The death of sub-cultures and identity?

This is mostly just a vent, but i do hope this will provoke interesting discussion. In this day and age everybody looks, acts, dresses and thinks the the same exact fuarrrking way. I would like to say that this is directly correlated to rates of social media usage (and celebrity/e-celebrity culture). Is there a way to combat this? Perhaps subcultures still exist and I'm just blind? Let me elaborate. With the rise of social media and death of outdoor social spaces for people, local subcultures, and real personal hobbies, people lack identity, purpose and meaningful ambition besides grovelling for money like the good little capitalist slaves they are, consequently online content and influencers fill this void, but for whatever fuaarrrking reason people on the internet will crucify others for being themselves or just standing out from the crowd in the most minute way. Long story short, this is the reason everybody looks and acts the same way, turning all of genz and alpha into some of the most lifeless, dry and pathetic generations to exist. Everybody is like kicking dead whales down the beach up whatever they are told to do by somebody with large follower base. Nobody has interests that exist outside of the grand scheme of getting rich and engaging in the devils tango with as many women physically possible. Of course what I say is an exaggeration to a degree, but this is just to get my point across. Why does nobody just be themself? Some old subcultures like goth, punk, etc do exist to a certain degree, though primarily online but now they're dying off due to being saturated down to just aesthetics, completely disregarding the actual meaning behind them. Is there hope for this generations culture? It's not like people don't see the record high rates of various mental health issues, loneliness, stress, depression and so on, though i can acknowledge that this is in part due to developments in awareness. But there must definitely be a correlation between this social media soykaf and these mental issues. Lainons, what went wrong?

>>96230 This civilization is entering it's decay phase, and every aspect of society reflects this as a result. There is always a fraction that goes the opposite direction but it's becoming increasingly more difficult to be a reasonable person with a unique identity "by accident", more effort needs to be put in. /hum/ is full of these threads.. "this is like kicking dead whales down the beach" "the death of x" the answer is the same... > Why does nobody just be themself? as civilization decays, it becomes increasingly easier to become a bad apple and increasingly difficult to "be yourself" >Is there hope for this generations culture? yes, but the good cultural stuff will be more niche and less accessible >But there must definitely be a correlation between this social media soykaf and these mental issues. duh Don't forget that you also can leverage your skills to make or contribute to the things you want to see around you.

A friend of mine said recently gen Z and alpha have more of a Monoculture, as opposed to a Polyculture. Good distinction I think, and begs the idea that maybe they just come in phases and there's advantages to each. Maybe we're just hung up on the subculture-rich world we grew up with, and overlooking the advantages of monoculture. All that said, I feel the similar.

>>96233 I can agree on the idea of monocultures, I'd say this has spawned thanks to this whole celebrity culture which has gotten more and more popular the last couple decades. >>> Maybe we're just hung up on the subculture-rich world we grew up with, and overlooking the advantages of monoculture... What are these benefits you speak of? While I am not old enough to say I have first hand experience with a "subculture-rich"/polycultural world, I can't imagine that surrounding yourself with the exact same ideas and values is really beneficial for anybody's personal growth, and I'm talking at such large scales such that everybody on the street looks the same as the next guy. >>96232 >>>Don't forget that you also can leverage your skills to make or contribute to the things you want to see around you. That's a very good point, thanks. I wouldn't want to be just another nobody whining about the same issues for a millionth time. I guess harnessing the one and only power of social media would be the way to go for this.

>celeb culture Bruh, you don't remember the 90's? If you opened some random magazine it's either Brad Pitt this or Angelina Joulie that. If anything celeb culture has faded. A-list stars are trying to do vlogs and post their useless opinion online and people either don't care or see that it's just rich weirdos with plastic faces. And I see people who at least appear more genuine become popular becaue I suppose everyone in their oversocialized circles tries to be more fake. But this is just to push back a little. I generally agree that things have changed, obviously. And those social media skinner boxes undoubtedly have contributed to many insecurities and social issues in teens. Let alone the iPad baby stare and the stunted ability to emote. But part is also due to globalization. I'm sad I wasn't able to travel back in the day since now there's hardly any point to it. Every city looks pretty much the same now. It's not just an internet thing. But I also think there's many different big subcultures on the web. Mostly divided by political lines and each living in their own curated version of reality but still. My big hope is that this is really just a transitional period where we're just figuring out how to adapt to new technology and how to deal with an overly connected world and its predatory and attention capturing mechanisms. And that gen z and alpha really just being the unfortunate middle child here, not knowing a world pre internet and 9/11 and not knowing (yet) how to handle this weird new world. But I see some resent and rejection of parts of it already. It's actually a bit wild if you look around. It would be interesting to see attempts at creating some sort of local geo bound communities or a growing movement to "plug off". Maybe even the resurgence of national pride will make travel worthwhile again, assuming that things don't go too crazy and overboard. There's certainly times ahead of us, present day present time.

