Irony protects you from looking dumb. Sincerity lets you actually connect. Pick sincerity more often.

Irony is armour. Saying everything at a slight angle means nothing can be held against you, and it also means nothing you say quite lands. Sincerity is riskier because it can be laughed at, and it is the only register in which people actually reach each other. The cost of never being caught caring is never being known.

Pick one thing this week and say it straight, with no protective joke on the end. Tell someone you liked their work, or that you want something, plainly. Watch how few people actually mock it.