No one has personality anymore

Why does it feel like everyone is dressing the same, reading the same books, and going on holiday to the same places? In this episode of Under the

places? In this episode of Under the Influence, I explore the idea that influencer marketing might be causing the death of personality, and how by aimlessly following trends, you might be

losing yours. I'm Em, and I'm extremely

losing yours. I'm Em, and I'm extremely passionate about getting us all to think more critically when we engage with media online, especially when it comes to influencer culture. If you're

interested in being de-influenced daily, you're more than welcome to join my free newsletter Under the Influence on Substack, or follow me on Instagram as Ordinary Em. Personalities used to be

Ordinary Em. Personalities used to be the reason we follow people. Now they're

something you can manufacture. Used to

follow someone who is a bit quirky, had niche habits, and maybe made you look at the world differently. Perhaps they

encouraged you directly or indirectly to be more yourself, to lean into what made you different. Now we have cores:

you different. Now we have cores: cottagecore goblincore grandmacore barbiecore, gorpcore, also known as aesthetics. Soft girl aesthetic, Y2K

aesthetics. Soft girl aesthetic, Y2K aesthetic, clean girl, and most recently, the cool girl. An aesthetic or core, as it relates to the internet, is just visual vibes, really. They

signal a lifestyle and attempt to quickly tell you a lot about a person, purely on the way they dress and style themselves. Your aesthetic doesn't just

themselves. Your aesthetic doesn't just tell us about your fashion sense, but also your hobbies, maybe your taste in music, and even your coffee order. Cores

are personalities that are manufactured so that it is easier to sell us stuff, because it means we see ourselves in the people they are using to market their products. And if they have it, we should

products. And if they have it, we should have it. But more on that later.

have it. But more on that later.

Basically, influencers are no longer inspiring people to be more themselves.

They're trying to get us to be more like them. Exhibit A: fashion content.

them. Exhibit A: fashion content.

Fashion content used to be, bear with me, maybe you remember this time, [gasps] people who loved fashion sharing their tips and tricks, showing off a wardrobe,

sometimes huge, full of clothes they loved. Clothes that they had curated

loved. Clothes that they had curated over years and years from all over the world, from all over the country, from, you know, like, not just trending fast

fashion stores. They wanted people to

fashion stores. They wanted people to experiment. They were clearly so

experiment. They were clearly so inspired and passionate about fashion.

Now, it just feels like fashion content is just affiliate marketing. It seems

like it's just new in or hauls with endless links. It feels so much less

endless links. It feels so much less personal. I'd say it even it goes so far

personal. I'd say it even it goes so far as to feel a bit soulless. And what this content does is get us to all buy the exact same clothes from the same fast fashion store to keep up with the same

trends, which means we all end up looking like everyone else instead of more ourselves. We used to go to the

more ourselves. We used to go to the shops a long time ago and decide for ourselves what we liked. Of course,

there was some advertising and magazines and posters, but it wasn't so in your face. You could choose how to style that

face. You could choose how to style that cardigan that you really loved or the accessories you bought at a random little store. It also wasn't like there

little store. It also wasn't like there was the five big brands that you had to shop at. You could be wearing clothes

shop at. You could be wearing clothes from anywhere. And you weren't just

from anywhere. And you weren't just buying entire outfits linked by someone.

It's almost like we didn't need the validation of everyone else being obsessed with a piece in order for us to buy it. We just bought what we liked.

buy it. We just bought what we liked.

Obviously, even back then there was an illusion of choice, but you know what I mean. It was maybe one or two YouTubers

mean. It was maybe one or two YouTubers had mentioned a product or worn a certain pair of jeans. Not a hundred plus influencers all buying the exact same bag, which leads me to exhibit B,

what's in my bag. I think what's in my bag is a great case study for my hypothesis on the death of personality.

And for those who don't know, it was YouTubers, basically, who would post videos what's in my bag using bags they'd had for years. They were so iconic and bags they were known to have.

You could see they'd had this bag for years. It'd been dragged through. These

years. It'd been dragged through. These

weren't brand new, pristine, shiny things they'd just bought a few days ago that they claimed to be obsessed with.

No, they were obsessed with these bags.

They'd have the same bag for multiple months, multiple years, and it was full of things that were so unique to them and their lives, and they'd basically be unpacking it or packing it. And whilst

they were doing that, they would share some genuine recommendations, and you knew they were genuine because none of it wasn't an ad. You could very clearly see that someone's lipstick had been

used. You know, the branding's worn off.

used. You know, the branding's worn off.

