Does Social Media Lead To Social Conformity?

Is social media encouraging conformity -- or is it a way for us to express our individuality?
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**What is conformity?**
We’re all social creatures who want to be accepted by the people around us. For that to happen, we need some level of conformity, which is when we change our behavior to fit in with the people around us. We humans are some serious copycats. It comes in handy when we need to make a decision without enough information. Society ITSELF relies on conformity. Stopping at red lights, standing in lines, putting our trash in a trash can, wearing a suit and tie, politics, and even certain aspects of religion. The list goes on and on. Conformity really kicks into high gear when puberty hits. There’s this biological push to separate ourselves from our parents and develop our own identity that better aligns with our friends. And for a lot of young people, social media is where a lot of this identity formation can happen.

**How does social media contribute to conformity?**
You might think that having millions of people interacting with millions of different ideas and photos and videos would increase individuality and creativity, but there’s this little psychological concept called groupthink that can do the opposite. Research has shown that the larger the group, the more the people in that group tend to think alike. You might start out with a bunch of different and unique ideas and opinions, but only a small subset of those ideas will actually filter up to the top and get noticed. Our brains are subconsciously pushing us to reach group consensus. And social media can lead to so many other pockets of conformity that I’m sure you’ve heard of, like echo chambers, where we’re only hearing the same perspectives and opinions that reinforce what we already believe. You also got performative activism, where people pretend to support a cause because it’s trendy or gets them likes.

**So is social media just some giant conformity factory that has us all trapped?**
Nope! Social media, the very thing that can supercharge conformity, plays a big role in how we shape our own individual identities, especially in young people with developing brains. We’re signaling to others who we are by the photos we post, the info we share – and we can use this to influence how other people perceive us. One big part of creating an identity – for better or worse – has to do with social comparison. Like, when you think about your friends, how do you measure up? Are you more successful or less successful? Are you better-looking or worse-looking? It all taps into another psych concept that social media can exploit. It’s called reflected appraisal. It’s when we think about ourselves in the same way we think other people think about us.

Social media might be screaming at us to conform, but if we’re able to be more authentic when using it, we can tap into our REAL interests, instead of the algorithm dictating to US what our interests are. In the end, conformity isn’t all good or all bad. It depends on how and why we’re conforming. Is it mindless participation, or are we actively choosing something that aligns with what we value?

CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:52 What Is Conformity, Really?
2:33 Your Brain On Conformity
3:22 The Role Of Social Media
6:40 Creating Identity

SOURCES
Why Imitation Is at the Heart of Being Human

The Brain Science of Conformity

Relationship development in teens

Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence

Opposing Effects of Oxytocin on Overt Compliance and Lasting Changes to Memory

The power of groupthink

Echo chambers in social networks

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#socialmedia #identity #conformity

[AboveTheNoise]

Do you find that social media makes you conform, or do you use it for self-expression? Do you think it discourages independent thought, or is it a way to align to others with shared values? We realize these aren't binaries -- we're curious to hear your thoughts on this topic!

[necessaryevil]

Married over thirty years to a woman that had no idea about computers till covid and now she sits in bed with the tv on, the computer open, and the phone in her hand. It's hard to believe the changes.

[alberttran]

Very good topic.

The important message about social media is people you see having a better life than you do does not mean they are always better, above the law, or healthier. These posts may not always be fake. In my opinion, Social Media can create conformity because it is how our psychology reacts to how we see others as having a better standard of life. Getting a certain amount of clout on social media is worthless. Focusing on a closer relationship is better in our relationship.

We should educate Gen Z on how to set healthy social media boundaries. We should also educate them on why it is important to be their good role model rather than relying on a popularity contest. It is similar to the high school popularity video in the past.

[CaraRowen]

This video makes me realize what a contrarian I am. And it's not to say I've never tried to conform, nor that I'm impervious to it, but yall would have me bent over backwards to pick the wrong choice on a test because a bunch of other folks did. Ain't nobody messing up my grades but me 😂

[vermiliontyrant]

I actually left social media because of the way it was shaping my views and kind of not allowing me to think for myself and never showing me the opposite side of things because of the algorithm feeding me what I already believed.

[rsaunders]

Groupthink goes back to the 1950s, the key is leverage. If High School students shared their grades on homework, and it was positive to get better grades, then social media might be a force for good. Instead most users are choosing unimportant factors, the clothes you like or the music you like or ... . If you're using a tool that defines you identity in terms of things that doesn't contribute to your long-term well being, you should stop using that tool. (Yes, I'm talking about you Meta).

[LadyD]

I can't even tell you how extremely thankful I am that the internet was just beginning/social media wasn't yet a thing when I was in highschool! I can't imagine having all my cringe memories on video for all the world to see

[jerseyboyce]

as a ND NT's have always been more or less all the same

[whiterabbit]

One of my roommates played a prank where he put out a bowl of ghost pepper chips in the common area. I'm not sure why I kept making the same mistake of trying one for several weeks straight. I knew what they were and the consequences of trying one, but something in me urged me to keep doing it anyway

[abigailh]

Very interesting commentary!

3:14 Oh The irony
We seek to separate ouselves from our parents and develop 'our own' identity that better 'aligns with our friends' ....
As in, CONFORM to friends ideas and hive mind identity
And they think that is developing their own identity
Sad!

[theysisossenthime]

The Internet, post mass adoption in the mid 2000's, feels like a conformity machine. All I have to back that up is experience, so maybe this is just observation bias. But when I regularly see content that contains technically incorrect information (exaggerated example, 2+2=5) get more likes than content that is technically correct, I sometimes wonder if anything matters more then conformity. This is happening in topics from science to art, games to celebrities.

I do wonder if the correlation of the evolution of algorithms over this period might be a partial cause of the increasing sense of conformity online. Web search engines, for example, have gone from trying to just find technically relevant data to your search to personally relevant data. If you do a web search on Google while at home, at work, and at a library, you just might get different results - possibly conflicting results. There are studies on these phenomena, but I am not aware of any strong conclusions of cause and effect. Maybe in another 10-20 years we can look back on this as some sort of adolescent period of development of the Internet.

[alwaysv]

there's a story about The Sneeches...😂