People have a hard time expressing themselves without the approval of others, which I think is due to the rise of social media use. Similar to the way we can cherry-pick how our behaviors and personalities are portrayed online, we often change our appearances in an attempt to appease others, even if it is on a subconscious level. Social media users are being influenced by content creators, and my belief is only amplified by the fact that influencers are becoming more authoritative over our lives.

As a result of scrolling through our feeds and consulting comment sections for additional interaction, I believe people have lost the ability to think for themselves. Influencers often base their platforms around a hobby, and work to build trust among their audience. Yet, they ultimately scheme to push a certain product or agenda on their followers. Influencers promote their hobbies in the hopes of gaining an online fanbase. Oftentimes, this is paired with an attempt to get viewers to buy products. Influencers use certain language to make their audience believe that they need to engage in certain shopping habits and lifestyles. 

For example, a fitness influencer may post many videos of their weight loss journey. They show amazing before and after results that make viewers feel inclined to follow in their footsteps. The influencer will then promote a product they used, and are often sponsored by, as their secret to weight loss. Many audience members might be impressed by the creator’s success, and have a sense of trust in them. In turn, some people will jump to buy the same products, and engage in the same lifestyle as the influencer they admire. This behavior then creates a flattened hivemind among an influencer’s millions of followers.

I believe this phenomena is in relation to code-switching, where you alter your mannerisms or appearance to fit the norms of a specific social context or to optimize comfort and gain acceptance. To create a more “socially palatable” appearance, we are inclined to conform to the opinions of those around us, and engage in the same sort of activities as them. While this is not a brand new thing for our generation, I do think that social media and our increasing online engagement, have created a hivemind among social media users.

I think we are relying too much on people across social media to complete human tasks like forming opinions and branching out into new hobbies for us. When we don’t engage in lifestyles that are personalized to our true interests, we are not expressing our individual prowess. We all have the ability to discover new hobbies, and shouldn’t waste our energy consulting popular creators on how we should life our lives.