejection or negativity, and instead hold it in. They feel like a burden to the rest of the world while feeling a deep hatred for the lies that they were told. Instead of confronting their demons and learning to cope with it, they shut themselves in. They decide that they are no good for society, and that society is not good for them.
The Doomer is a meme that reflects the thinking of those who have had it with modern society and wish to live a life of solitude. For them, it’s a protest to the lies told to them, that life is always good, that conflicts will go away or work themselves out in a positive result, and that getting a secondary education with a 9-to-5 and starting a family will cement their happiness and their success. They never learned how to properly cope with the negativity in life. They hope that someday they will find happiness like their fellow meme counterpart, the Bloomer. (I hope to make an article on them, too.)
# What is an issue?
- What made these doomers exist?
- What kind of problems in our society can be created by them?
- Are there any categories making you think like a doomer?
(categories such as climate change, war, nuclear weapons, pollution, terror etc…)
- How can society prevent being a doomer?
- Concept of a doomer starred in meme. Why people like meme? Do you have any favorite meme?
※ Doomer 관련 조사 내용 및 견해
[조사 내용 1]
※ Doomer(두머)의 의미, 뜻
• Doomer 란 미국에서 사용되고 있는 신조어로, 극단적인 허무주의에 빠져서 삶을 비관하고, 아무것도 하지 않고 지내는 10~20대를 지칭한다고 합니다. (reckless nihilism, extremism, lethargic, physical fatigue)
• 실제 10개국 청년층을 대상으로 한 설문조사에서 응답자 절반 이상이 “인류는 망했다”고 답변
※ Doomer의 특징
• 1995년 이후 태어난 세대
• Doomer는 30대가 되기 전에 경제 위기, 기후 위기, 일자리 위기, AI 위기, 취업 경쟁 속에 노출된 세대
• 다른 세대보다 기회의 박탈감이 심한 것이 특징임 (deprived of more chances than ~~~)
• 기회의 박탈감: 기성세대 사회적 이동의 혜택 누림, 부와 연금 독차지 (deprived chances)
• 주로 밤에 활동하고, 친구가 없거나 적음, 어두운 옷을 입고 다님
• 인터넷 커뮤니티에 빠져 있어 특정인, 특정 정보에만 노출되어 있음
• 본인의 세계에만 심취하고 타인과의 소통을 거부 (absorbed in, interpersonal skill)
• 한국의 N포 세대, 중국의 탕핑족, 일본의 사토리 세대와 비슷
※ 원인과 결과
• 원인
-불안정한 사회 구조 때문.
-코로나 팬데믹으로 인한 사회 붕괴
-불안정한 경제, 긱 이코노미의 증가, 인종차별 (unstable global economy)
• 결과
-허무주의, 극단주의, 자조적, 자기비하적
[사례 1]
엔지니어로 일하는 26살 션 유라는 유튜브에서 몇 시간씩 시간을 보내면서, 세상이 붕괴되고 인류가 멸종 위기에 처해 있다고 경고하는 과학자들의 동영상을 시청하기 시작했다.
When Sean Youra was 26 years old and working as an engineer, he started spending hours on YouTube, watching videos made by fringe scientist who warned that the world was teetering on the edge of societal collapse. — or even near-term human extinction.
그러면서 그는 기후 “두머”가 됐다고 말했다.
In short, he says, he became a climate “doomer”.
사실 “두머”가 아닌 사람들은 이렇게 모두가 아프고 슬픈 세상 속에서 스스로 죽지 않을 거라고 자신에게 거짓말을 하고 있을 뿐이다.
And actually, people who aren’t doomers are just lying to themselves, pretending we are not all fated to die in a sick, sad world.
세계가 무너지는 동안 그들은 자신들에게 위안을 줄 수도 없다.
“두머”는 경제적인 안정성이 없는 세대다.
And nor can they even buy themselves comfort while the world disintegrates.
Doomers are part of the generation that doesn’t even have economic security.
[조사 내용 2]
극단주의에 대해 연구하는 글로벌 네트워크 리서치.
