Internet CultureIt’s hard to keep up with internet culture, but don’t worry: every week we’ll tell you the best of what you need to know.Of this week potpourri of nonsense-which-you-might-not-know-about takes us from whaling ships of the 1800s to the hottest hype houses of 2021, with a pit stop in Lental to catch some Pokémon.
TikTok Trend of the Week: Sea Shanties
Future sociologists and cultural historians will write dissertations debating why songs originally sung by seafaring workers in the 19th century are the hottest trend on TikTok this week. But here we are: Sea Shanties are the bangers of the moment.
The hype machine for seafaring tunes seems to have started with a video of Scottish postman Nathan Evans singing “The Wellerman, ”And blew up from there. Others started record their own songs, add their voices to Evans’ video, make parodies, trying to find out, and otherwise honor / hack-and-screw this all but forgotten musical form. But it really took off this hilarious video from Beertheist that shows in 44 seconds how sea shanties are first ridiculous, then delicious and finally irresistible.
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In games this week: Pokémon Snap release date announced
Nintendo is loved for taking their worn-out intellectual property from console to console, creating improved versions of older titles, and then releasing nearly the same game on newer machines. (I’m not complaining – tthis is all I ever want Nintendo to do). Gamer favorite Pokémon Snap, well, hasn’t been seen on a Nintendo console since the Nintendo 64 way back in 1999. Snap missed the GameCube, DS, Wii and Wii U, but every 25thth Pokémon’s birthday, it’s coming to Nintendo Switch on April 30th.
In case you didn’t play it on the day, Pokémon Snap is the best: you’re a photographer and your job (I think it’s your job?) is to travel around and take pictures of Pokémon. Actually, it is. You cut shy pocket monsters in desserts, jungles and other environments, and your photos are awarded points based on composition. If it’s as good as the original, this will be way better than anything you’ll ever do in your life. Watch the new trailer and you will see.
Definition of the week: “Hype house”
Meme-based presidential candidate and hopeful New York mayor Andrew Yang recently said part of his plan for Gotham involves encouraging “hype houses” to go to the city. If you’re too busy ‘having a job’ and ‘living your life’ to know what a hype house is, here’s the explanation: Young influencers and social media content tainers have moved into expensive mansions together to be Collaborate, post tons of TikTok videos, and otherwise annoy their wealthy neighbors. Think of it like Andy Warhol’s Factory, but with less heroin and nothing quite as cool as The Velvet Underground.
“Hype house” was invented back in December, when 19 of the most influential people on TikTok all moved into a Spanish-style mansion in Los Angeles and called themselves ‘Hype House’. Now it’s the collective name for one of hundreds of similar arrangements across the country, be it a bunch of gamers on YouTube, a pride of Instagram influencers, or a TikTok aviary. The trend of internet people living together dates back to 2014, when YouTubers raided posh LA neighborhoods and never left, and like everything young people do, it’s annoying and awful. Wait, I mean it’s great and the best!
This week in internet cats: cats versus technology
Cats have been a staple of the internet since the late 1940s, and this week our feline friends are making a big show on Redit. The Cats vs Technology subreddit was originally founded in 2014, but for reasons known only to the internet gods, it explodes in January 2021. This fast-growing subreddit features videos and photos of cats sitting on warm laptops, figuring out how water coolers work, or try to outsmart their automatic feeder. In other words, it has cats in it and cats are pretty good. Especially when they are on the internet and I don’t have to dig their mess out of a box in the laundry room.
Viral Video of the Week: Ultra Unboxing
The viral videos that people are really parts this week are from Capitol rioters bragging about committing crimes, grinning ridiculously as they steal lecterns and incitement to violence, but that’s all depressing, so let’s calm our jittery nerves with some instead Unbox therapy! Unboxing videos are a strangely hypnotic sub-genre of YouTube videos where someone opens a box with a new product in it and shows the content, and The latest from Unbox Therapy is epic. It featured the entire Samsung Galaxy S21 product line, including the Ultra 5G S21, Galaxy S21, the and the S21 +, plus their Galaxy Buds headphones. It’s 22 minutes of hardcore, uncensored unboxing, whereby mobile phones are stripped of their packaging and displayed in crystal clear HD. You can connect any connector port, any charging cable, any camera lenses …my god when he peels that plastic protective sheet off the display …