Snark took off around the same time the web did because it solves a specific problem of the attention economy: how do you signal intelligence, distance, and in-group membership in as few characters as possible. Earnestness is expensive, it takes context and charity, but a snarky aside is cheap and instantly legible to your tribe. Once media, then social media, got rewarded for engagement over accuracy, snark became a kind of default compression algorithm for opinion: less argument, more vibe. The irony is that the word itself has this long, meandering, almost quaint history, while its modern use is basically an optimization for ad-driven feeds and quote-tweet culture. We didn’t just get more “snarky” because we got more cynical, we got more snarky because the systems that surface speech pay better for sharp edges than for careful thought.
"Just the place for a Snark!" the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.
...
Snark took off around the same time the web did because it solves a specific problem of the attention economy: how do you signal intelligence, distance, and in-group membership in as few characters as possible. Earnestness is expensive, it takes context and charity, but a snarky aside is cheap and instantly legible to your tribe. Once media, then social media, got rewarded for engagement over accuracy, snark became a kind of default compression algorithm for opinion: less argument, more vibe. The irony is that the word itself has this long, meandering, almost quaint history, while its modern use is basically an optimization for ad-driven feeds and quote-tweet culture. We didn’t just get more “snarky” because we got more cynical, we got more snarky because the systems that surface speech pay better for sharp edges than for careful thought.
I didn't know this was a Britishism! As a certified British person I can recommend snark as both a word and a practice.
Snarky Snark and the Funky Bunch used it all the time in their lyrics
>snark as both a word and a practice.
"As a certified British person, then practice what you preach. (Americans won't all get that).
I'm borrowing this: “They are the rankest narks vot ever God put guts into, or ever farted in a kickses case.”
I recall the poem, The Hunting of the Snark:
mentioned in TFA
>The etymology does not go back to Lewis Carroll’s 1876 poem about an imaginary creature,
I have to say that the first things that comes to mind (!) when I think of "snarky" are Culture drones...
I had always just assumed it was a blend of "snide" and "sarcastic". interesting to see it's not related to either word!