ins and outs list 2026

I initially wasn't going to make one of these, but I feel like I have an itching to get something out, and I've been neglecting this secret little blog. I've been thinking a lot over the past couple months about slop, the internet, art and content creation, yada yada yada, and after seeing the umpeenth ins-and-out-list online I felt that anything I had to offer would be a derivative upchuck into the digital landfill. But...I sometimes do feel like I have something I want to say. I cope with the idea of writing this out without the potential spectacle of virality from say twitter, substack, even my private instagram (where I imagine every create mode story post I make is studied, scrutinized, and discussed amongst each of my loyal story likers ofc).

Anyways, here it is:

IN
- Addison Rae/Sotce core. Not sure what this is called. Involves simple bold patterns like polkadots, strange poses, strange photos, poetry in arial, bad camera quality, mid-waist leggings that don't hide a bit of belly fat, grays and pale yellows and teals. Authentic imperfections. "Normal" but weird. (i want to say I actually called polkadots becoming a huge trend replacing the '2022 bow' back when I was making lindsey cheng and I have various sources for this)

OUT
- Moralism around Hollywood "nepo babies". You don't need to keep pearl clutching onto the American dream. Who knows how long we've got left, watch the damn movie in peace.

IN
- Kindles. i hate hate hate the idea of labelling things as performative, but i don't see that going away for a while. i feel like the kindle could come into mainstream as a reaction to that. nobody knows what ur reading, ur in it for real.

OUT
- Low effort digicam party photos. The format's been nearly totally overdone (2027 ins-and-outs-list: be prepared) but for now... take more pictures of beautiful thing.

IN
- Novel Images that make me go "heh".

IN
- Recognizing vertical content story times as Autofiction

OUT
- Instagram Reels Grifting. This has actually never ever been in, I just can't think of anything else.

IN
- Southeast Asia

OUT
- Non-otaku white people whose favorite Asian country is Japan.

IN
- Electronic twee. (Like the band Ear) American Analog Set, The Blow, LCD Soundsystem, Crystal Castles, etc. for older pop reference. Contemporary digital sounds with authentic lyricism. Pioneered to the mainstream by BRAT, I believe, but has been being done by trans girls on the internet for decades. Correlates with rise of Sotce-core I mentioned above.

IN
- SEA/Chinese style maximalist graphic design.

OUT
- Having no creative substance beyond trying to imitate 2000s visual style. You must at least somehow ideologically acknowledge the spiritual existence of the computer.

IN
- Art that genuinely uses AI as a tool to challenge the viewer. I'm not happy about generative AI, but that is a space that I hope will be filled by something interesting and true, not just slop nothing content. There's potential anywhere. If artists I know can complain about genAI taking their jobs, but are quick to get into a WAYMO over an UBER, it's okay for me to hold onto hope that substantial works of art can still be created despite the slop. Or maybe, from the slop. Who knows.


This is all I've got. I hope to write more this year too, be more authentic... Idk. I'll blog more about that later. Byee


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