소셜 미디어의 알고리즘 때문에 사람들이 다양한 관점을 접하기가 어려워지면서 “두머 세대”가 만들어졌다. (algorithm)
Social media has created a digital environment that has helped foster a ‘Doomer Generation.’ By creating false expectations of reality online and bombarding young people with content, many have become more nihilistic about the world around them.
러시아-우크라이나 전쟁이나 기후변화 아니면 코로나 백신에 대한 잘못되고 확인되지 않은 극단적인 정보들이 알고리즘에 반복적으로 퍼지면서 소위 말하는 “Z세대의 허무주의”가 생겼다.
Whether it’s learning about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the dangers of climate change, or what is inside the COVID-19 vaccine, young people are getting crowdsourced information that is often misexplained, misunderstood, and reshared in the digital and physical space, potentially further disseminating harmful untrue claims.
This is especially problematic given the research on the long-term impact misinformation has on individual beliefs and critical reasoning even after correction.
*출처: Generation Doomer: How Nihilism on Social Media is Creating a New Generation of Extremists;
허무주의 심해지면 이게 극단주의로도 발전한다고 설명.
온라인상에 확인되지 않은 음모론이나 극단적으로 부정적인 이야기들이 많음
→ SNS 사용량이 많은 젊음층이 여기에 빠지게 됨.
(a conspiracy theory: 음모 이론(특정한 사건 배후에 비밀 음모가 있다는 믿음) /kənˈspɪrəsi/)
→ 음모론적 시각을 가지게 됨
(a conspiratorial view /kənˌspɪrəˈtɔːriəl/)
전문가들은 오프라인 활동을 하라고 권고.
개인에게 책임을 돌리는 건 아닐까? (pass along)
어느 누구에게도 법적책임은 없다.
하지만 개인 책임만 존재하는 것 아니라, 정부의 책무 (individual responsibility, governmental accountability)
[조사 내용 3]
911 테러, 이라크 전쟁, 서브프라임 모기지 사태 (subprime mortgage crisis)
하지만 연구에 따르면 젊은 세대는 이전 어느 세대보다 더 불안해하는 것으로 나타났습니다.
이들은, 테러, 극단주의, 전쟁, 비극과 관련된 세상에서 성장해야 하는 세대이기 때문입니다.
런던 폭탄 테러, 이라크와 아프가니스탄 전쟁 등 서로 연결된 세계 사건이 연이어 발생했습니다.
However, studies show that younger generations are more anxious than any other generation before.
While being detached from the events, they are the ones that had to grow up in a world concerned with terrorism, extremism, war, and tragedy.
Interconnected world events spiralled — the London bombings, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
실제로 1995년 이후 출생자들은 서른 살이 되기 전에 테러 공격, 전쟁, 은행 붕괴, 경기 침체, 최대 규모의 기후 비상사태, 생활비 위기, 전 세계적인 팬데믹을 모두 겪었습니다.
기성세대는 사회적 이동 등의 혜택을 누렸고, 그들은 젊은 세대가 꿈만 꾸는 부와 연금을 독차지 했습니다.
In fact, those born after 1995 have lived through terrorist attacks, wars, banking crashes, recessions, the biggest climate emergency, cost of living crises, and a worldwide pandemic, all before hitting 30. Only for them to be lectured by older generations who reaped the benefits of social mobility and left-wing blessings, gobbled up household wealth and pensions that younger generations could only dream of.
젊은 세대인 우리가 강연, 뉴스, 비극에 거의 무감각해진 것은 놀라운 일이 아닐까요? 단순한 대처 메커니즘이 아닐까요?
Is it any surprise that we, as younger people, have become almost numb to the lectures, the news, and the tragedies? Is it not just a coping mechanism?
*출처: Have young people become desensitised to deal with Doomerism?
https://medium.com/moviente/the-doomer-generation-ba9f5149d148
[본인 견해]
삻을 창조하라, 삶에 휘둘리지 말고. (Craft Life, don’t let life craft you)
과거는 과거일 뿐. (the past is in the past)
in times of scarcity
neither the time nor the inclination