The reasons of the slop (and how to stand out)
Everything looks better. Everything feels worse. Here’s why.
Sloppiness is all around us.
It’s unavoidable.
As someone who used to watch all the new TV shows and movies when I was 18, I don’t watch anything anymore. Same with video games. Yes, I have less time — but still plenty. And this shift only happened in the last few years.
So what happened?
Slop happened.
Why does everything seem worse?
It’s shiny but empty.
If you don’t look too close, things seem to get better. Movies have stunning cinematography even the ones with zero soul. Games are more realistic than ever but also more lifeless. Science knows more and yet the outputs feel sterile.
It’s not progress. It’s veneer.
The details are gone
Take video games.
Look at how environments used to be crafted: textures had personality, lighting was stylized, geometry was optimized to feel right, not just simulate realism.
Now? Everything’s technically “high-res,” yet somehow blurrier. Shaders try to mimic physical reality, but in doing so, kill intentionality. Modern games are filled with generic assets glued together by rushed pipelines. It’s noise with no art direction.
Same with storytelling.
Plots used to have a pulse, even dumb ones had rhythm. Now, everything feels like it was written by people who don’t live, only consume. The result: incoherence dressed up as “subversion.”
So why all this slop?
A few reasons:
Bloat. Industries scaled too fast. Teams ballooned. Now, you’re not hiring people who care, you’re hiring to fill seats. No one owns the product. No one fights for the details.
Disconnection. Creators are removed from who they’re making things for. They don’t care to understand the audience. They follow data dashboards instead of instincts.
Process over taste. Everyone wants frameworks, systems, blueprints. But good work needs taste. And taste can’t be outsourced or A/B tested.
Content treadmill. Everything’s become content. Not a film. Not a game. Content. Disposable by design. Optimized for algorithms, not for impact.
We didn’t just lower the bar.
We forgot why there was a bar in the first place.
How to avoid the slop (especially if you're building things)
This isn't just about movies or games. It's about everything being made today: apps, newsletters, startups, courses.
As an entrepreneur, you’re not immune.
You’ve probably seen it:
Products that work, but feel lifeless
SaaS tools bloated with features nobody uses
Brands that talk like ChatGPT on Xanax
That’s slop too. Just with a different coat of paint.
Here’s how to build without falling into it:
Stay small on purpose. The more layers between you and the thing you’re making, the more chances slop seeps in. Protect the directness.
Refuse generic. In a world templated to death, the smallest bit of taste stands out. Bring taste back into tech. Refine. Redesign. Rewrite. Obsess.
Make for someone specific. If your product tries to appeal to everyone, it ends up meaning nothing to anyone. Understand your people better than they understand themselves.
Keep your edge. Compromise is where slop breeds. Keep the part of you that wants to say: "No, this isn’t good enough."
This era rewards shipping fast and scaling thoughtlessly. But those who care about nuance, emotion, and coherence will always outlast the churn.
Because the opposite of slop isn’t polish. It’s intention.