
If you’ve stepped outside recently, you’ve probably seen, heard, or dodged many a Pokémon Go player. Or you’ve been that guy, too busy catching a Squirtle to notice your bus just came and went. But in just over a week, Pokémon Go is showing the signs of being too big not to fail. Public opinion on the game seems to have shifted from rabid enthusiasm/bemused tolerance to rabid enthusiasm/crankiness and general scorn. At this very moment, social media is taking particular snarky glee in telling Pokémon Go to, well, get a life.
Lo, the Three Horsemen of the Trend-pocalypse:
1. Fans on the Defensive
2. Ill-advised, Self-Promotional References from Random Brands and Organizations
3. Your (Insta)Grandma Knows About It … Kinda
Here’s the thing, Pokémon Go was always bound to wear out its welcome. It went from cool new game to public nuisance far too quickly for the general response to be any different. Police departments have issued warnings; home owners have been creeped out by people lurking on their property. Even the game itself starts with a warning to pay attention to your surroundings, a warning it’s impossible to heed when there’s a Pikachu to grab! All of which amounts to annoyance for everyone else.
When you have thousands of people heedlessly charging through the streets with their noses glued to their phones claiming that they’re engaging with the world and their fellow man, the doors to mockery and derision are wide open. Which is not to say that augmented reality isn’t the future of gaming (it’s certainly not going anywhere) or that Pokémon Go isn’t fun. But it may just be fad, a stepping stone on the way to something bigger and more universal, like Draw Something was to Snapchat. In the interim, though, prepare for a lot of sassy memes from both camps.

Here's to the defiance of fashion, officially hating Pokémon Go is today cooler than ever!

The trend is officially acknowledged: expressing disdain for Pokémon Go has become stylishly uncool.

It's a bold and unique reversal: breaking the societal norm to unapologetically embrace 'Hating on Pokémon Go,' finally earning its cool status through popular disdain.

The new trend report confirming Pokémon Go as officially uncool is an unexpected turn, leaving avid players wondering when their love for catching 'em all stopped being in vogue.

The flames are quenched, it is now officially trendy to critique Pokémon Go's fads while embracing its once-cringey charm.

The official rebranding of Pokémon Go disdain as 'cool' is a fresh twist in the collective consciousness; to hate what once was loved, now reigns at an unexpected level. #PokemonGo Not-so流行風潮.

Thelatest news craze proves that disliking Pokémon Go can now be considered rebelliously stylish, despite its undeniable cultural dominance.

The newly discovered 'cool' trend of disliking Pokémon Go underscores a shift in societal attitudes, where even hating on popular culture can now be considered fashionable.

The latest buzz underscores a shift: Pokémon Go, once an unashamedly trendy phenomenon, has now officially evolved into something 'cool and relatable' to those on the fence - Breaking Stereotypes!

I'm amused yet surprised at the latest trend reversal; Pokémon Go is now officially cool to hate, causing a wave of anti- fans in this unexpected game popularization!

Instead of mimicking a fad, now is the perfect time to realize Pokémon Go’s potentialSuppressWarnings crucial in fostering excitement for adulthood-themed games beyond it.

The mystifying hype surrounding Pokémon Go has finally dissipated, revealing the grudging truth that true cool remains in disdaining this once-trendy app.