Some statements have been made in this thread: "in this day and age everybody [...] acts and thinks the same way", "this civilization is entering it's decay phase", "gen Z and alpha have more of a Monoculture". But I don't feel like you anons have provided convincing reasons to believe these statements. I personally find it hard to believe that the previous generations did not have their fair share of mainstream-conforming people. So, have you considered the possibility that as you grow older, you become less in sync with youth culture which makes you miss its nuances and so simply like it less? I could counter-attack too: I don't think a person's identity is earnestly expressed by trying to fit in some subculture by aping a primarily fashion trend. Today, more than ever before, young people have access to all music, movies, art, literature, etc ever made. This makes adhering to a single cultural current somewhat limiting. On the other hand, by having exposure to so many more things, people can determine what they really like in a much more personal way. In other words, young people today think in more varied ways than they have ever thought before.

Anyone else /nothinginparticular/?

>>96230 kids these days are too shallow!! back in my day, everyone was smarter and more respectful!!!!!!

>>96258 Now that you put my statement in quotes, it seems kind of dumb... > I personally find it hard to believe that the previous generations did not have their fair share of mainstream-conforming people. Sure, they did, and today we do have a lot more access to information we would previously not have, my point is that now there are companies competing over your time and attention in ways like social media and online multiplayer games. If before you were incentivized naturally to go outside, now it's the opposite. What this guy >>96257 said.

>>96258 Sure I get your point, not everybody needs to stand out or even wants to. > Today, more than ever before, young people have access to all music, movies, art, literature, etc ever made. This makes adhering to a single cultural current somewhat limiting. If this is the case, that would mean people should he even more diverse, unique and informed than ever before, yet that hardly seems to be the case. In an age of near unlimited access to anything and everything you want, we see the majority of people seem to be plagued with a lack of identity and general ignorance. Perhaps it's just in human nature to simply not give a soykaf about some things...

There are some goog points made. My observation is that most of the young people are part of this "studio gangster culture", they all dress in black with thick jackets and carry those quasi handbags, they all talk in this fake gangsta slang. The music they listen too is this repetitive quasi rap with monotone beat and flat cheap lyrics. Most of these are starkly contrasted by the original rap aritsts, they dressed in a non orderly fashion in an attempt to stand out, the music they made featured explicit and loud lyrics to provoke, meanwhile this post modern youth culture is more like a cult with the worser sides of gansta culture dominant. There is little to no variation in behavior or appearance of these or any other people nowdays, most of the actual individuals are dead and those who arent are ignored. People are content with boredom and monotony, they feel safe in the sterile dead corner they put themselfs in and they will atrophy and wither due to their lack of independent thinking. Even tho they pretend to be individuals you can tell they just desperately want to fit in and will do anything to conform, their act as persons is painfully obvious a sham so they can stay in their corner. Did anyone notice similar with young people these days, i see whole groups of them everywhere from 0 to 20 years old? Curious to see what observations about youth culture other people made.

The problem with this thread is that these impressions here are gathered by socially awkward millenials who're at the doorstep of becoming just as out of touch as the babyboomers are. Because you know, back in my days... >>96270 >young people are part of this "studio gangster culture", they all dress in black with thick jackets and carry those quasi handbags, they all talk in this fake gangsta slang. You're basically just describing the second generation turks and lower class kids that I grew up around. Little has changed. Maybe those niche cultures you decry just moved to more obscure pockets from loitering at shopping malls to invite only discord servers. Youth always had their one or two major monocultures, just that due to the internet there's more people you see engage in it. But also I've seen people in their early 20s share more insightful thoughts that I ever heard from my peers back then. The reason this thread sparked my interest because I'm following the development and trends of these broad social dynamics. You have a political divide in the younger generation for instance that is pretty unprecedented. Once gen z starts to attain political offices it's going to get wild. Since they seem very dissatisfied with the current political order that's being maintained by 70 year olds who're now gradually dying off. There is not much of a distinctive exterior identifier because most just buy whatever clothes that are currently sold at stores. But I don't think that's representative of the inner world of those who think. And those who don't think, we always had those. And they just ape whatever is appearing to them as a status symbol. Also people back then would all watch the same movies and get those quotes. I worried that we've lost those cultural corner stones but now people are quoting streamers and online memes instead. >>96259 Lel that was probably the majority even in my school days. Seems like young people at that age are still often just trying to figure out what they're all about. Tfw no goth Mikasa gf tho

