How the Internet Is Making Us Afraid To Be Ourselves
Image Courtesy: Scarlett Dakota Rose on Pinterest
The pick me girl
That girl
POV: you tell your southern dad you have depression
The kid who visits high school from college
American students after going abroad
POV: the trauma dumper
Listed above are the titles of a few clips I saw on my TikTok “For You” page today. Normally I wouldn’t think much of these random videos, but today, as I scrolled through the endless stream of “relatable” and “funny” content, I started to feel a bit tired. Exhausted, even.
With the rise of TikTok came fresh terrain for comical content. People share experiences that we can relate to, oftentimes making fun of them.
For a while this was a good thing, people from around the world being able to relate to each other about funny or weird experiences they've had, but it's gotten to the point where essentially everything is made fun of. Every thing you’ve ever done, every event you’ve witnessed and every kind of person you’ve ever met is sure to be mocked in a video somewhere online.
Again, in small doses this is fine, but at this point it's gotten to be a bit much.
Firstly, no experience I've ever had or hoped to have feels unique anymore. Something I was hoping to do as a college student was to study abroad. Sitting next to the Trevi Fountain, watching the sunset from the Spanish Steps, or looking out at Paris from the Eiffel Tower are moments that I have fantasized about for as long as I can remember.
I haven’t even sent in my application and already I feel as though some aspects of going abroad have been robbed from me. As much as I try to ignore them, I can't help but be affected by all of the videos I’ve seen mocking girls going to the exact same spots that I’ve dreamt of visiting. Seeing an experience that I was hoping to cherish forever being ridiculed is pretty disheartening. If I go to Rome and post photos in front of Vittoriano, of course I would be happy in the moment, but in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but feel like just another basic American student abroad.
Image Courtesy: @sydnibeaudoin on Instagram and @viennaayla on TikTok
It seems like being “original” doesn’t even exist anymore. No one can be different or unique when everything feels like it's already been done before. No experience feels special when you open up your phone and see a million other people who’ve done the same thing and gotten better photos of it.
It’s almost as if the internet is preventing us from doing the things that we love–- inhibiting us from being ourselves. When I came home from school over fall break, the thought crossed my mind that I should visit my high school to see my old teachers. Instantly, I remembered videos making fun of the kid who “peaked in high school” coming back to visit after college because they have nothing else to do. I remember laughing at them as a high school student, not realizing how much I would be affected by these videos later on.
Image Courtesy: @ladyyasmina1 on TikTok
TikTok’s curse is that it makes us hyper aware of others' perceptions of ourselves. Everything we do has the potential to be made into a video and mocked online. You can’t have a bunch of guy friends without being a “pick me girl” and you can’t be a girl's-girl without being made fun of for not being able to talk to guys.
The internet can easily fit you into a box. If you wear eyeliner and dye your hair crazy colors you’re just another “edgy” girl; if you bleach your hair blonde and wear Air Force 1s you’re basic. What happened to being able to just do whatever you want because you feel like it? Why does everything we do force us into a label or an aesthetic?
Strike Out,
Writer: Jane Miller
Editors: Katie Sharp, Natalie Daskal
Notre Dame
