The Age of Sloptimism: How Spectacle Is Replacing Substance

Image credit: Christin Hume via Unsplash

In an era defined by digital saturation, political theater, and corporate spectacle, it’s no surprise that attention has become our most valuable currency. But as the drive for engagement eclipses the pursuit of meaning, we find ourselves in what internet theorist Daniel Keller has dubbed the age of “sloptimism”—what we interpret as a culture where low-effort, often meaningless content is embraced with unwarranted optimism, prioritizing visibility over value.

Sloptimism thrives in a world where hype outpaces action, where the press release may come before the initiative, and where virality matters more than impact. In business, politics, and media, we see the same pattern repeated: grand gestures, feel-good campaigns, and ironic detachment standing in for actual progress. It’s optimism, but with a catch—it doesn’t require real change, just the illusion of it.

The Power of Perception

If engagement is the metric of legitimacy, then influence can outweigh genuine intent. Nearly half of consumers say they value authenticity on social media, but for gen z, that number drops to just 35%, with many prioritizing follower count and posting frequency over so-called “realness.”

The question for brands, media, and institutions alike is clear—when does leaning into spectacle enhance credibility, and when does it erode it?

The Performance Paradox

Our relationship with performance is complicated.

On one hand, social media encourages us to present highly curated, hyperreal versions of our lives. Fleeting trends, sardonic humor, meme culture and irony have encouraged a kind of detached engagement—allowing us to participate in the spectacle without fully investing. Escapism dominates our feeds, and as AI-generated content floods timelines, the line between what’s real and what’s not blurs. Sometimes users are left struggling to tell the difference. Other times, they laugh at the absurdity of obviously artificial “slop.” For consumers, performance for the sake of performance is entertaining. Until it isn’t.

That’s where the fatigue sets in. The relentless pressure to create, react, and reinvent is undeniably exhausting. Counter-trends like “de-influencing,” “underconsumption core,” and “digital detoxing” have gained traction because users are growing wary of the endless churn of empty content. They see the quality of their platforms eroding, yet they remain engaged—often because frustration itself has become part of the entertainment cycle.

Simply put, people want both the real and the ridiculous. They want distraction; but they want depth and substance, too.

What Comes Next?

The challenge, then, is one of balance. It’s about engaging audiences in ways that feel fresh and meaningful without falling into the trap of empty performance.

Leaning into major conversations and trends certainly isn’t wrong—on the contrary. Finding the right place in culture is exactly how brands can drive relevance. But it’s time to move beyond noise and virality alone. To cut through the slop, brands must embrace intentional creativity—novel work that doesn’t just capture a moment but carries weight beyond it.

Because in an era of sloptimism, attention is easy to win, but meaning is what lasts.

Written by Hugh Jeffery, senior planner at EP+Co