1. How did cringe culture come into existence?

Firstly, let’s see what it actually is. So cringe culture is something where people criticize cringe content because of, being overly dramatic, being awkward, and being cringe.
Cringe culture is something where people make fun or laugh or criticise what they feel is embarrassing and awkward.
How it came into existence – basically, cringe content is something which is mostly criticised by the negative comments, which eventually turns out in virality as the algorithm doesn’t know the criticism but the engagement. Therefore, when a viewer engages with content like that even to make fun or to share the cringe side of social media, the algorithm still supports that content and make it popular.

2. A vast and Diverse audience of India

India has one of the most diverse and vast population on the internet. Every part of India uses social media, everyone from small towns to metro cities uses social media whether it’s Instagram, Moj,josh and Youtube shorts.

When this large population consumes content then it’s hard to find which category is liking what, so it’s totally open for all to like and support which ever content they feel like to support. In that case something which entertains, shocks or even makes them laugh do get supported by them sometimes even unintentionally as engaging with content is all what matters for algorithm. And in some cases people genuinely like that over drama and like to share that cringe and embarrassing moment for fun.

3.Engagement over Quality

Cringe content is emotionally triggering and that’s the reason it works . Doesn’t matter, that you are actually liking it or not you are laughing , judging or just curious but what matters it that you are engaging. However, few creators when notices that less effort and over drama put content got that recognition, they start believing in making that same kind of content to get noticed and for viewers attention, as in the end it’s about engagement.

We can’t deny this fact – Numbers do matter. If it’s negetive comment but there is comment , even if people are making fun but they are sharing the content. It’s ironical but eventually these fun or negative comments, shares, and views are making cringe content more famous and building the perception for creators – engagement matters more than quality content.

4.Confidence over efforts

Sometime the confidence these cringe creators put is appreciated. Sometimes real connection is felt by viewers as It’s very easy to get replied by cringe creators While it’s hard to reach polished influencers which makes viewers to see their creator’s beside filters. Sometimes people love that imperfection side of social media as polished influencers always thrive to be perfect and inspiring, but in cringe creators case : They are confident without any filter. People like digital drama and the confidence of creators to make fun of themselves to entertain others.

5. Examples that speak volume

There is one creator – A lady of age 30-40 years who cooks food but always make that in a very over dramatic and embarrassing style by always putting ingredients which are not important for that particular dish. Here, if people are watching her content, there could be many reason for that as few criticises for her ingredients choice , few may find it funny that how bold of her to experiment things like that , few may see because they can’t do that or few may share just for the time pass but eventually she is getting famous not because of cinematic quality but because she stood out in a sea of sameness . Her content triggered the curiosity of viewers and curiosity is the real currency of fame today.

6. Creators are behind fame –

Many cringe creators are from small towns or modest backgrounds when they get recognised and people talk about them, they can’t differentiate in between fame and criticism. Their unfiltered style and happiness of 10k views is much more than for them to stop because of the content being cringe.

Final thought

Behind that awkward video on our feed there is a blend of algorithm, audience behavior, and psychology. Cringe creators do exist because cringe content consumption is there directly or indirectly, getting liked by us or disliked but getting seen by us. However , even if you roll your. Eyes up after seeing such videos and creators but they have mastered the art of getting attention. We can say that the algorithm doesn’t know what is cringe or what is not but the algorithm definitely knows what is being watched and what is not.