Coolness historically depended on exclusivity and scarcity, which the internet destroyed

Evidence

Internet culture journalist Ryan Broderick observed that while millennials gravitated toward “relatable, mass-appeal content,” Gen Z seemed “curious about bringing back niche coolness.” The problem was that Gen Z didn’t know how, nor did anyone, really. Coolness had traditionally thrived on exclusivity and scarcity—two traits obliterated by the internet. One proposed solution was to bring back “gatekeeping,” which came to mean refusing to publicize information about your favorite things to keep the knowledge more valuable. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 671

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the re-appropriated ‘gatekeeping’ as refusing to publicize favorites — essential mechanism vocabulary for stating and rebutting the omnivore monoculture thesis.
• XREF: Connects to Marx’s core ‘death of the sellout’ and the exclusivity signaling logic — and bridges to the article ‘On Sacrifice’ treatment of status, or Bourdieu-type distinction theory. — connects to: The internet dismantled the mechanisms that once produced era-defining cultural trends — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 30