Today, Explained Surviving online cringe
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Feb 1, 2026 
Amelia Knott, a registered psychotherapist who works on online well-being, offers coping strategies for shame. Alexandra Samuel, a tech journalist, explains curating, archiving, and deleting digital traces. E.J. Dixon, a writer at The Cut, recounts a cringe personal essay and reflects on vulnerability online. They discuss regret, deletion as curation, and practical ways to live with past posts.
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Cringe Essay About The Trumps
- E.J. Dixon described an essay she wrote titled "Why I Want Donald and Melania's Marriage" that she now finds embarrassing.
- She traced the piece to clickbait-era internet earnestness and personal insecurity before marriage.
Oversharing In The Personal Essay Era
- E.J. Dixon recalls writing hyper-personal pieces like one about post-sex semen spillage that now make her cringe.
- She said the era encouraged young writers to expose vulnerable intimate details for clicks.
Curated Profiles Replace Earnest Messiness
- Alexandra Samuel argued contemporary social media is heavily curated and branded compared with past messy platforms.
- She mourned the loss of spaces where people could post honest, messy content without performance pressure.
