There’s A New Name For Those Pierced, Weird-Looking Internet Addicts You Keep Seeing

Posted For : Rotorblade

A teacher recently described noticing a striking cultural shift among students. In earlier decades, youth trends typically came from well-known figures in television, film, or music. Today, the influences shaping teenagers are far more scattered. Social media personalities on platforms like TikTok and Instagram play a role, as do revived fashion styles from past eras and trends imported from other countries. One of the strongest cultural influences, however, comes from Japanese manga and anime.

Behaviors and interests that once would have marked someone as socially awkward in the 1990s are now widely accepted and sometimes even admired among teenagers. Students who openly discuss being neurodivergent, draw heavily from anime characters for their personal style, or center their hobbies around gaming franchises like Nintendo are no longer treated as outsiders. Instead, they are often seen as part of a new kind of cultural edge. Meanwhile, more traditional high-school archetypes—athletes, outgoing party hosts, and socially dominant personalities—appear less central than they once were.

Writer Robert Mariani recently examined this shift in an essay for The New Atlantis, describing it as the “great weirding of America.” He introduced a term for the phenomenon: “dinergoth.”

Mariani argues that the dinergoth aesthetic and mindset emerge from a combination of economic stagnation, suburban isolation, and the rise of online communities that can feel more real to young people than their physical neighborhoods. In his description, the culture extends beyond high school. Among adults, he portrays dinergoth figures as people working jobs such as warehouse shifts while cultivating online identities—streaming on Twitch, writing fan fiction, attending costume-heavy events, or maintaining online subscription platforms—all while dreaming of creative careers such as voice acting.

A prominent public example sometimes cited in discussions of this trend is Olympic figure skating champion Alyssa Liu, who has said she hopes to pursue body piercing professionally after her skating career.

Mariani suggests that dinergoth culture exists along a spectrum. At one end are individuals who fully adopt its style and identity markers—anime-inspired fashion, unconventional gender identities, open discussion of personal trauma, and experimental lifestyles. At the other end are more conventional individuals who do not live this way themselves but still understand the references and cultural signals associated with it.

Older generations may remain largely unaware of this cultural shift, but younger generations are encountering it constantly. That raises a larger question: should society simply accept this development as a new social norm, or should it challenge it and try to steer young people in a different direction? Some critics argue strongly for resisting the spread of what they see as an unhealthy cultural pattern.

Mariani himself tends to interpret the trend as a natural result of current economic and social conditions. In an interview with writer Dudley Newright, he explained the phenomenon through a materialist lens, arguing that culture largely reflects the realities of economic stagnation and the erosion of traditional social structures.

Others reject that explanation. They argue that culture shapes economic life rather than merely reacting to it, and that communities depend on shared moral values to maintain stability. From that perspective, critics contend that trends like dinergoth risk weakening the qualities that traditionally hold communities together.

One criticism often raised is that dinergoth culture lacks a coherent philosophy or guiding set of principles. Instead, it is seen as a collection of aesthetics and behaviors copied from online media feeds. According to critics, many participants adopt interests—such as heavy body modification, obsessive fandoms, or self-diagnosed conditions—largely because social media algorithms repeatedly promote those ideas.

In this view, the phenomenon reflects a broader pattern of escapism. Rather than focusing on practical skills, building stable relationships, or pursuing long-term achievements, some young people retreat into online identities and fictional worlds. For those critics, the concern is that digital culture encourages individuals to substitute virtual experiences for engagement with real-world responsibilities.

Supporters of these criticisms also argue that such lifestyles can leave participants dissatisfied. They claim that people who define themselves primarily through internet subcultures may end up blaming outside forces for personal struggles rather than addressing them directly.

At the same time, critics emphasize that not every influence associated with dinergoth culture is inherently negative. Anime and manga, for example, include many highly regarded works known for imaginative storytelling, complex characters, and impressive artistry. Like any form of entertainment, the medium includes both shallow content and celebrated classics.

The concern, critics say, arises when entertainment turns into fixation and replaces balanced engagement with the real world. Without moderation, they argue, some individuals may blur the line between fictional inspiration and everyday life, adopting exaggerated or unhealthy traits from the media they consume.

Even so, cultural observers note that youth trends rarely last forever. What seems dominant today often fades as generations grow older and new styles emerge. Dinergoth may currently capture a particular mood among young people, reflecting broader uncertainties in modern society, but it will likely evolve or disappear just as earlier youth subcultures did.

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