What the Dark Mode missed

Aestheticising > critiquing disengagement just makes it marketable

Pinterest via Jasmine Olson

“In Filterworld, recognition becomes desire. What we’re shown, we come to want.” Kyle Chayka

The internet's been a bit obsessed with the recent 'Dark Mode Shift'. Since luxury memologist Edmond Lau coined the term earlier this year, I've watched it bounce around socials to commentary nodding along in agreement: we're toggling from 'light mode' optimism to darker, ‘mask-off’ villain vibes.

But something about this hasn't been sitting right with me.

I mean yes, I’m naturally drawn to optimism (let’s be transparent here). But beyond my personal bias, the discussion around the Dark Mode shift seems - in my opinion - to miss fundamental elements of what's also unfolding right now.

What follows is definitely not intended to pick apart Lau specifically, but rather to unpack it all and prompt us to question how we might develop better ways of understanding how we change.

So back to the Dark Mode Shift… it’s described as a "mask-off era where nihilism, hyper-capitalist …