Is Gen-Z turning away from social media’s herd mentality and becoming the main characters in their own lives? Or, is it more likely that social media is helping feed this so called ‘main character energy?’
Gen-Z’s lives are plastered on social media. When it comes to being a main character, social media aids this. In real life, people can become somewhat background actors or feel neglected. However, on a platform such as TikTok, anybody can be somebody.
Social media allows you to create your own trends and follow all the others. Therefore, people can become obsessed with the cycle of endless trends. A consequence of this is that a Gen-Z TikTok herd mentality has developed in the past few years. Since the late 2010s, main character energy has been a popular term to describe someone who thinks and acts as the center of their own universe.
The ‘main character energy’ trend is at the forefront of social media’s mentality, as many, for better or for worse, adopt this trend.
The Rise of Main Character Energy
The term ‘main character energy’ went viral in a TikTok by Ashley Ward in 2020. The social media slang meant TikTok users started dancing in the street, making bolder decisions, and approaching life as the central protagonist.
Social media can make it seem like we are all the same because we all follow the same trends. Trends can dictate what we wear, eat, and do. They can even shape our personalities. However, many people have taken social media by storm by taking control of their lives and their aesthetics. They have made a trend out of living life like a cinematic experience rather than a dull existence.
For most of Gen Z, being the main character in the film of their lives means they can make more confident, assured, and fun decisions. You can root for yourself and your decisions like you would for a character in a film. It is not surprising that gaining this mindset gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic. It could be seen as self-care during a time of physical and mental lockdown.
There are many ways people can have ‘main character energy.’ Some of these include:
- Free yourself from what others say you should do.
- Learn to find empowerment in embarrassing situations.
- Dress how you really want.
- Take yourself out for dates.
- Listening to music in the car and romanticising life.
Romanticizing Life: Empowering or Delusional?
Carrie Bradshaw is a famous ‘main character’ that many Gen-Z girls admire. On the one hand, she is a stylish and career-focused woman who is the center of her own universe. However, her case of ‘main character energy’ can be detrimental to her friendships and relationships. Here, we can see that sometimes, the main character’s energy can turn into selfishness or even border on narcissism.
There can be a fine line between self-love and self-obsession. Curating the perfect life on Instagram or TikTok can take a lot of effort, and the more you focus on being the main character on social media, the more it can detract from your real life.
When talking to a friend of mine at college, we discussed how many people will fill their Instagram feeds with events which in reality aren’t as perfect as they look. Even following a less perfect aesthetic, such as the ‘messy girl’ aesthetic, can be draining. Using trends to form your personality can be fun, but it isn’t sustainable just so you can be a ‘main character’ online.
However, it can be empowering to learn lessons on how to have main character moments or be more confident from social media. For example, taking yourself out on a date is a healthy way of building autonomy and finding fun in being by yourself. However, it can depend how you use the ‘main character’ label as something to become better, or to become worse. There is a huge difference between self-assuredness and self-obsession.
The Psychology Behind Main Character Syndrome
Is Gen Z trying to escape reality or embrace it? On the one hand, maintaining a high level of extraversion in daily life can help people in professional or social settings. Therefore, reality becomes an amazing stage for Gen-Z to grow. However, on the other hand this can lead to people not wanting to share the spotlight.
There are instances where many people around someone who has ‘main character energy’ will feel as though they are only the supporting cast to their friend. This is how the psychology behind ‘main character energy’ can actually force many people to reflect and believe that they cannot achieve this role. But, main character energy was created to be accessible to anyone and everyone.
There are many supporting characters that are integral to their own and others’ stories. So, whether you see yourself as the main character or the side character, you are leading your own life.
As a trend, people can have fun curating Instagram feeds to fit their new aesthetic. They can soft and hard launch updates on their friendships or love life. They can take various events they have been to and show it off to all their followers to live the main character life.
However, is the main character lifestyle a kind of coping mechanism? There are ways to learn how to share the spotlight with other people.
A Conversation About Main Character Energy
This week, I had the chance to talk to my college friend about the main character’s energy. I asked her whether she thought she was the main character in her life. She answered yes. Every night out she had with co-workers or friends where she stayed out too late or spoke to strangers felt like she was a main character and posted it on social media.
However, she mentioned how sometimes there are downsides to this mentality. She began to notice that although having these main character moments was fun, they could be tiring. She began to realize it was not solely her that everything centered around.
Overall, we can all learn a lesson from the main character’s energy trend. It is good to take control of our lives and find fun in ourselves and our daily actions. If we can appreciate that our friends have this feeling too and we can learn to become a little less self-centered along the way, then we can go ahead and enjoy our main character moments.
