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People can find a video embarrassing, call it “cringe,” and still watch it to the end—and send it to a friend. In India, that mix of quick amusement, second-hand embarrassment and social judgment helps explain the appeal of cringe content. But it also raises a harder question: who gets to decide what looks normal online, and who becomes the joke when they do not fit that standard?
That question is explored in an excerpt from AM Gautam’s Indian Millennials: Who Are They, Really?, published by Scroll on August 13, 2024. The excerpt offers cultural interpretation and reportage, not a representative psychological study. Its ideas are best read as possible explanations for some viewers and contexts—not as a rule about all millennials. Read the excerpt on Scroll.
“Cringe” is a judgment, not a genre
Online, “cringe” can describe something awkward, embarrassing, overly sincere, dated, clichéd or seemingly unaware of the norms its audience expects. The word does not identify one stable kind of video. A clip one viewer finds embarrassing may strike another as sincere, funny, familiar or simply unfamiliar.
It helps to separate a few different cases:
- Intentional cringe: A creator deliberately exaggerates awkwardness or bad taste for comic effect.
- Unintentional cringe: Viewers think a creator has not noticed how the performance comes across to them.
- Ironic cringe: Someone claims to dislike a clip while enjoying its absurdity, or shares it with a wink.
- Reaction cringe: A commentator turns the original video—and the creator’s apparent missteps—into the subject of a second performance.
These can overlap. A creator may knowingly play up an outsider image, while viewers still disagree about whether the result is parody, sincerity or a reason to mock them. The label says as much about the audience’s expectations as it does about the video.
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Why awkward clips are easy to watch
Short videos often deliver their premise quickly. An awkward dance, an overconfident performance or a strained attempt at a trend may need little setup. A viewer can get a jolt of laughter, discomfort or disbelief without following a plot, and can leave the clip without losing a larger story.
The book excerpt describes short-form video as easy to fit around work and other routines, with a continuing supply of new material. That is a useful account of the format’s convenience, not proof that every viewer watches in the same way or that short videos have one universal effect. Still, the structure suits cringe: the reaction is immediate, and recommendation feeds, reposts and reaction formats can bring more clips into view.
Awkwardness is also emotionally legible. Viewers may laugh at a performer who seems to be making a fool of themselves, feel embarrassed on their behalf, or react with disbelief. Those responses can arrive together. A clip does not have to be admired to be entertaining.
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The pleasure—and discomfort—of watching someone else stumble
One explanation discussed in the excerpt, attributed there to Natalie Wynn, is that cringe can combine identification with schadenfreude: pleasure at someone else’s misfortune. A viewer may first think, “I can imagine making that mistake,” then feel relieved that it is someone else on screen. That shift can offer a momentary sense of distance or superiority.
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This is an interpretation, not a settled psychological law. Some viewers may identify with a creator rather than look down on them; others may be watching an intentional joke or a familiar style of performance. And feeling second-hand embarrassment does not automatically mean a viewer wants the person humiliated. The context—and what the viewer does next—matters.
Why share something you say you dislike?
Sharing a cringe clip can be a social act. A message like “I watched this, so now you have to” invites a friend into a small, shared reaction. It can signal that the sender knows the joke, invite collective judgment, provoke disbelief or help an in-group bond over a common reference.
It can also create distance: “Look at this person; I am not like them.” In that case, sharing does more than pass along a funny video. It marks a boundary between the sender and the person being watched. The contradiction is only apparent: online, dislike can still produce views, comments, reposts and further discussion. Mockery is one way content travels.
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The excerpt’s most important social question is who gets described as “that type of person.” Calling a clip cringe may criticize its performance, but it can also imply that the creator is too earnest, unfashionable, uneducated, provincial or out of step with internet culture. Aesthetic criticism can become a verdict on the person behind the video.
