Oxford Languages defines individuality as “the quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others of the same kind, especially when strongly marked.”
In today’s time, where social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and many other applications control everyone’s daily lives, individuality has seemed to be slowly swept away.
Social media used to feel like a place where everyone shared their niche interests and styles, but now it feels as if everything has been recycled and copied.
For example, everyone had their own thing during COVID-19’s quarantine. People were able to escape from the judgments of the outside world. Since everyone had to stay inside, people felt more comfortable expressing themselves, even if they received a hate comment or two.
There is a fine line between being inspired by something you saw online and completely copying a person’s style or a displayed persona.
There is more to social media’s influence on a lack of individualism than just someone copying an outfit they saw someone else wear online. That is just the tip of the iceberg.
There have been times when I have seen social media posts of people expressing themselves in their supposed-to-be safe place, but there’s hate comments of people trying to shame and taunt them for doing so.
The lack of individuality within social media platforms can affect some people’s self-esteem. To elaborate on that, this can occur the most due to popular trends.
For those who are participating in the trend, they may feel pressured (internally or externally) to do or wear whatever is trending at the moment.
An example of this are glorified eating disorder trends I’ve been on TikTok and even Pinterest. These trends display and recommend (mainly) young girls to create unhealthy diets that are posed to help them lose weight and maintain an unrealistic body figure.
For those who may not be able to participate within current trends, they could easily feel left out from watching many others have what they do not.
That also aligns with some viewers tending to compare themselves to random people on social media they don’t know.
Social media usually displays one’s “good” or “flawless” side; this can make some feel left out or somewhat jealous. .
Without individuality, it takes away one’s uniqueness and personality. Social media demotes the whole meaning of humanity: our individualism.
With all of that being said, the lack of individuality within social media is not terrible; it is just recycled and unoriginal to our nature.
