How a Random X post Shines a Light on Societal Decline
Prayers vs. Holy Shit
Scrolling through X/Twitter, I stumbled across a strange little artifact. Two comments, one on top of the other, and nearly identical. Both replying to this photo posted by Alex Jones of his father.
Two replies, posted within minutes of each other.
Same message.
Same sentiment.
Huge difference in engagement!
The only difference?
One ends with “Prayers.”
The other ends with “Holy shit.”
And right there, that difference, encapsulates the downward trajectory of modern culture.
We’ve reached a point where sincerity, earnest, old-world words like “prayers,” are met with silence.
Outdated.
Corny.
Something your grandma says after a bad diagnosis.
But drop a profanity, a little shock, a little irreverence, and suddenly you’re riding the algorithm wave.
This isn’t about two random replies on Alex Jones’ timeline. It’s about how language itself is being gamified. The words we choose don’t just carry meaning anymore. They carry currency. “Holy shit” earns more than “prayers.” Sarcasm outperforms sincerity. Irony gets engagement, while sincerity is ignored.
Edit To Add:
It’s been nearly a month since I posted this. I’ve tracked down the original posts to see if the engagement stabilized and equaled out or did they continue to reveal the decline of modern society.
Let’s see.
Prayers = 39🫀’s and 2 replies.
Holy shit = 194🫀’s and 6 replies.
The profane version clearly outperformed the “Prayers” version.
Which reveals a glimpse into a much larger cultural slide: we don’t reward people for being genuine. We reward them for being performative, edgy, cynical.
Unfortunately, that’s what cuts through the noise.
Maybe that’s the real decline.
Not the wars, not the corruption, not even the clown-show that is modern politics. But the fact that two humans can say the exact same thing, and only the one with profanity is pushed by the algorithm.
In a collapsing empire, empathy and sincerity are bad for SEO.