In today’s digital era, social media platforms are saturated with visual microtrends. When opening social media apps, such as TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest, we bump into what might seem like random words jumbled together. You might encounter terms such as “clean girl,” “messy girl core,” “cottage core,” “rockstar girlfriend,” “downtown girl,” and countless other terms that may sound silly to the untrained eye, but if you are familiar with social media you might know that these trends are more than just fads — a craze or behavior quickly adopted by large groups of people that then fades in popularity rapidly. These random words that seem to be bunched together are trends that are now in charge of how we present ourselves to the world outside and inside the realm of social media. When scrolling through your TikTok for you page and your Pinterest feed, it is easy to bump into videos or collages titled “Outfit inspo: [insert aesthetic]” or “What your Instagram says about you.” These platforms show you how to achieve these looks, actively shaping who we become.
In order to explain these phenomena, sociologists have come up with theories framed to understand how identity is performed and perceived in a social context. Theories like Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of taste and Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory show that identity in the digital age is not about authenticity and more about how we can accurately present ourselves in a way that appeals to the social media gaze.
According to Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory, the self and society are created and are constantly recreated during social interactions. Goffman looks at how we try to control the way that others perceive us, meaning that the way we dress, the way we act, talk, and even walk are all props of the performance that we are putting up every day for the people around us, including social media. The user is always performing, meaning Instagram feeds and the TikTok for you pages become the front stage — a persons’ public life that they reveal to the world — where our aesthetic choices signal confidence, belonging, creativity, and wealth. The front stage is a filtered space, the videos and pictures that we post, the edits, the filters, and all that is available for the world to see. In contrast, the backstage, a persons’ private world that they choose not to reveal, is a more personal space, what goes on behind the scenes that allows for the performance to run smoothly. The messy room, the unfiltered videos, the un-edited pictures, and the real version of ourselves that we don’t often show to the real world.
Online, the line between the self, an individual’s nature and identity resulting from reflections on social interactions, and the performance blurs. The user completely becomes the version of themselves that they want to put into the world. The version of themselves that follows the online rules of the aesthetic they choose to follow, not who they really are. Social media encourages anticipatory socialization — the process of learning different behaviors or activities in an effort to aspire to group membership — where people learn to behave in specific ways that they think will allow them to join the desirable groups or maintain a status online.
Now, when we take a look at Bourdieu’s approach through his Theory of Taste, we realize that the “aesthetic” choices that we make are not neutral; they have social weight as they can signal class or education. For example, the “Old Money” aesthetic consists of wearing minimalist vintage designer clothes and accessories in a simple yet expensive way. In order to correctly achieve this aesthetic, you are required to have access to time, effort, and money.
These requirements create a barrier to entry into the aesthetic world. Not everyone is able to afford vintage luxury items or even the time to keep up with what’s trending. As a result, these trends reinforce social inequality in digital spaces. Those who are not able to participate are excluded from the visibility and engagement that others who fit the aesthetic profile enjoy.
In the performance of social media, capitalism, an economic and political system based on private control of the production and distribution of goods and services within a free-market system, plays a key role. Our aesthetic is our brand, and we are expected to be marketable to society. Social media algorithms boost content that matches the trend of the month. Those who are able to master the latest TikTok style gain likes, followers, partnerships, and sponsorships — eventually becoming influencers, the agents of socialization, the influencers of social development and behaviors, which include individuals, groups, institutions, and social context, of the digital era. It is especially interesting to note how important aesthetics are for your personal brand; influencers like Addison Rae have undergone major aesthetic rebrands in order to secure a spot in the feed of their growing audience.
Influencer culture, in turn, promotes a cycle where consumers feel the constant need to succumb to new trends, lifestyles, and experiences. The behavior fuels consumption, monetizes identity, and encourages the reduction of the self to a commodity that strictly appeals to the digital realm of social media.
The rise of aesthetics on social media is a clear demonstration of how we perform identity, navigate social class, and participate in capitalism, even if we don’t explicitly notice it. In a world where your digital presence outweighs lived experience, we construct ourselves around curated algorithms and ideals that will generate likes and shares.
Pineda-Horta is a guest blogger at UITAC Publishing. UITAC’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable, and socially responsible online course materials.
Images used in this blog:
- “Black Make Up Palette and Brush Set” by Alex Kinkate is free to use and licensed by Pexels. This image has not been altered.
- “A Woman in Brown Tank Top Taking a Video” by cottonbro studio is free to use and licensed by Pexels. This image has not been altered.
