Do you feel that?
Winds in the east, mist coming inlike something is brewing?
Has something shifted seismically,as was predicted by this now iconic pre-pandemic tweet?
Is a storm coming?
Well, sort of, yes.
According toAllison P. Davis, writing for The Cut, A Vibe Shift is Coming.
Hows this for a sentence that could terrorize your grandmother: Vibe shift went viral.
So, what exactly is a vibe shift, and why should you care about it?
Trend-spotting before the trend arrives
To really ground yourself, youll want to readDaviss vibe shift piece.
Thats fine, tastes shift with the winds of the marketing machine.
It tackles the Millennial vs. Gen Z divide, a gap blown wide open by the pandemic.
Is the vibe shifting, or are you?
Its not the vibe thats shiftingits you, aging out of whats in.
Heres where I might lose you: I liked the essay.
And I think a rejection of the term vibe shift doesnt exempt you from one.
If anything, willfully ignoring the vibe shift will widen the already drastic generational gaps in effect right now.
But why does that make the phenomenon unworthy of examination?
What a given generation finds trendy is a reflection of their collective ideals and worldview.
Does this mean Im suggesting that the return of low-rise jeans is a coping mechanism for pandemic-related nihilism?
Yeah…irony never left.
Irony is by no means returning, but I do agree its here to stay.
Still, I like having the term vibe shift out in the world.
It aptly describes the understanding that were not all about to settle back into a pre-pandemic world.
If you read The Cut article and concluded Davis sounded like a victim, you missed the point.
Yes, I agree that the author is grappling with getting older.
The act of grappling with getting older is not wholly separate from the vibe shift.
But the consequences of the vibe shift might be harder to ignore.
Lets not dismiss the vibe shift as overthinking the simple act of aging.
And whether you buy into it or not, the vibe shift is already well underway.
