Percy’s blog is a motif for Earnestness in the Age of Performative Cynicism. The blog is an evolution of the music column she writes for Ring Finger and the work she shares with her graduate creative writing workshop, and the progression of her writing over the years reflects her growing self-confidence. In her music column, Percy is initially too afraid to be earnest and tell the stories of her life. In her essay for her creative writing workshop, however, she starts to challenge her peers by using her writing to show herself through her interpretation of different songs. Her intention in creating her blog, Walgreens Songs, is to make a space where she can be “the proud dork of the music blogosphere” (176). The blog exists in contrast to the music spaces that she must visit for work, where she has to perform a version of herself whose first instinct is to judge other people.

When Percy’s blog starts to gain popularity, she finds herself slowly bending her posts to meet her readers’ preferences. As she states, “My audience wanted stories from the dance floor, not my introspective musings on lyrics” (191). She finds a brief moment of balance between the contrasting reasons for her writing when she writes an earnest post that blends her love for Zoe with a field report on Soul Night at the Elbo Room, eliciting insightful praise from a German reader named Alma. However, she mistakenly thinks that Alma’s readership bestows a measure of security on her earnestness. When Percy then goes on to write an overly earnest blog post intended for Joe’s attention, she alienates Alma, and this unintended result leaves her embarrassed by her own vulnerability. Percy realizes that while she can be earnest with her readers, she cannot mistake this abstract connection for the deeper intimacy of an interpersonal relationship. She chose to perform earnestness to get validation from her readers, instead of trying to reconcile directly with Joe.