Lisa Magnusson: After all failed pick-up attempts, he has been laughed at throughout France

In an opinion piece for Dagens Nyheter, Lisa Magnusson dissects the phenomenon of online personalities like Clavicular, an "incel" and "manosphere influencer" who cultivates a shocking image for attention and profit. Clavicular, who claims to have spent $20,000 on his nose and advises followers to break their facial bones for a more masculine structure, embodies a generation raised on "algorithmically broken internet culture." Magnusson argues that such figures, driven by a need to constantly shock and escalate, become notorious rather than famous, with no such thing as bad publicity.

Magnusson recounts Clavicular's recent visit to Paris during Fashion Week and the Fête de la Musique festival. His attempts to charm French women with roses and generic compliments were met with polite disinterest or outright dismissal. One bartender, after he called her pretty, asked what he wanted to order. Clavicular's response was to claim all Parisian women are lesbians.

The author contends that this mentality is bleeding into public life and politics, where engagement is the currency that fuels these attention-seeking individuals. Despite his public persona, Clavicular reportedly discards girlfriends because a partner offers too low a return on investment, preferring to be attractive for attractiveness's sake. Magnusson concludes that this pursuit of notoriety, fueled by online engagement, is a destructive force shaping public discourse.