Social media demands we not have nice things
I’ve been watching a lot of Doug DeMuro on YouTube, as you can likely tell by now. I’m not even that into cars; he’s just such an engaging and interesting reviewer with an admirable attention to detail.
But his recent video defending his purchase of a Land Rover Defender got me thinking a bit meta. Among the many reasons social media now shits me is the fact swaths of the population can’t tolerate you buying something that’s useful for you or makes you happy, and boy can’t they wait to tell you why.
Take electric shavers. I treated myself to a Braun last year. Disposable and cartridge razors were wasteful, and straight razors irritate my skin. I’d tried them all, with training, and with every conceivable combination of creams, foams, and gels. This electric Braun gives me a surprisingly close shave, in less time in the bleary-eyed morning, with minimal effort, and my skin doesn’t burn. It’s a win on every metric.
The uproar this generated on Twitter was matched only by my admission to using an American Express to top up an Opal card, or using a Mac back in the day. It wasn’t sufficient to tell me I wasted money, I was told in the most patronising ways possible that I should use real razors. Something something real men something something.
Doug shouldn’t have been forced to make that video. And I shouldn’t have had to explain why I went electric. Yet here we are.
If there’s any takeaway from Doug’s experience, it’s to be positive yet thorough in one’s repudiation. And if the knee-jerk whingers are still not satisfied, well, sucks to be them.
