What's something you don't get the hype about?

Oh god, I feel like I’m going to be massacred.

K-pop

Isn't it basically the same as back when western boybands were popular, just with more internet? I suppose I don't quite get those, either, but it's not that hard to figure out why these groups are so appealing to many girls and women.
- That’s the thing, I don’t know
  Is it something more than just Korean pop groups? Is it a fetish? This is the most I’ve thought about it honestly because some of the fans just made it nuts.
  I worked at a B&N and the calls I would get for exclusive versions… 12 versions of the same album except for some trading card inside or something.
  I find it bizarre but I just don’t understand
- K-pop is purely about looking pretty. Some of the boy bands looked pretty average but their music was decent.
There's good and bad kpop, like there's good and bad of most genres.

Pick-up trucks for anyone that's not a farmer, construction worker or dirtbike rider.

They are so dumb and impractical for normal driving. I don't get it.

I believe there was some tax-benefit for them in the US at some point..? Then it makes a tiny bit if sense i guess.

But what's even dumber: cross-overs. Worst of both worlds.

I love my small car but it's getting impossible to drive anymore when the LED headlights of these trucks are literally at my eye level blinding everything. They are a danger and the only way out it seems is to join them and get above the lights.
This is basically Florida. Tons of massive trucks on the roads, all driven by assholes that I will judge absolutely by their truck alone.
I agree with pick ups. The issue has been that bigger pick ups are generally exempt from fuel efficiency mandates resulting in manufacturers making bigger and bigger pick ups. They don't make compact pick ups anymore. Add in America has some fascination with owning trucks. I'm actually gonna disagree on crossovers. For most people I agree they're impractical. But they're better than SUVs and pick ups. Most people actually need a mini van or wagon but we just stopped making those
I would go further and say they are stupid for everything. Oh i need it to haul stuff. And you didn't get a bus? Are you stupid?

Bacon was awesome before the marketing campaign. Bacon was awesome during it, and bacon remains awesome to this day.
Sorry about all the shitty bacon you've been fed.
I don't remember a bacon marketing campaign. Regardless, bacon/pork belly is the most delicious meat in my opinion.

Taylor Swift. I actually like her music. I also understand that hardcore fans will exist for every artist. But Swifties take it to another level. I'm lowkey impressed by that fandom, but don't get it.

I just saw Black Joe Lewis play last night and I know for a fact he's a much better guitarist. But she packs stadiums and only 50 people were at his show. maybe it's because he doesn't show off his thighs?
- I think you're generalizing her way too much here. Her fanbase is mostly girls. They aren't coming to see her thighs. She may not be the greatest guitarist in the world but she's a great song writer and singer. Her Eras tour was also incredibly well done.
- Lol! The music industry has fuck all to do with music..!
You know how people who are into Q-Anon and Pizza-gate look at strange symbols and odd numerology to find strange connections to prove whatever crazy thing they believe. Taylor Swift like to release albums, singles and tours using favorite numbers, hidden symbols and hints in her other songs. So it fits that section of the internet who love to analyze to death things to find clues. Since she is so prolific there is enough material for her to hide these Easter eggs to generate endless conspiracies about when things are released. Since she does drop hints it makes sense that people love to find them. Its like a puzzle-game mixed with a conspiracy theory mixed with a "viral marketing campaign" all in one. And instead of unraveling the fabric of democracy she release music people like.

Switch 2

Tik Tok. It's just vine but no one is funny. How many videos of people just driving their cars with some nonsense text overlaid, like, how many hundreds of that are needed? How are you going to stand out? It's just a way for the uncreative to take part in creativity. Which they aren't.

Just like the fast food thing, TikTok is literally addictive. It’s the new breed of addictive tech. It’s the fentanyl of tech.

It's a really fun game. People exaggerate the "addictive" aspect because.. you know.. "internet"
- Y'know, while I also think it's exaggerated, there's definitely some truth to it. I was playing it on my phone while my friend's kids were watching, and they incessantly tried to get me to pick opening packs over any other game mechanic.
  I think it definitely does abuse that "loot box opening" dopamine pathway a little too well in a perhaps a less than healthy sort of way, even if it doesn't cost you any real money.
  So while it is a very good deck building strategy game, I totally get the reason it has the reputation it does.
Big number go up, get brain drug dose. not much more to it than that.
I don't like that kind of game. I didn't like Balatro. I'm more into realism and simulation though. I had no idea why all of my favourite sites couldn't stop talking about it. Honestly, I think standards have fallen a lot further than we thought. Again though. I'm surviving until the release of Elder Scrolls 6. Balatro was never really on my radar.
- We live in a world where bastion and undertale and tw3 are 'good games'.
  There are times when hype and marketing and fad take over, and nobody can see that the game is poor or ho-hum... Or in the case of undertale, pure shit.