>>96259 I hope Sasha and Connie can find love together.

AI will be death of anything that exists only on text and images.

>>96269 >If this is the case, that would mean people should he even more diverse, unique and informed than ever before, yet that hardly seems to be the case. In an age of near unlimited access to anything and everything you want, we see the majority of people seem to be plagued with a lack of identity and general ignorance. Perhaps it's just in human nature to simply not give a soykaf about some things... They... are more diverse. I don't know who you talk to. Most people I meet introduce me to very specific and niche things that I wouldn't have found myself because I'm immersed in my own personal universe. Everyone is talking about how there are no shared experiences anymore and we're all in our own bubbles, but that makes it more exciting when you meet someone because they can share their own stuff that you wouldn't have even heard of independently.

>>96271 > Seems like young people at that age are still often just trying to figure out what they're all about One of the more annoying trends is that every gen z'er now thinks he/she is a super-dangerous consiracy theorist who the CIA cares about because they read some publically available facts and looked at /x/ greentext videos when they were 14. It's so annoying to see people make comments like "I'm not going to kill myself" or "X is a string swimmer", as if a roughly anti-establishment attitude is going to get noticed by anyone. Rusty Cage is a prime example of this: he's a twenty-something that went on another YouTuber's, Flesh Simulator, talkshow. Flesh Simulator is funny, interesting to listen to and uses YouTube the way it should be used: for fun. Listening to Rusty Cage try to keep up with his conversations is sad; he's an example of the type of guy who says he doesn't follow any narratives but winds up following the same roughly anti-establishment narratives everyone else generates in their heads now, taking whatever seems cool at face value. I.e., he doesn't have a clue what he's talking about most of the time and winds up complaining about siht people have known about forever (I believe Rusty got sacked and was replaced by funnier, more insightful people). Art Chad started doing this too, as did The Second Story; they both dropped their areas of "expertise" to complain about the same parts of the establishment in the way as everyone else. These people all say that the government is bad and all this other soykaf, but I doubt even 90 out of 100 would make themselves even slightly uncomfortable for any meaningful length of time to change the way the government affects them. Hell, there was a guy complaining in /vent/ about how not having social media apps made him feel lonely in a way other people must not feel. That guy at least tried and failed.

>>96230 >but for whatever fuaarrrking reason people on the internet will crucify others for being themselves or just standing out from the crowd in the most minute way You know, it always has been like that...Since Jesus I guess, perhaps even more old.

>>96230 >Is there hope for this generations culture? no, yes, not really I think that for interesting cultures to emerge, the one and only condition is inbreeding. Not genetically mind you, although that could be argued, but in terms of ideas and exchanges. And to me, it's been true through the ages. In the end, what makes any culture interesting is its difference with the others. I enjoy Tibetan throat singing because it's different from Irish traditional music, which I also enjoy. And on the other end of the spectrum, I find pop-music to be the most boring one that exists. This goes beyond music or clothes or identity. I appreciate diversity, I appreciate when things are drastically different. I love that there are so many languages on the planet, and yearn to learn as much as I can in my short life. I love that there are tons of animals, a gazillion different mammals, birds, insects, fishes, shrooms, each with their specificity and uniqueness. In the age of instant, distant-agnostic communication, it's hard(er) to keep that needed inbreeding that I believe to be necessary for the emergence and maintenance of some sort of subculture. One of your options would be to turn 100% IRL, although this is hardly a solution, because if your subculture grows too much, or if it gets too many elements from outside, it will water down / it won't even emerge. Another option would be gatekeeping. Gatekeep behind a language, gatekeep behind an obscure website, gatekeep with a password-protected community (although I'd agree this is a waste of time and impossible to pull off). The real difficulty isn't bringing people together, it's bringing people together who will create and influence each-other without too much influence from outside. And time. you need a fuarking ton of time I am a bit of a d**mer on the topic honestly, because I feel like I am seeing the last internet subcultures die as we speak. But maybe the future is bright and new gates will emerge. I cannot predict the future

