In 2025, more than 5.24 billion people almost 64% of the global population are active on social media according to Demand Sage. But if you scroll through the profiles of many Gen Z users you’ll notice something strange: no posts, no profile picture, no digital footprint, just a private story visible to a handful of friends or conversations hidden in the DMs. Social media, once celebrated as a revolutionary tool for global connection, has now turned inward. It has become a stage, a mirror, a pressure cooker and for many young users a burden. Today users aren’t sharing their lives; they’re curating a brand. They’re not engaging in conversations; they’re chasing trends. And increasingly they’re opting out retreating into private chats and silent profiles exhausted by the algorithm. What we’re witnessing is more than a generational aesthetic. It’s a cultural shift, one that raises serious questions about attention, identity and authenticity in the digital age.
From Sharing to Performing
Social media was born out of the idea of connecting people across borders, digitally replicating our real world relationships. Platforms like MySpace and Facebook gave us status updates, friend lists and group chats to stay close, no matter the distance. But the very architecture of these platforms has since changed. With the rise of Instagram, TikTok and YouTube Shorts content creation became performance. We entered the era of the “personal brand” or “personal blog” where identity is curated for maximum engagement. Likes, shares, comments, and followers became social currency. The more visible and polished you were, the more “successful” your digital self became. And so began the quiet transformation. Social media stopped being social, it became theatre.
The Algorithm Is Always Watching
This shift didn’t happen by accident. Social media algorithms are designed to reward content that keeps people scrolling fast, flashy, emotionally charged and endlessly consumable. Shoshana Zuboff warns in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism these platforms don’t just serve us content, we serve them data. The result is a system that promotes virality over value, noise over nuance. Users quickly learn to conform to algorithmic expectations: follow trends, post at peak times, add the right music clip, write the right caption. Over time, what appears to be “choice” is actually algorithmic com-pulsion. This has led to a troubling outcome: we spend more time editing our lives than living them. Many young users spend 10–15 minutes just choosing a song for their Instagram story. Not beca-use it expresses something deep but because it fits the aesthetic. Social media has hijacked youth attention, fragmenting it into tiny tasks and shallow decisions, all made in service of the algorithm.
TikTok and the Absurdity Economy
Nowhere is this more visible than on TikTok where the “For You Page” serves as a 24/7 slot machine of distraction. Some of it is funny, creative, or educational (they have made a new page STEM) but increasingly the platform is dominated by content that’s vulgar, absurd, and intellectually hollow. In Pakistan, for example, content creators like Rajab Butt, Ducky Bhai, Ali Haiderabadi, Shandar Mobiles or fashion bloggers like Minahil Malik, Jannat Mirza, Sisterology and many more to name build massive followings by blurring the line between reality and entertainment. Family arguments are staged for views. Personal relationships are turned into public drama. Even religious or political commentary is reduced to viral clickbait. Many of these influencers lack any formal education or expertise yet are seen as thought leaders by millions. And then there’s a darker under-current: anonymous and fake accounts posing as journalists or analysts using cheap editing, music and dramatic narration to spread disinformation, misogyny or sectarianism all under the guise of “content.” This digital distortion teaches young users a dangerous lesson: credibility is irrelevant; clout is king.
The Decline of Public Posting
Faced with this hyper performative environment, many Gen Z users are opting out. According to a 2024 study by the Digital Insight Forum, over 65% of users under 30 prefer private messag-ing, group chats, or “close friends” stories over public posting. Look around: blank profiles, no posts, minimalist bios. It’s not indiffer-ence, it’s discomfort with performance. Many youth now treat social media like a private room, not a stage. DMs, secret stories, and alternative “finsta” accounts have become safer spaces to be vulnerable, funny or even just real. But this shift isn’t just aesthetic. It’s a response to pressure. A digital form of anxiety. The fear of being judged, misinterpreted, screen shotted or simply not getting enough likes leads to silence. It’s telling that in 2025, one of the most radical things a young person can do is post nothing at all.
The author can be contacted at: asadullah.qamar.7@gmail.com
