Date of Entry: November 26, 2024
I was born in the year 2000, at the cusp of a generation that had grown up with the internet. From a young age, I took for granted the instantaneity, availability, and seeming infinitude of information. As a young teenager, I often defaulted to my smartphone: effortlessly filling moments of boredom, but also consuming my attention to the point of sensory exhaustion. Digital consumption became a normalized escape – a currency of pleasure without any tangible financial or functional costs. Indulging in such effortless but externally based pleasures was a dangerously seductive means of operating within our primitive survival calculus.
The Temptation of Social Media
Social media amplifies this dynamic by making the online experience far more intimate and seemingly meaningful. We attach our identities to our digital actors, thereby softening the boundaries between material reality and its virtual counterpart. In addition to instant and socially acceptable gratification, social media provides humans an inordinate source of comfort, control, and self-importance.
The individual process of curating an online presence removes the uncertainty and anxiety we face in deepening our real-life identities. Moreover, it feels safer to carefully select our words, evade difficult real-life conversations, and to satisfy our interpersonal curiosities without risking social rejection. Our phones reliably feed us the novelty that we desire, so we are largely absolved of the need to independently seek out knowledge or new intellectually enriching relationships. And the visible quantification of social value in terms of ‘friends,’ ‘followers,’ and ‘likes’ only affirms one’s illusions of a spotlight effect, possibly exacerbating one’s pre-existing narcissistic beliefs and behaviours.
Needless to say, I am a part of a generation that normalizes a state of being chronically online — a generation that normalizes avoiding discomfort and pacifying anxiety with online distraction. Time, energy, and life itself eludes us under the passive hypnosis of modern technology.
The Consequences: A Loss of Depth and Authenticity
As my peers and I venture further into adulthood, the necessary challenge of establishing our actual life’s purposes is complicated by both the knowledge we have passively acquired online and the knowledge we fearfully lack of ourselves. In moments of undisturbed reality, often remains a destabilizing confusion about what we truly think, believe, or desire.
When we willfully expose ourselves to the world of online media, celebrities and marketers are constantly tempting us towards new possibilities and instilling a sense of baseline inadequacy. Given the boundless availability of ‘inspiration’ online, we often defer to superficial trends and influencers to dictate our needs, personal aesthetics, and lifestyles. As a result, valuable attention and effort become focused on mimicking hollow façades rather than creating unique depth and character.
The Expense of Excessive Humour
This passivity is also reflected in Generation Z's approach to humour.
As humans, we possess the unique ability to both remember the past and imagine the future: a dual awareness that burdens us with the knowledge of our mortality, the pain of our struggle to survive, versus an unrelenting desire to control reality. Each day carries the weight of accumulated experiences, rendering our existence not only vulnerable to the natural world's dangers, but also to the profound psychological insecurities accompanying such awareness. Yet, despite these challenges, the enduring human capacity to persevere, express creativity, and find gratitude and contentment serves as a testament to the extraordinary resilience of our collective ability to cope. Among the most powerful tools for this resilience is humour.
Humour is an essential aspect of human communication, capable of drawing us back to an innocent, childlike sense of reality while strengthening our social connections. It fosters engagement, nurtures joy and playfulness, and dismantles the self-protective barriers that often separate individuals. By portraying situations in a humorously absurd or exaggerated manner, we effectively downplay their seriousness, as addressing them directly would otherwise seem unnatural and potentially overwhelming.
However, there comes a point where humour, when overused or misapplied, can distort our relationships — with ourselves, with others, and with life itself. In the information-saturated world that defines my generation, we have inadvertently conditioned ourselves to become desensitized and withdrawn. This extends not only to events playing out on screens, but also to those unfolding in our immediate reality.
In an effort to cope with the relentless flood of sensationalized news and social commentary, we often resort to displaying an incongruent reaction, employing humour to trivialize these occurrences and diminish their impact on our mental state. Compounding this tendency is the discomfort, as previously mentioned, that we may experience in moments of undisturbed reality — periods unmediated by constant stimulation. Together, these dynamics encourage a retreat from confronting reality directly, replacing reflection with the reflexive urge to ‘turn everything into a joke.’
Such interactions, though superficially engaging, often lack depth. When we exit a comment section on social media or leave a conversation with a perpetual joker, we frequently fail to realize how little we have learned about their true feelings or thoughts. Reality itself becomes reduced to caricature. The result is a hollowing out of meaningful connection, where attempts to engage with life’s truths are met only with parody.
There is a troubling undertone when nearly all events are immediately and inappropriately reduced to humour — a tone that betrays a lack of compassion, empathy, and a reluctance to fully acknowledge the hardship, suffering, or achievements of those being discussed. Generation Z is not shy of transforming anything — from a lethal tragedy to the misstep of a public figure — into a shareable Instagram meme. While dark humour certainly has its place in moderation, its excess prompts an important question: where do we draw the line between genuine expression and casual consumption? If tragedy were to strike our loved ones, what assurance exists that people would react otherwise?
Overcoming the Fear of Revealing Ourselves
In this era of hyperconnectivity, where the lives of others are perpetually under scrutiny, we likewise find ourselves preoccupied with curating how we are perceived. For Generation Z, the pervasive fear of being labelled as 'cringe' or 'extra' has given rise to a pronounced self-consciousness. This overcompensating desire to project an air of effortless detachment or 'chill' may underlie the reflex to veil authenticity with fleeting trends, performative narcissism, or excessive humour — all defensive responses that deflect vulnerability.
As with every generation before us, those who choose to defy convention often indeed face polarizing judgment. For young people, the desire to avoid any form of social rejection is pervasive, though often unrealistic. However, as we mature, we may come to acknowledge that deeper fulfillment does not stem from mimicry and seeking transient validation from acquaintances. Rather, it emerges from strengthening our inner character, exercising integrity, and finding communities that truly value us for our unique qualities. Achieving this connection requires the courage to resist the defensive reflexes I mentioned earlier. This journey requires developing the awareness that lasting contentment and peace come from embracing ourselves while extending greater tolerance toward others – even amidst competing external pressures.
Choosing authenticity is not about being reckless in expression, but about exercising discretion in expressing only what we truly mean, with thoughtfulness and clarity. It is entirely possible to be kind and respectful without resorting to sugar-coating our words in an attempt to dishonestly please others. Likewise, it is equally possible to offer direct criticism in a way that honestly reflects compassion, empathy, and sensitivity toward the other party. Authenticity lies in being honest without sacrificing kindness or respect for others. In doing so, we develop trust, as our words and actions reflect consistent, unmistakably personal values.
In this increasingly hyperconnected world, preserving one's sincerity and authenticity requires deliberate effort. It means distancing oneself from the increasingly pervasive influence of social media, despite its programmed ability to captivate us with materialistic aspirations and idealized portrayals of identity. It also involves cultivating the self-agency to live outside the constraints of every passing trend, aesthetic, and popular opinion.
Intentional living fosters clarity and control over our thoughts and life trajectories. Those who prioritize sincerity find their words carry greater weight, their actions inspire more trust, and their lives reflect an unwavering commitment to values unswayed by ever-shifting societal currents.
This reflection represents my effort to define and strive to embody these qualities: sincerity, authenticity, and deliberate intentionality. Yet, this is an ongoing journey — one that requires continuous curiosity and mindfulness about the world we inhabit and the information we allow to shape our minds.
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