60% of participants believed that how you present yourself online is more important than the real world. In addition, nearly 50% said they could remember the colour of a website better than a person’s eye colour.
Younger people also tend to have more confidence in themselves online. Nearly half of those surveyed said they make a better first impression via the internet than in person, compared to only 8% of Baby Boomers.
While these results make for good headlines and may seem shocking to some, they shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who spends a large chunk of their time on computers.
We all use social media as more than just a convenient way to catch up with friends or share photos from questionable house parties these days. Instead, Facebook, Instagram, and nearly all other platforms serve as vital tools to help us engage with world news, work, business, shopping, and a whole lot more.
There isn’t much we can do in the real world that isn’t possible online, except for, like, hugging people. But who needs that? We’re in the tail end of a pandemic, after all.
Many Gen Zers use platforms such as Reddit to find likeminded people and better understand their identity. Never before has it been easier to seek out communities that make you feel at home – which is undoubtedly a good thing.
It would make sense that younger people feel a pressure on their digital selves, particularly when so many of us use other large chat-based services such as Discord and Twitch, alongside work-based messaging apps like Slack.
We all interact with so many people via our screens compared to normal, everyday life, and we should largely expect this trend to continue.
Perhaps the Cyberpunk future of completely digital avatars isn’t too far away. Could Zuckerberg and Gates finally override our own sense of identity for the sake of data hoarding and profit? That’s another question that warrants its own article.
Until then, feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments below. You know, digitally. Through a screen. As nature intended.
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