>>96230 > Why does nobody just be themself? Some old subcultures like goth, punk, etc do exist to a certain degree, though primarily online but now they're dying off due to being saturated down to just aesthetics These subcultures at the point of easily distinguishable growth you're talking about were already about vapid aesthetics (i.e. sex pistols w.r.t. punk, goth was basically pure aesthetic from the start). Interesting people don't rely on genre categories or fashion styles to identify themselves. Ultimately all you want is an easy to understand and simple way to categorize people, and this way of thinking is barely any different than what you're complaining about. > Nobody has interests that exist outside of the grand scheme of getting rich and engaging in the devils tango with as many women physically possible. Most people have been brain dead zombies since forever, it's nothing new. If you focused on understanding individuals without having to rely on stereotyping with "subculture", you might feel less pessimistic about it, though.

Millennial here. It was pretty much the same way back in the day. Most teenagers dressed like normal people, people really only dressed up for certain occasions like concerts. The thing that has changed though is back in the day your interests were more specific, myself for example I was into dark stuff like Nine Inch Nails and anime so I was a 'goth otaku', then you would have metalheads and emo kids on myspace. The limited access to media and having to put effort into obtaining it caused people to be more specific, now that the world is a click away tastes are more broad and you aren't as likely to see people with one specific style of interest anymore.

>>96419 oH! I remeber wearing a two-piece suit before the school unform craze struck. They used to see me as the weird one :3 silly goombas didn't know the craze was about to hit them next year.

>>96423 being that early with a trend would still make you "weird" (not that thats a bad thing)

>>96257 I LOVE how this image has the traits of old good "The Matrix" We have this very Neo vs Agent Smith contrast: the same greeny colors and alike. Yut this time, its Neonilla running away from Smithsonian baseball team (LOL)

>what went wrong? When a subculture becomes popular enough it gets co-opted by capitalist scum into ready-made products for the posers to pretend they're also hip

>>96230 >Lainons, what went wrong? Haven't read the thread yet so I guaran-fuarrrking-tee someone will have said this already, but "what went wrong" was the mass adoption of the internet. Not the internet itself - which has literally been around in some shape or form since the 1960's, I mean literally every Tom, Dick, and Harry having access to a computer in their pocket, and able to get an internet connection anywhere. Mass adoption of the internet has taken the network effect to its logical conclusion, of creating a single-digit number of "hyper networks" with such intense utility from their network effects that they're able to choke out any and all alternatives. By concentrating everyone on these networks, it's turned the internet into a monoculture, where everyone is exposed to the same trends, the same opinions, and the same "forms of art." This monoculture also heavily incentivizes conformity and disincentivizes going against the grain, further making it more difficult for anything unique or different to stand out or get traction. The fact that social media is so addictive, and, to the point, ostensibly free (you pay with your data) means its users are more incentivized to doomscroll over going out and doing something fun, or hanging out with irl friends. This isn't helped by the economic state of affairs in Western countries where everything is so expensive, consumer goods are low-quality crap, and being able to get by at all is generally "good enough." Just as an example, I live in Vancouver, and there is fuarrrk-all to do here unless you like overpriced, mediocre restaurants, or you're a druggie. No, soykaf, people would probably rather argue on twitter all night than pay $25 CAD for a burger, or $8 for a pint of beer. Most of the problem is definitely social media. People are more interconnected, but ironically alot less actually social and form less meaningful connections. People on social media are basically strangers, and the very toxic, conformist culture of mainstream social media incentivizes this; keep people at an arms length because you will get shat on if you step out of line. Being all exposed to the same trends, etc, on social media just reinforces that conformity, and further contributes to everyone being exactly the same. People are less able to actually socialize IRL, especially for those who have been exposed to social media from a young age, because overuse of social media leads to being less able to connect with others and underdeveloped social skills, and I feel like an underdeveloped sense of self, as well. OP discussed how some subcultures still exist, but as purely performative aesthetics, and that definitely ties into that underdeveloped sense of self as well; there's no substance behind it (although you could debate how much actual substance even 'real' goths or punks had back in the day, but I digress') because the things that were once methods of self-expression (subcultures, fandoms, etc) have essentially become brands to identify with, and use as masks - a consequence of the corporation of the internet, which I haven't touched on, but is a major factor in the problem as well. Oh and by the way Generative AI is going to make/already has made the problem of everyone feeling interchangeable a million times worse because now people are literally all sourcing their thoughts from the same place.

