A Reflection of Individualism In Modern Society, Joshua Ok (11)

A Reflection of Individualismin Modern Society

Joshua Ok, 11

Individualism is a concept that has been around in American society since the Great Transcendentalists of the 19th century. Inspirational men such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson led the way in the old days, but times have most definitely changed since the 1800s. Nowadays the world seems full of conformity in every aspect, and going out into the woods as Thoreau did often includes taking selfies to post online, defeating the entire purpose of the original goal. Since the world and its values have shifted since these times, what does individualism truly mean in the present day and why is it important?

If the individualist founding fathers could see what the world has now become, they would most likely be quite shocked in several ways. Social media controlling how people think and view themselves, the repetitive life of ordinary workers, and the overall reduction in free thinking in the modern era are all common to the point where we do not consider these as unusual, but this may seem wildly confusing to Thoreau or Emerson. They lived in a world in which they could go out into the woods to live deliberately and carve out meaning in the world for themselves easier. So how did we end up in a world where one cannot even wear clothing that others do not consider “cool” without being judged? The answers can be found by examining the sources that influence our thinking, and one of the most impactful answers is the internet and social media. The internet has allowed for humanity to become linked together and share ideas, but has also binded our minds with chains to the most “trendiest” and “coolest” ideas. The development of the internet began in 1983, and since then it has transformed society to an unimaginable extent. The majority of the world’s lives depend on the internet and the ideas that it provides day and night to us. This may not seem as obvious, but examining cases in which people undergo literal panic attacks when the Wifi does not work or social media goes down illustrates just how dependent humanity has become on the internet. Along with the internet, the rise of social media has drastically changed how we individually think about all sorts of different topics. Twitter alerted us with what topics are hot and trending since 2006, Instagram gave us pictures of ideal people and situations to compare ourselves to since 2010, and TikTok has provided users dances, comedic challenges, and other activities to follow along since 2016. Because we are provided with ideals and goals of the many, we never have to stop and think about our own. This trend has spread so far to the point where no one even finds it strange that we would buy a new article of clothing because some random influencer posted themselves wearing it, or doing seemingly meaningless and bizarre challenges and recording ourselves because it was trendy. This is the normal in the world now. The developed world no longer thinks for themselves and has largely lost meaning in being an individual in hopes of fitting in.