It is a lot of fun to be working with so many talented freelancers at Twitchy (our editors, too, of course, who will make me scrap barnacles again if I don't mention them). While all of us cover the spectrum of political and cultural events on X, many of us have our own favorite topics. For example, Mindy is our Florida expert, Laura is our life expert, Aaron loves to do legal deep dives, and Fuzzy Chimp makes everyone laugh with memes every Monday. I could go on to name everyone else, but you get the idea.
For me, though I love all different issues and topics, I would be lying if I said I didn't take special pleasure in dragging the dead legacy media that has committed credibility suicide over the past decade.
And the funniest part about it is that none of them, not a single one, has even the remotest clue as to why America has rejected them and holds them in less esteem than practitioners of the world's oldest profession (many of whom are at least honest about what they do for a living).
Well, let me try to help them out. If you want a great example of why the media is dead, by their own hand, look no further than this article from Washington Post 'breaking news' reporter Samantha Chery. (No, seriously. Her bio says 'breaking news' Features reporter.)
Finger claps have quietly taken over a swath of pop culture in the past year.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 24, 2025
As more people embrace it, the queer ballroom scene is clapping back at those unaware of its origin and meaning. https://t.co/oWRQdumnAQ
If you are a normal, sane human being -- and you are reading a Twitchy VIP right now -- so I know that you are, you are probably asking any number of questions right now.
For instance, where in the world is 'finger clapping' becoming a pop culture phenomenon?
Or, what in the actual [redacted word] is the 'queer ballroom scene'?
Perhaps the most relevant question, though, is 'On what planet is this news?'
These are all good questions, but the one I ask is how a major newspaper thinks it can publish claptrap like this and possibly hope to survive? If you will bear with me for a bit, I would like to break down how this single article encapsulates everything that is wrong with the legacy media.
Let's start with the premise itself. Nowhere in America, except maybe on Broadway or in the studio where RuPaul's Drag Race is filmed, is 'finger clapping' taking over the culture.
But don't tell that to Chery.
Finger claps have quietly taken over a swath of pop culture in the past year.
The gesture — repeatedly tapping the thumb to a finger on the same hand — offers a silent way to show praise, like the snaps of beatniks during poetry slams.
It’s been captured across the internet, with young women and LGBTQ+ youth using it the most. Blue Ivy Carter finger-clapped while onstage with her mother, Beyoncé, in a Cowboy Carter Tour video posted in May. On “The Tonight Show,” Chappell Roan tiny-clapped with long, feather-finished nails. The pinching hand emoji 🤏 now doubles as a finger clap in texts, and stars of “Love Island USA” finger-clapped throughout the hit reality show’s latest season.
That's it? That's the phenomenon? A niche gesture, performed by niche celebrities, to niche audiences?
The Hawk Tuah girl had more lasting cultural relevance, for crying out loud.
But that is our legacy media, fingers (clapping or otherwise) on the pulse of exactly no one outside of their bubble.
Ahh, but it doesn't stop there. Not only does Chery want us to believe in a zeitgeist that does not exist, she also wants to scold us for not properly acknowledging it.
Some veterans of an underground LGBTQ+ scene, who were finger-clapping long before the gesture had a name, have been upset that many people using it now have no idea where the gesture came from, what it means, or even which fingers they’re supposed to use. The clap’s surging popularity can feel especially galling to the queer ballroom community, which pioneered the gesture, as the rights of transgender people have been rolled back.
I would like to ask what rights, exactly, are being 'rolled back,' but I know Chery has no answer for that because there isn't one. It's a fake narrative that they refuse to relinquish.
But we also have to honor the traditions and origins of finger clapping now? There's a right way and a wrong way?
I hate to break it to Chery, but nobody cares.
Just for the sake of argument, though, what are those traditions exactly?
Queer Black and Brown Americans started ballroom as an underground subculture in the 1960s in response to the discrimination they faced in New York’s predominantly White drag pageant scene. Over time, balls evolved into their own art form, with campy competitions and elaborate makeup. Although it’s unclear when finger taps entered the scene, people who have attended and participated in balls said the gesture needs no explanation when used during shows.