>>96427 So, what should/can we do about it? Obviously, a few people like us can't do much of anything to affect, really, affect, the direction of culture/internet of the world. But within our local environments, do you think it would be possible to reverse this somehow? I want to stay optimistic.

Globalism is the monoculture. No frontiers, no identities, no mores, no differences, it eats and dissolves everything. It is the literal death of the real diversity.

>>96455 >globalism is the monoculture True >No frontiers, no identities, no mores, no differences,.. False in many respects, and it's a shame. Identity is terminal, it is the very thing which promotes shallowness and homogeneity, consumerism, and the like. Due to the fact that people are rewarded for their identity and rapport over the quality of their work, the correctness of their ideas, etc. In globalism people can buy and sell (or more accurately: be given) identity within the narrow confines of a subsidized market, they likewise must be numbered uniquely as subjects of a nation state, customers of a brand, and so on. Globalism must eternally construct frontiers for itself as a kind of playground for which excess desire can be directed. If it does not do so then it will collapse, as number will stop going up and people will instead question its foundations.

>>96230 >>96455 That’s not quite right, because globalism was merely a manipulation by those in the high power. Now, every major nation wants to be Nationalist and 'make their country great again.' You can't even trust political ideologies anymore; they are so incoherent when you look at them through a timelapse. The only verdict is that we are living through the last 100 or 500 years of democracy. After that, totalitarianism will rise—not necessarily worse, but even stricter than China or N-Korea. Democracy was an experiment, this outcome it's almost natural. I don't know why everything has become a 'big-unity-blob' of tastes and thoughts today, but I do know one thing: everyone wants to be right, even when they are wrong. Every thought, essay, or review is measurable now. You can see a 5-star rating for a movie on social media or website from someone who isn't a critic. This is the real 'globalism': the globalism of thought. Can you imagine simply enjoying a 'bad' movie? Like a slasher?... Yes, you can't, because there will always be some asshole in that niche genre telling you why it’s good or bad, giving you a list of reasons and even a score. If you think outside the box, they will laugh at you. It has always been like that. Remember Harry Whittington, the scientist everyone laughed at? His mind was outside the box. There are plenty of examples. Of course, enjoying something and living 'outside the box' might not seem related, but they are. It’s not about just doing the opposite, it’s about being more human and less of a machine. It’s the only thing we can do. I’m not talking about being sensitive, sentient, or empathetic, it’s deeper than feelings. It’s about being someone and not something. Even if it seems like you might be wrong, when you choose to keep pushing forward with something you 'like' because of your determination, perseverance, and spirit, you prove once again that you are experiencing your own humanity, and not just being a tool for words and thoughts. Be happy anon, because you are human enough to be.

>>96427 >Most of the problem is definitely social media. People are more interconnected, but ironically alot less actually social and form less meaningful connections. People on social media are basically strangers, and the very toxic, conformist culture of mainstream social media incentivizes this; keep people at an arms length because you will get shat on if you step out of line. Being all exposed to the same trends, etc, on social media just reinforces that conformity, and further contributes to everyone being exactly the same. People are less able to actually socialize IRL, especially for those who have been exposed to social media from a young age, because overuse of social media leads to being less able to connect with others and underdeveloped social skills, and I feel like an underdeveloped sense of self, as well. OP discussed how some subcultures still exist, but as purely performative aesthetics, and that definitely ties into that underdeveloped sense of self as well; there's no substance behind it (although you could debate how much actual substance even 'real' goths or punks had back in the day, but I digress') because the things that were once methods of self-expression (subcultures, fandoms, etc) have essentially become brands to identify with, and use as masks - a consequence of the corporation of the internet, which I haven't touched on, but is a major factor in the problem as well. Serial Experiements have gone Parallel Experiments, I suppose XDDDDDDDD i'll go to that funny couk site I guess