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In the Indian context, journalist Yashraj Sharma, interviewed in the excerpt, connects some cringe judgments to creators’ cheaper phones, rural or semi-urban settings, and unfamiliarity with the aesthetics or etiquette associated with platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. That does not mean all low-budget or regional-language content is mocked, or that every use of “cringe” is class prejudice. It does point to a risk: production quality, accent, clothing, location or language can be treated as evidence of inferiority rather than as differences in resources, taste or cultural reference.
Platforms carry different expectations, too. Instagram’s aspirational image can make certain polished styles feel like the default, while creators elsewhere may communicate through different languages, settings or conventions. A viewer can miss a joke, misread an unfamiliar style or simply dislike it. The important distinction is whether criticism stays with the work—or turns unfamiliarity into an excuse to rank the creator.
TikTok, Reels and a shift in visibility
India banned TikTok in June 2020. The excerpt contrasts TikTok’s broad participation, including creators from villages and Tier III cities, with the more aspirational image it associates with Instagram Reels. It also argues that some creators found Instagram’s sounds, trends and cultural codes less accessible or familiar after the shift.
That is an account of a change in visibility and opportunity, not proof that TikTok was exclusively rural, that all creators moved to Reels, or that the ban created cringe culture. The shift matters because platforms shape which styles seem current, which creators reach an audience, and whose work gets treated as out of place.
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From watching to humilitainment
Several terms describe related but distinct habits:
- Hatewatching means consuming something partly because one dislikes or disapproves of it. It can apply to a show without targeting an individual creator.
- Lolcow is a derogatory internet term for a person whose recurring public behaviour is treated as a continuing source of amusement and ridicule.
- Humilitainment describes entertainment built around another person’s embarrassment, humiliation or apparent loss of control.
A reaction video can intensify the stakes. A viewer finds an amateur clip, labels it cringe, reposts it with ridicule, and a larger creator reacts. That larger audience may then search for the original creator, comment on their account or circulate the clip further. The original upload can become more visible while its maker loses control over the context and audience.
The excerpt compares some reaction content to schoolyard bullying and frames some Indian cringe culture as “punching down.” That is its argument, not a finding that applies to every reaction channel. To judge a particular case, ask: Is the creator identifiable? Is the clip being taken out of its intended context? Does the reaction channel profit from the ridicule? Is the target a minor? Does the audience move from commentary to harassment? Is the person being mocked in a position to respond on equal terms?
Criticism, parody and bullying are not interchangeable. A pointed critique of a public performance can be legitimate; a sustained campaign against a vulnerable or unwilling individual is different. Reposting can change the stakes even when the original video was public.
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Millennials can become the punchline, too
The word “millennial” is itself a moving cultural label. As a younger generation takes over the latest platform conventions, older internet habits can start to look dated. The excerpt points to the “millennial pause”—a brief beat before someone starts speaking in a recorded video—and “Millennial Core” jokes about millennial references and nostalgia for properties such as Friends and Harry Potter.
That does not make millennials a single kind of viewer or creator. Age interacts with class, region, language, access and platform use. A joke about a generational mannerism can be affectionate, cutting or both, depending on who is telling it and how the target is treated.
A useful test before joining the pile-on
Before sharing a clip as cringe, consider what is actually provoking the reaction. Is the video awkward, or just unfamiliar? Are you laughing with the creator, at them, or at the reaction surrounding them? Is the style deliberate? Does the joke depend on someone’s accent, class position, caste, region, age or limited production resources? And would your repost send attention to a person who did not invite a larger audience?
These questions do not require viewers to approve of every video. They make it easier to distinguish a joke about an awkward performance from a judgment that a particular kind of person should not be visible online.
The book excerpt is useful precisely because it treats cringe as more than a taste for embarrassing clips. Quick humour and second-hand discomfort help explain why people watch; social comparison and group sharing help explain why they pass clips along. In India, class- and caste-coded ideas of taste can also shape who is made into an example of what not to be. The label is relational: the same video can read as funny, sincere or humiliating depending on who is watching and who has the power to set the norm.
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