The design of social media platforms operates to reward conformity and to punish non-conformity so that the diversity of our visual identity is diluted.  This is a self-perpetuating phenomenon that is also designed to be addictive; we increasingly see social media as the place to get our next dopamine fix.  

 

We are swamped with selfies, which also drive us to present ourselves online.  The way we do that is highly controlled and we don’t want to stop.  This continuous and obsessive cycle bleeds into our ‘real-world’ lives, supplanting ideas and independent thought. Increasingly, we can’t tell, or don’t care, what is real and what is just a presentation.  The physical presentation of ourselves (both on and offline) is becoming our only response to the question of who we really are.  

 

We risk creating a dystopia, a simulation where all that matters is appearing to be like everyone else, conforming to a norm, and where we no longer control our own ideas.