Ahh, I get it now. The tradition of finger clapping in the 'queer ballroom scene' (whatever that is) is so time-honored and ensconced in our national consciousness that no one knows the origin, nor does anyone care to explain it.
The media plays this trick constantly. You must accept and celebrate [insert obscure group's] idiosyncracies, but you can never possibly hope to understand them, you horrible normie. You're an outsider and always will be.
So much for inclusion.
We must include them, but it is perfectly fine for them to exclude the hundreds of millions of others who aren't them.
Chery then proceeds to quote people you have never heard of, nor will ever hear of, who explain that their culture is being 'appropriated.' There are even animated GIFS in the article explaining the right and wrong ways to finger clap.
No, I am not joking.
First of all, there's no 'appropriation' going on because no one is doing this. Not on a grand scale anyway. And touching a finger to a thumb is not 'your culture.' People who use ASL have been doing that for more than 100 years before there was ever such a thing as the 'queer ballroom scene.' You don't get to call something yours just because you want to.
Ultimately, the real reason that this WaPo article is so symbolic of the legacy media's demise is simply and fundamentally that Chery wants America to believe something that is not true. In her case, she wants us to believe about a dozen things that aren't true.
Jeff Bezos: Moving forward, The Washington Post will broaden it's appeal.
— JimDelRey (Bluesky Checkmark Insert Here) (@JimDelRey) August 25, 2025
The Washington Post: https://t.co/n2ImjQM925 pic.twitter.com/f67VTSHLHP
That one's not working out so well for Bezos. But at least he got Jonathan Capehart to throw a hissy fit and quit, so that's something.
"the queer ballroom scene."
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) August 24, 2025
The number of people in America who care even slightly about this can fit into a queer ballroom. A small one.
They could probably fit into a bus. A short one.
At no point in this tweet could I have guessed what the next word would be
— Robert Sterling (@RobertMSterling) August 24, 2025
That's because you are a normal person.
And as much as Chery wants to normalize that which is not, America will always reject that. Just like America has rejected the gender cultists who prey upon children.
This crap is why Trump is president. https://t.co/7u0rl03rcB
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) August 24, 2025
All the media can do about it, seemingly, is to double down on being weird and crazy.
JD Vance is going to win 50 states
— Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry (@pegobry_en) August 24, 2025
I can only imagine Vance stepping onto a debate stage, having Democrat nominee AOC finger clap at him, and him going on to sweep every single swing state from Pennsylvania to Arizona.
Again.
https://t.co/Qed8uBhrNl pic.twitter.com/giBguwfRrO
— LaurieAnn 🧚🏻♂️💫 (@mooshakins) August 24, 2025
If I could, I would show this article to Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni just to watch her roll her eyes at it.
(She's really good at that. Just ask Emmanuel Macron.)
What the hell is wrong with you weirdos https://t.co/lcuIUSPloY
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) August 24, 2025
In the case of Samantha Chery, I would need another 2,000 words and probably Jordan Peterson to help answer that question.
But she alone is yet one more final reason why the media is dead. She has been a 'breaking news Features reporter' for the Post for close to three years. Before that, she had a four-month internship. That's it. That's the sum total of her qualifications, outside of a journalism degree from the University of Florida.
(Oh, she also worked carny games at Universal Studios Florida, which seems somehow uncannily appropriate for her current position.)
She didn't spend years at a small publication, working on her craft, honing it, learning the dos and don'ts of reporting. She was an intern right out of college and then moved from that to Editor after four months.
The legacy media isn't interested in hiring seasoned journalists anymore (to be fair, no seasoned, qualified journalist wants anything to do with them). They want performance artists who check boxes. And Chery fulfills those requirements to a tee.
And The Washington Post, which was founded in 1877 and has covered Teddy Roosevelt, the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, is now proud to present America with the queer ballroom scene and people who like to express themselves with two digits on their hands.
I suppose finger claps are in order for Samantha Chery for this achievement.
But I would probably do them wrong anyway, so I won't bother.
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