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Dec 27, 2024
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I love this so much, this app feels so refreshing and genuine compared to everything else
this is so well put, it’s a mindset that I notice spilling out into the way I interact with my physical space. decorating my apartment I find myself thinking more about what some undefined “other person” would think about me based on my decorations more than how I feel in the space that is where I live ! it reinforces this idea that myself is a persona I perform even in my most private spaces and I agree really distances me from my own brain and thoughts and self! such an important reflection and pattern of thinking to notice and combat
helenmae interestingly enough I made a post about this recently as a response To some ask specifically about how this manifests in living spaces (maybe even a couple of posts)! search is so busted but it’s on my profile… somewhere lol. I’m glad it resonated with you 🫶
Incredibly well put. I've struggled for a while to put words to what i've been thinking and this gets it perfectly. Something else that I also think puts this all in to perspective is the lack of modern sub-culture. Everything has been watered down into an "aesthetic" or "core" so its palatable and easy to consume en-masse. It's no longer for people interested in a certain to come together and represent their niche circle, its something to be worn like a fashion trend that changes like the wind and its just sad.
galvo9 yes, I think subcultures used to organically arise in specific locations where people would spend time together and spread slowly over time! now without that geographic and cultural context they just become empty consumer identities like you said and they don’t reflect anything about the people who adopt them ☹️
preach. This is why I wear my hair in a buzzcut and keep a unibrow- it feels appearance-neutral. not beautiful but not “out there” to where people pay attention to it.
"sharing less allows me to express who i am beyond appearance."
you just perfectly explained what i've been thinking about social media these past few days. i'm so glad i was able to find this platform. i finally deleted instagram and a huge weight has been lifted off me. :)
I think that any public space can be prone to optics (people curating what will get them the most likes/comments/credibility versus purely sharing what they want to share). Some of that is baked into our lizard brain, where sameness and agreement aided survival, but the rise algorithmically-driven content definitely put that steroids.
And image-centered platforms have added the layer of body dysmorphia when our self image becomes a tool for gaining that credibility. When the “medium is the message,” we prioritize those bodies that better fit the dominant conventions for what is attractive: young, thin, often well-off people who have the means to maintain such an image. The algorithm makes the exception look like the rule and people feel they have to live up to that expectation. And, of course, it’s this sense of lacking and dissatisfaction that Capitalism is built upon when businesses can sell you the solutions to the problem they create.
I hope conversations like this one show that we’re growing tired of that type of media environment and they’ll begin to die out.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts I have been thinking about this so much!!! Instagram especially has really been subconsciously affecting my self esteem recently and it’s easy in theory to remember the majority of what you see is edited/ curated but I have caught myself comparing myself to these impossible standards and it feels no bueno. Really need to do more work to stay vigilant about this
lindsayhthomson it’s so hard I think these things really exploit something so deep and subconscious in our brains even if we’re consciously and logically aware on another level!!!
It’s been slightly horrifying seeing this shift in real time. I could see if my life went just a little differently, I’d be behaving online in that way too.
mossyelfie completely agree… I think I was at the right age and odd place in my life that I didn’t fall into this as much as a lot of people did but it has still affected me. and witnessing this evolution really has been kind of disturbing like you said!!
I’ve been saying this dude like our algos push for linking image to self/thoughts/feelings or whatever for obviously capitalism and image based products and control via insecurity. but it feels so satisfying for us to brandify ourselves into perfect curated niches bc evolutionarily we just need our freaking in-groups!! but 1) we think we’re indivudualizing ourselves but it’s just a new type of modern category which is fine like there is no escaping categorization but 2) it doesn’t fulfill bc we need irl community which we aren’t gonna know if we keep doing it how we are!! Bring back gathering, ultimately.