>>96443 >But within our local environments, do you think it would be possible to reverse this somehow? Within local environments is how any real change starts, one local environment at a time, a multitude of small changes on the small scale adding up to a large change on the big scale. "A few people" turns into a lot. Small strokes felling mighty oaks and all that. It's tough to reverse but it's possible. Encourage people you know to move off walled garden social media. Talk about the problems it presents both on the individual level and socially, encourage people you know to be creative and unconventional and lead by example. Raise your kids without access to social media and encourage other people you know to do the same. Fight for no phones in schools. Foster and participate in alternate communities - like this one - and participate more in offline communities as well. It's an incomplete list and obviously way easier said than done, but I think it can be reversed. Especially since Big Tech is doing half the job of it by making social media increasingly soykaftier, lowering the value proposition to users, and supporting age-restriction laws that will cut off the stream of new users. (as these platforms have reached peak adoption, and can now only gain new users from the youth population)

In opposition to all that mediocrity, I focus on developing "natural game". Be that person you really want to be and those around you will get it, that you're on the right track.

I agree with >>96427 that it's largely due to the internet, though in my opinion it's less the fault of the internet in general, and more specifically a problem with how social media is such an easy way to have constant meaningless yet attention-grabbing entertainment shoved in your face. When you're at home and want to kill time online, it's a lot easier to turn your brain off and look at slop for a while than it is to actively seek out something that interests you or makes you think, and most people don't care enough to develop the self-control to use the internet in a less passive way. I think social media primes people to want to develop a "brand" to attract followers and quick dopamine hits over seeking out genuine connection, and as a result younger people who grew up on it and don't do anything to deprogram themselves from it often end up with shallow identities and superficial social connections. There are definitely still authentic people out there, but they're uncommon and less visible online because they either don't try to amass a following or just don't use social media in the first place.

Evidently there is a correlation between social media usage and depression which basically suggests that basically nobody actually enjoys it.

>>96230 Subcultures appear to no longer exist. What was subculture in the first place? A twentieth century phenomenon that was a reaction to arbitrary conformist American social mileu. That old culture of the twentieth century is no longer around, anything is more or less accceptable. What purpose can a subculture serve anymore? What cultural problems could they attack? Of course there are certain problems that would be well to spread awareness of, though I can't see that fitting into a cohesive aesthetic like the punks or the hippies. What do I need a subculture for? I'd rather be an individual with my own beliefs than another member of some group. I guess I'm biased, because I feel that subcultures are seriously overrated. People on these parts of the web worship subculture like it's the greatest achievement of mankind, but on the grand scale it's a quite insignificant facet. Subcultures have long been overly self-aware, self-conscious, artificial, perhaps because they were constructed on contrarianism. >>96233 I disagree, if anything the younger generation has great diversity of belief and separation, though it's not all for the better. Well, if you were to go deeper I feel you could uncover a common root system in this generation, though it's more to do with the effects of the replacement of traditional communication media with digital media than some cultural difference. >>96466 >Within local environments is how any real change starts, one local environment at a time, a multitude of small changes on the small scale adding up to a large change on the big scale. "A few people" turns into a lot. Small strokes felling mighty oaks and all that. It's tough to reverse but it's possible. I appreciate this outlook, which I've always felt. Though I also think I should not feel responsible for the way other people act, and see little way to really convince them. I've thought at times about forming some kind of a club within my community to promote leaving behind social media. I hope there is a 'viral' effect to people leaving social media, that encouraging more people to leave and to be enthusiastic about leaving will lead them to promote it to more people, and I imagine there is a critical threshold of something like 20-40% of users leaving a platform will shatter the network effect, spurning everyone else to leave.

>>96491 I also hope more people choose to quit social media in the near future. Like you said, I really have no way of convincing anyone to do anything and I strongly believe in respecting peoples' autonomy but it does make me kinda sad how many people are clearly damaging their mental health with social media, and I wish I could somehow get them to realize that there are better places to waste your downtime. In my experience, a lot of people already dislike social media but choose to stay because they don't want to grow distant from their online friends and are accustomed to the breakneck pace at which entertainment is served to them. I think it would take relatively little effort for these types of people to quit social media, though they would need to have some level of willpower to overcome the initial boredom/social disconnection, and to seek out non-corporate online social spaces, which really has to be developed internally rather than through someone else's urging.

