"Gimmick" implies that shitposting is deployed merely as a means to quick success, but dril's style of "shitposting" predates the term and is just what self-expression looked like on the old Internet.

I think in this case "gimmick" was used in the pro-wrestling sense, it basically means "persona".

>In professional wrestling, a gimmick generally refers to a wrestler's in-ring persona, character, behaviour, attire and/or other distinguishing traits while performing which are usually artificially created in order to draw fan interest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimmick_(professional_wrestlin...

But wrestling itself, or the act of performing a character, is not a gimmick under any definition of the term.

If you want to adopt this definition from wrestling, which is a domain specific definition to be sure, then tell us what is the gimmick of dril the character?

I think you are guilty of very lazy analysis and you don't know what you're talking about.

> Gimmick" implies that shitposting is deployed merely as a means to quick success,

Can you explain this use of 'Gimmick'? I'm only familiar with the other/older/mainstream use of the term of essentially something 'extra' done to attract attention. Can you explain what you mean by 'quick success' w.r.t. 'gimmick'?

I understand that you have a naive definition of "real value" that doesn't include art, or you don't understand art. Whichever it is, that is the territory of the disagreement.