We need to talk about white light. Specifically, why we react to it like it’s a physical assault.
It was around 11 PM last night. My room was a pitch black sanctuary. My OS? Dark. My IDE? Midnight black. My terminal? A void so deep it could swallow light. I even have a browser extension that forces a dark theme onto every single website, regardless of the designer’s original intent.
I was in total, light-sensitive harmony. A true digital vampire.
Then it happened. I had to look up an obscure error code. I clicked the first documentation link that looked promising.
The page loaded.
ZAP.
It wasn't just a website. It was a digital flashbang. A pure, 100% white background exploded into my retinas from six inches away. My pupils, which were wide open and enjoying the darkness, slammed shut so fast I’m pretty sure I heard them scream. I was temporarily blinded, clutching my desk and blinking back tears of betrayal.
I felt personally insulted. Who still builds websites with white backgrounds in 2026? It felt like a hate crime against my corneas.
The exact moment you open a Light Mode site at midnight.
A dramatic close up of a developer's face in a dark room, illuminated by the harsh, blinding white light of a laptop screen just out of frame. The developer is recoiling in mock horror, squinting intensely and holding a hand up to shield their eyes like a vampire exposed to sunlight. Their glasses are completely white from the reflection of the screen. The shadows are long and sharp, emphasizing the comical shock on their face. The quality is crisp and professional, capturing every detail of the "pain."
This is where we are now. Dark Mode isn't just a preference anymore, it’s a cult. We’ve become a tribe of basement-dwelling gargoyles who treat a white screen like a SWAT team treat a tactical grenade.
We tell ourselves it’s for "productivity" or "battery life on OLED screens," but let’s be honest: it’s an identity. We look down on people who use Light Mode in their IDE the same way we look down on people who use Comic Sans for documentation. It makes us feel more elite, more "hacker-adjacent," when our screens look like a scene from a 90s cyberpunk movie.
It’s gotten to the point where I actually judge software based on its dark theme. If your app doesn’t have a "Pitch Black" toggle, I assume you hate your users and want them to suffer.
I’m never going back to the light. I’ve embraced the void. My only light is the faint glow of a successfully compiled script. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find a CSS injector to turn this blinding documentation page into something that doesn't make me feel like I'm staring into the sun.
Top comments (4)
Haha, that's very interesting. I agree with you.
Dark mode is a cult, yes... but it's a cult because of Apple, mostly.
Before "dark mode" there were themes. Skins. Palettes. You could customise stuff. Except on Apple, obviously. But then Apple introduced a second theme for their desktop OS, and the fans went wild. True innovation. I mean, everyone else had had a ton of themes including dark ones for years, but they hadn't thought to slap a label on it and call it a new feature. Don't mind that their dark theme was incomplete and broke all the time. That's what you have to pay when you're getting fresh ideas and innovation on this level.
So yes, everyone copied that. And instead of the freedom to choose from infinite options, we now live in a world where there are two. Good job. Well played. I feel safer now.
There is hope, though. I've seen more and more people coming out with multiple light and dark themes, and as long as they categorise them under those two headings, the people won't revolt. One day soon it might be safe to express individualism once more.
The reduction to just two choices is the real tragedy here. We went from full theme customization to a binary toggle and called it progress. The worst part is that half the "dark modes" out there are just #333 backgrounds with slightly dimmed text — not actually dark, just grey enough to disappoint everyone equally.
Lol for me it's the opposite, I never "got into" dark mode, it's like I'm staring into an abyss ... fortunately, in most cases we get a choice ;-)