It's popular for a reason. A lot of this online shyt reflects people's THOUGHTS and NOT their actions.
Think about every couple you've ever seen on a reality show. How many of them are still together?
The fact that there's an audience watching your actions changes how you'll behave. Your dynamic changes when you know that you will be seen. Social media essentially did that to millions of people. Knowing they have followers and knowing they could go viral has led people who may otherwise be rational to come up with the dumbest takes you can imagine. Their goal isn't cogent thought, it's attention.
And anyone who has ever gone to public school has a memory of a child(ren) who would debase themselves or act out for attention. By creating incentives to do that, people aren't growing past that phase. They're becoming legitimately repellent and alienated from themselves and people who know them personally.
All this cheesecake factory bullshyt emerged from that system. Most people don't care about going there to eat. It's affordable, service is decent and for what you pay you get a nice meal.