Do we even see that anymore? And you

knew then that they actually really liked it. You'd learn so much about a

liked it. You'd learn so much about a person through these videos and their personality. But now, if someone in

personality. But now, if someone in today's online culture was to make content of this nature, it's with a bag everyone has and will probably never use

again once the new trending bag has been chosen. My bet is that it will have the

chosen. My bet is that it will have the same hand sanitizer that everyone else has, the same book that everyone on BookTok is reading, the same shade of lip liner that is trending, and it would most definitely be an ad. And if it

wasn't an ad, odds are they linked the bag. To me,

this content always feels like product placement now because it it's just so boring. It's actually hilarious to me as

boring. It's actually hilarious to me as well that now brands are trying to sell us personalized bag charms to make you seem cool and quirky, like, you know, you're sentimental and you've collected things that you really love, when in

fact you're literally like everyone else. Our bags used to represent us and

else. Our bags used to represent us and how we lived and loved, and now that can be further from the truth as we all flippantly merge into the same kind of

person with the exact same hobbies. But

before we get into exhibit C, I just wanted to remind you to subscribe, especially if you're enjoying the video and don't want to miss the next one.

Exhibit C, the shopification of hobbies.

You're not going crazy if you You everyone on the internet is knitting, then coloring, then junk journaling, then painting by numbers, all at the same time and for a very limited amount

of time. Hobbies are normally something

of time. Hobbies are normally something we pick up in our childhood, then forget as we grow older and kind of come back to us in adulthood. We know doing stuff with our hands and not being on a screen

is so good for us. And this is not me saying that I don't think people should post their crafts and their hobbies. I

just want to point out how I've noticed it being done and how it adds to my hypothesis of the death of personality.

People used to spend years creating home libraries with books that they had actually read. Now, people just do a to

actually read. Now, people just do a to be read book haul and create libraries that I know they will never be able to get through, especially if they keep

ordering books at the same frequency and quantity that they're doing now. People

used to spend years honing a craft, investing in classes and slowly acquiring all the tools needed to take it up a level. Now, it seems like people are just buying stuff for hobbies and

treating the buying of stuff for a hobby like a hobby. I'm not saying you can't try hobbies, people. Of course, dip your toes in as many as you can and find what you really like to do. But, there's no

need to leave a wake of waste behind you. You can thrift a lot of the things

you. You can thrift a lot of the things you need and if you're genuinely wanting to try something out, you can borrow or start small until you really know you like it and want to carry it on for

a couple of months, a couple of years.

I've also watched so many people, primarily at the beginning of this year, create analog bags. If you don't know what that is, it was basically a bag where you kept a bunch of offline

activities that you could then go to and have all in one place when you're trying to spend less time on a screen. But, it

was more about making it look aesthetic than about making it useful. And when I saw Amazon and other shitty fast fashion stores selling analog bags,

I knew we'd just taken it far again.

Hobbies are deeply personal parts of our lives, and you should do what you really love, whether it's trending or not. And

please don't let the internet ruin a hobby that you've had forever. I promise

you do not need the latest most aesthetic set of coloring markers and the latest trendy coloring book to prove that you're a colorer.

You don't need to prove anything about your hobbies. And yes, this does all

your hobbies. And yes, this does all sound absolutely ridiculous to me, too.

The internet is a weird place, and it's where a lot of people spend their time.

I know that most people on the planet aren't consuming hobbies in the way that people do online or purchasing a new bag every single week. But unfortunately, a lot of people let social media warp

their normal, and I don't want that to happen to you. So, how do we get you?

Well, it's because influencers hop on these trends on these cords because they can make money off of us buying into their lifestyles. They need us to want

their lifestyles. They need us to want to be like them. That's why they deem it a must-have or an essential. We are

seeing more and more of this content, and it makes it feel like it's everyone else but us, so we buy it, too. And in

that process, you lose all of the wonderful things that make you you, aka your personality. If you're buying what

your personality. If you're buying what they're selling because you want to fit in, I need to remind you that you will never be able to keep up. That's

literally the entire point of trends. If

you're buying whatever they're selling cuz you want to feel like you're a part of something, then I beg you to go and spend time in real community. If you

don't have friends or family nearby, see what your local community is up to or go to events that local clubs are putting on. If you're buying whatever they're

on. If you're buying whatever they're selling because you want to be cool, then I need you to take a second, maybe even a couple minutes, to just think about what you really deem

cool. And it's probably the courage and

cool. And it's probably the courage and confidence that someone has to seemingly be themselves that you're trying to replicate.

But you're not going to be able to do that by trying to look like them. You

can't copy that. You need to go and figure it out for yourself. And spoiler

alert, it doesn't normally include buying more things. As cliche as it sounds, just be yourself. We need more of it. Follow people who actually

of it. Follow people who actually inspire you. Follow people who encourage

inspire you. Follow people who encourage you to find your own style and not just click links and earn them commission.

And follow people who don't just make you feel like you need more Okay, thanks for watching. See you next time.

Bye.