Is Instagram turning our part-time hobbies into our full-time personalities?

Singhal agrees. “Previously, interests were only interests. Now being a swiftie, a minimalist or a vegan has become an identity marker. It is not intrinsically bad. This can give us belonging and clarity in a fragmented world.” The problem, she notes, is when interest becomes a performance. “We are reading our identity too closely. Then we feel in a hurry to execute it in a coherent way, even when our preferences evolve. And this can be limiting. “

Mannat Marwah, media and technological policies, links this pressure to the structure of social media platforms. “It has become so performative that you really have to prove your interests,” she says. “You cannot like coffee. You must show yourself that you like it through art to latte, chemex verses, reels and hashtags.”

For social media platforms, these niche identities have a perfect algorithmic meaning. “If you are everywhere, the algorithm does not recognize you,” notes Marwah. “You have to choose. It creates a kind of aesthetic silo.” But what happens when we want to evolve? What if our aesthetics no longer suit us? “When your personal brand filters your disorder and ambiguity, it becomes a problem,” says Dr. Singhal. “But if your brand creates a space for your humanity and your failures, there is room to evolve.”

However, the cost of mental health is real. “Being on the brand creates an emotional dissonance,” warns Dr. Singhal. “You feel one thing, but present another. Over time, your self online can start to feel more real than you really are. ”

All this does not mean that you should delete Instagram and remove in the hills. “This is recording,” clarifies Dr. Singhal. “Ask yourself,” Does that still feed me? ” “Do I feel free to grow or change?” “Am I protecting the joy that made me start in the first place?” “”

Marwah echoes this feeling. “We have to stop blaming technology and start looking at culture,” she said. “These platforms reflect us. The solution is social – real communities, real connections, not just trendy cycles. ”

Maybe you are someone who loves both Greta Gerwig and Fast and Furious. Maybe you drink filter coffee on weekdays and oat milk slats on Sunday. Maybe your identity is not a boxing aesthetic. Maybe it’s just … yours. In a world that asks us to choose a niche content route and stay in it, the most courageous thing to do is to go all-terrain from time to time.