I don't know how much you can blame social media for that. The vast majority of people are rank conformists, and the more they trumpet their own individuality and wild, rebellious spirit, the more conformist they probably are.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

You should come to Maine. I would say in any given class of 30 - 40 students that I teach there might be one hipster. Probably more likely to see the camo lifestyle look.

in the good 'ol days, if you wanted to toughen your boy up, you named him Sue.
today, you tell the mass sheeple brigade that you support someone other than a lib-tard pres, pseudo-scientist or a woman,(her ideaoligy has nothing to do with this mind you).

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ΜΟΛΩΝ-ΛΑΒΕ
we're doomed

Maybe I've missed your point, but I disagree. It used to be that even the rank conformists were different from the rank conformists the next town over. Or the next county over, the next state over, etc. I recall trips to visit family in the Midwest in the late 70s, early 80s, and the kids/teens there dressed and sounded different than me and my friends from coastal Southern California. Today, the kids and teens are wearing the same things across the country, using the same slang, quoting the same memes, etc. Just talk to anyone between, say, 15 and 40 maybe, and they all (well, mostly girls/women, I've found) speak with that annoying cadence and speech in which every sentence is ended with an upturn in pitch, with the conclusion being presented in the third or fourth sentence in the form of a sentence that ends with a downturn in pitch.

That synchronization of culture, if you will, is a direct result of people engaging with others who are thousands of miles apart instantaneously via the Internet.

Perhaps to your point, my brother observed years ago that even those who eschew groups and classifications are in a group themselves - they're classified as the group that eschews groups and classifications.

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War is god

TV and music has much more to do with it than "the internet". Localized dialects have been dying for decades, RP has taken over England, Inland Northern America has taken over the US - even though recently the Northern Cities vowel shift has moved INA away from General American English.

For decades, everyone on the BBC spoke in RP and everyone on American TV spoke in INA/General American English (except when regional accents are played for comedy). Even in Boston, most people on TV speak with a GA accent, not one of the many Eastern New England accents (there are at least 6 distinct accents in New England).

What your talking about is Uptalk or upspeak or High rising terminal. That predates the internet, even the actual internet, not just the popularization of the internet. It showed up in Mississippi in 1963. Some people believe it's a remnant of Norwegian immigrants to the upper midwest.

I was surprised when we moved to Maine how rare it is to hear someone with the Mainer accent. Pretty much unheard among our students and plenty come from the rural parts of the state. Really stands out when you hear a relatively young person with it because it's so unusual.

this is not new. In fact, meta artsy people have been turning this mass individualism (get it?) into art itself!

http://www.exactitudes.com/.../series/overview/154


ETA: for years I should add. The "Gabbers" collection is from 1994!

Every male student in my father's 1952 yearbook has exactly the same haircut. When I went to high school in the 80's hair was mostly parted in the middle and various degrees of "long". High school students today have shaved, colored, bald, various lengths, etc.

There are pockets of people that copy each other, but I think it would be hard to argue that we are getting more homogeneous over time.

I don't think it's a social media thing. How did everyone in the 80s know to have big hair and Z-cavaricci's with IOU sweatshirts without the internet?

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Seems like fewer and fewer people who live in Boston proper have a Boston accent - I think they've been priced out of the real estate market. Head out to some of the burbs like Saugus though and you can get it in spades.

Ah, a linguist. Fascinating explanation. Thanks.

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War is god

well, yeah, fascinating, but it's like a foreign language. What the hell does RP, INA, etc. mean? i grew up as a redneck hillbilly in northeast TN, but went to school for a long time and moved to a relatively big city so I don't sound (as much) like a hick now. Which acronym does thta get me?

RP is Received Pronunciation and INA is Inland North American. I had no idea either, but google is your friend.

Interesting reading and now I know something new.