It's just something dumb to pass the time. When I was a kid we had Charlie the Unicorn, Potter Puppet Pals and YouTube Poops.
If you feel morally panicked by Skibidi Toilet, you are old and out of touch (which is fine). It's the same as it's always been.
Edit: Well, not /just/ something dumb. Completely forgot about the associated lore some of these had, which makes them even more like Skibidi Toilet. I guess there's a whole category of "dumb things with underlying narratives." Filthy Frank is another one that comes to mind.
No, it's not a narrative at all, it's episodic-mimetic and it's fractal, the pieces can be recombined in other vids. A narrative has bells and whistles like backstory, cause and effect dichotomies.
Wow, you just unlocked an incredibly dusty memories.
Maybe it's not the same as it's always been, but it's the same as it's been for 20-something years at a very minimum.
I think the comparison with Charlie the Unicorn is spot-on. Yes, there's a narrative, but any attempt to analyze that narrative automatically misses the point.
If you feel morally panicked by Skibidi Toilet, you are old and out of touch (which is fine). It's the same as it's always been.
Edit: Well, not /just/ something dumb. Completely forgot about the associated lore some of these had, which makes them even more like Skibidi Toilet. I guess there's a whole category of "dumb things with underlying narratives." Filthy Frank is another one that comes to mind.