>>96466 >>96491 >>96502 I'm in college. If you think people are going to leave social media then you are out of your god damn mind. Every single environment kids have grown up in today forces them to use digital apps. The capitalism hell hole environment forces the user to use the app to socialize or build friends just like it forces us to use cars instead of walking ... A radical change is needed in our environments and our institutions, because you are radically missing out if you are not using apps in a place where EVERYONE is using apps or if you can't make it to somewhere without driving the most deadly killing machine on earth (cars also spy on you). It's really depressing we don't need all this soykaf to live a good life wtf.

>>96505 >I'm in college. If you think people are going to leave social media then you are out of your god damn mind. Every single environment kids have grown up in today forces them to use digital apps. It depends on the time-scale. If we're talking fifty years, it could be gone for various reasons, including electronic economic factors. Within a decade? Maybe a ten percent chance it will even start collapsing. I can see potential in an organized campaign helping this though. I believe the majority of the population has a passive hatred for social media that can be exploited. Imagine botnets uploading and promoting anti social media memes and propaganda in increasing frequency, to agitate people more and more. Inventing and promoting stories about how peoples lives improve after leaving social media. Promote 'challenges' that get people or masses of people to leave. The key is to not focus on things like our violation of privacy or social effects, people have become indifferent to that. It must focus on themselves. I theorize that convincing even a minority of people to leave will also effect the social circles of those people, and make a chain reaction. A big enough blow to targeted ad money could rock these platforms and make investors nervous. I know it's a pie in the sky idea, but it's all I've got.

>>96505 People don't use LinkedIn for regular socialization, even if they might need it for work. Facebook is also rarely used among the younger generations. If you say social media bad around any group of normal people they will certainly agree with you. >I can see a social media campaign.. Presumably you've seen this, but there already are social media pages dedicated to this. My algorithm kept showing them to me on Instagram when I used it. Depending on your resources you can pay for ads encouraging people to quit using social media. I think the biggest stumbling blocks will be the ease with which Instagram facilitates subculture formation, and the interactive distance that Instagram gives you from other people. Exchanging Instagrams with someone you don't know very well feels much safer (even if it isn't really) because you dont have to give your phone number (that can be called randomly and used to look up things like address) and because it allows you to see someone's posts and social network. It makes getting to know people "honestly" much easier. What's more it makes group chats easier to manage and events / clubs / etc can promote themselves to a subculture much more easily as well.

>>96505 I didn't have any social media in college (5 years ago) and I don't have social media in grad school. The *only* exception I make is discord, and I use it almost exclusively to keep in touch with close friends. People respect it, and I get people asking me about it sometimes.

>>96522 >LinkedIn Off topic but god fuarrrking damn do I hate that website. Everyone and everything on it feels completely fuarrrking fake. It's literally HR-speak: the website, and every time I have to make use of it (for finding work) it erodes a small piece of my soul. Also it's laggy as hell and somehow manages to break in my browser (librewolf) across operating systems and across computers. Maybe the browser is trying to tell me something.

>>96527 My friend and I used LinkedIn for soykaf posting

>>96505 You have to make "missing out" cool, and get cool influential people into it. Joy Of Missing Out or JOMO so I've heard. Relatedly - Teens starting Luddite Clubs: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/style/teens-social-media.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/style/luddite-teens-reunion.html There is also a going-analog 2026 trend on TikTok now (in protest to AI and Soc Media). https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=2026+going+analog

You know, it just keeps happening over and over and over. Back in 1970s, the TV was cool Back in 1990s, the TV was a bit uncool already. Back in 2000s, the Internet was cool. Now - in 2020s - the Internet is a bit uncool. Now,

>>96608 It makes sense. To be exact, I wouldn't say TV was uncool in the '90s (obviously), but rather that avoiding TV was popular among a certain hipsteresque type, usually rather performatively. If anything was considered uncool, it was the people who took every opportunity to proclaim smugly that they didn't watch TV or, better yet, didn't have one at home at all and were hopelessly out of touch -- or sophisticatedly, depending on who you asked -- with whatever had everyone riveted that week. The neoluddism of currentyear has a hint of similar affectation to it, but I feel mostly optimistic that people will manage not to be entirely insufferable about it.

>>96230 You only lack identity If you are asked to have one, it's a made up concept, the only thing you are is what happens around you. Subcultures are still real but way more underground than before and quite ruined by politics users.

>>96270 It's just being poor and dumb like this nigga said >>96271