That’s cringe: How aesthetics and algorithms affect monetisation.

Abstract

Digital short-video content is often classified as being "cringe" on social media platforms, based on the creators’ appearance and behavior. These factors are directly influenced by the creators’ caste and class. Cringe content is shared and viewed by elite consumers ironically, or to mock their creator for their ignorance over what constitutes good content. Visual appearance and social distinctions, thus, become factors that distinguish cringe content from good content. While elite consumers directly contribute to the labeling of content (and therefore, a certain class of creators) as cringe, platforms aid in its suppression. Social media platforms use collaborative-filtering algorithms, which essentially lead to the "ghettoization" of online spaces. The authors suggest that the distinction between cringe and good (based on social distinctions), when combined with the ghettoization of online spaces, restricts monetary benefits to only the upper-class influencers, while subjugating the lower-class content creators to a focus of ridicule.