The last of us games, pretty generic trope filled badly paced story. And just super meh gameplay that feels like you are walking through molasses.

pretty generic trope
https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-not-so-hidden-israeli-politics-of-the-last-of-us-part-ii/
Life is strange. Just pure shit.
Haha I have a TLOU tattoo. Hate the 2nd game though
- Was it too "woke" for you?
I finally started playing the first game on PC a few days ago... It's not great. Story is whatever I dont really care. The actual gameplay itself is just...not fun? Clunky and imprecise.
I had the same problem with red dead 2. I don't have the attention span to care about the characters or the story so I need solid gameplay to keep me hooked and it just wasn't satisfying to play for the most part. Felt like I was suggesting movement controls rather than actually controlling my character. The guns all felt meh. It's got some fun mechanics, but the bounty system was horrendous and the survival aspect is non-existent.
I have goopy goblin gamer brain as some call it. I need the gameplay to be excellent as I do not care about graphics or story. So many games have amazing graphics and legendary stories but the gameplay itself just isn't fun enough for me to finish it.

K-pop, Anime & Manga, Harry Potter (fuck JKR!), gyms, Yoga & Pilates, fashion, make up, nail polish and probably a hundred things more...

I think HP and Kpop are both quite overrated.
Anime and Manga are just media, so there are good and bad series, like anything else. It's not worth obsessing over, or writing it off. But there are definitely shows that are worthy of some amount of hype.
Gyms are a good place to have access to various machines and weights for strength training (which is super important!) It has advantages and disadvantages compared to something like calisthenics. Yoga is a great way of moving and stretching the body, which is big for flexibility and general mobility. Especially combined with some form of strength training, it will have a huge impact on how your body feels.
Fashion, makeup, and nail polish are all about self expression. Fast fashion is bad, but fashion can mean just putting together a good outfit. It's worth it to put a bit of effort into what you wear, and making your clothes into something that reflects you. Makeup also has a positive and negative side. On one hand, a lot of people use it (often heavily) to cover up their percoeved flaws and 'fix' their appearance. I think that's unhealthy and a bit sad. But makeup is also an an art form; it turns your face into a canvas. Think winged eyeliner, glitter, colored eyeshadow or lipstick, etc. This includes nail polish. It's an expression of creativity, an you get to look nice at the end! Even if it's something you aren't personally interested in, (or if you are discouraged from self ornamentation due to gender expectations) It should be clear why people enjoy these things.

Blockchain. I've always seen it as a solution looking g for a problem. And I'm a 12+ experienced software developer now.

The only real use for the block chain is tracking stocks to prevent illegal shortselling.
So it will never ever ever get used for that purpose.
Obligatory fuck citadel.
Meh I think the decentralization is a pretty nice use case actually. It’s great that no one can shut it down and no centralized entity can just decide that your money is gone now (for cryptocurrencies).
Look at Monero. Since it's almost impossible to track governments are actually trying to ban it but they can’t shut it down because anyone can just spin up a node and there’s nothing any government can do about it except banning it from exchanges. I think that’s pretty neat, although the environmental cost for this technology together with LLMs are absolutely crazy

Vinyl records.

If you're rejecting online music streaming and wanting music in physical form, CDs look a lot more practical. CDs are smaller, less delicate, and don't physically degrade every time you play them. CD playback hardware needs essentially zero maintenance and is crazy cheap still.

Could it be for nostalgia? But I've seen people younger than peak vinyl get into music on records. They wouldn't have any nostalgia for vinyl.

Is it for the sound quality? But I've seen chiptune albums available on records! It would be truer to the music to load it onto a real Game Boy or something.

I like vinyl for it being big enough to be somewhat like a poster. I'm hoping to eventually gave a vinyl wall when I have my own place
I'm 30 so CDs were well and truly widespread during my formative years so it's not nostalgia for me
- Thank you for being the voice of reason.
The reason I like vinyl is how slow and deliberate it is compared to other mediums. If I want to play a record I have a limited curated selection which I purchased with a specific use case. These are all played in my living room and are generally slower and relaxing type music. If I want to play a record I will need to start at the beginning and typically commit to hearing the entire thing in its entirety. Each side I have to choose to continue which slows down the process. I can't skip ahead to the songs I like and it doesn't automatically play anything once its done. Its slow and has a large physical object which I enjoy.
If I used CDs I could skip to whatever song I like or have it automatically play the next CD. With a multi-disc changer I wouldn't have to choose what I want to hear each time. I have CDs which I use in my car for a different use case which is to listen to when the radio is being annoying.
- This exactly.
  It’s the ceremonial steps that precedes the listening experience that adds flavour to the enjoyment.
  If I want to just listen music and do other things I just use Apple Music + AirPods/Soundbar, but if I want to listen a certain album and make the experience more active, I use the record player.
  My music collection on vinyl is curated since each album involves a higher cost.
  There is also my fascination on analog things, I have an automatic turntable and love the orchestra of mechanical sounds from all the internal components.
  Edit: Forgot to mention that on streaming platforms sometimes the only version available is a remastered version that was rereleased on CD that fucked the dynamic range during the loudness war or is an edit of the original one.

asparagus

Jungle pee!
Green or white?
Green are so so, but white... Omg... With hollandaise and a good piece of ham.
- With all due respect my dude I think you're just using the asparagus as an edible spoon for hollandaise there. And I like asparagus
- The type that's popular here is white and boiled. Even if I liked it green, grilled etc. (haven't tried it, so it's technically possible), that's not what most people here are hyped about.

Jellyfin vs Plex vs Kodi

People get really into the one they choose and upset when other people make a different choice. But it's not a competition, use whatever makes you happy 🤘

Absolutely do use whatever makes you happy, but that is a false equivalence. Plex just updated their license to allow them to track your content consumption and sell that data to whomever they want...

Fast food.

I'm not saying there's exactly "hype" but it seems to have a permanent grasp on the minds of chronic users.

In 2025, with our knowledge of nutrition, people are still denying that it's basically hot candy disguised as food... people are still arguing that it's nutritional enough that is okay to eat.

No, it's the equivalent of cigarettes. Stop eating that shit, recognize it for what it is: addictive poison.

In the same way that sugar/candy is physically addictive, fast food has been proven to have the same physiological effects. It’s literally an addiction.
- Yep, and that's why users go berserk typically when I point out that it's basically hot addictive candy, not food.
  Addicts go nuts when you tell them they can't or shouldn't have their medicine.

HVAC. I feel like it's as much of a game changer as cocaine was to people already forking out lots for pure heroin.

Sounds good, but I'll never see the benefit

Idk man, air conditioning is pretty nice.
...i went to school in the tropics without air conditioning, neither in the classrooms nor dormitories, and it still feels like self-indulgent opulence to me every time i come home to air conditioning, even four decades later...
- I see them everywhere in hot countries, and it boggles the mind that this is just this expensive thing that a lot of houses have now

Both of your takes are insane.
If you think Scotch tastes like listerine, I don't know what bathtub hooch you're drinking.
And your idea that you don't get how video games can be pleasurable is just absolutely willingly ignorant. You have an obsession with booze which is little different than people wanting to play games for pleasure.
...'scotch' encompasses such a vast diversity of spirits that i presume anyone who blanket-dislikes it either 1) doesn't like malt whisky in general, fair enough, or 2) mis-apprehends a specific style as endemic to scotch whisky as a whole...
...the latter folks typically dislike peated malts, often after sampling bottom-shelf blends...

Celebrities

I couldn't care less about any of them, I don't understand why people follow them on social media or read gossip about their love lives.

Makes zero sense to me

Souls games.

Ed Sheeran.

In-N-Out.

Lemmy.

It's just another pointless link dump, most of the posts are stupid, very few of them have anything to do with the community in which they're posted. Most of the people commenting cannot read, are incapable of analyzing information, and basically do not have a brain.

There's a few technical features Lemmy offers, but from an experience standpoint it's every bit as bad as "the other place"

Have you actually seen a single thing posted here that would make you say oh this community is the place to be! Nope. And you never will.

It's the same recycled overcooked memes from 20 years ago, moronic political posts, bad science, misinformation, half-truths and so forth

Oh and who could forget the self-styled Linux experts who know fuck all about Linux!

Mario Kart World and that new Donkey Kong game. everything about the Switch 2 looks underwhelming

Locking as the community moved, see you at !casualconversation@piefed.social

Hyper space. Just no. Existence is chaotic enough without adding uppers into the mix.

dr who