Opening Instagram to scroll just brings reels which showcase the idea of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary

From people sharing snippets of their morning routines to recording their local metro journey, the most mundane activities of an individual’s life can be seen on the platform. Videos shared in the short format of an Instagram reel are curated to exude an energy that makes one feel a deep sense of comfort. It is driven by the trend of romanticisation, wherein an individual presents ideas, objects, and activities in a way to make them seem more appealing than they are. Much like most other aspects of social media, this impacts how an individual perceives themself or certain attributes of themself in both positive and negative ways. This trend leads to the want of an aesthetically pleasing lifestyle influencing an individual’s self-perception. This article aims to understand this impact.

Social media has democratised access to this trend by making people believe that anyone can make their daily routine more aesthetic. Relying on carefully curated visual content which focuses on making the perceiver feel comfortable through their connectivity with the content, this creates a narrative which follows the philosophical saying, ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, ’ making the viewer believe that even normality can seem aesthetically pleasing. This trend covers various aspects of daily life revolving around productivity, simplicity, and happiness. Productivity is romanticised through different kinds of routines, like studying, cooking, getting ready, travelling, etc. Simplicity is romanticized by moments in regular landscapes, like the buzz of a flower market. Happiness is romanticized through the emotion evoked by the content produced. 

Such content is pushed by social media algorithms, which infamously create a cycle pushing for specific content, which the individual, in turn, engages with and then seeks to consume, leading the algorithm to show more of such content. A quantitative study wherein college students were given an 11-item questionnaire, representative of negative ideals towards the way the person sees themself, were asked to rate their agreement on a Likert scale before and after using social media for 10 minutes. The result showed a negative correlation between social media usage and self-perception (Fathurohman et al., 2023). This romanticised content impacts self-perception as, according to Bem’s behaviourist definition of vicarious self-perception, one perceives their self according to their observation of their overt behaviour and the situational context. The person relies on external cues as an external observer would because internal cues tend to be weak or ambiguous (Bem, 1972). People present themselves online in a carefully constructed manner, which can be embedded into a person’s perception of self if they receive positive engagement. Young students have shared a desire to suffer or be in pain through harmful activities like self-harm or restricting their eating because the same has been displayed in a romanticised fashion (Hajdú, n.d.). Moreover, a study on vicarious self-perception states that when an individual feels a sense of shared identity with another person, they will believe that they possess most of the others’ stable personality traits (Goldstein & Cialdini, 2007). This relates the consumption of others’ online content to one’s self-perception.

The most prominent drawback of this trend has been the rapid rise in social comparison. Teenagers’ social media use significantly affects their self-perception, prompting comparisons that can erode self-confidence. Social media imposes pressure to maintain a favourable image (Galante & Alam, 2019). The curated version of a mundane activity, which may be something others also engaged in, could lead to social comparison, wherein an individual feels that they do not derive the same emotional feelings from that activity as portrayed by the content, leading to a kind of cognitive dissonance which would impact their self-perception. A romanticised reel on grocery shopping would have soft traditional music in the background with the vendors gracefully washing and packing the vegetables as the person chose the best one out of the lot, while the viewer may feel that the act is just a tedious task to tick off their to-do list. With the help of coloring, background music, and other editing techniques, people would create content to fit this trend. Another drawback would be the glorification of productivity, simplicity and happiness, leading to a level termed “toxic”. Mimicking the subculture created around the idealised concepts of the grind and hustle, this trend generates a toxic compulsion to constantly be productive and happy even in regular life in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Even an activity like watching a movie to take a break is engulfed by this sense of productivity wherein it must serve a purpose, and the person must feel rested afterwards.

Beyond its negative effects, a conscious understanding of this trend may also be beneficial. The trend promotes the idea of appreciating and finding joy in small moments, encouraging people to value simple joys instead of constantly waiting for the next big moment in life. The act feels more pleasing through the shared connectivity felt through the content consumed online, creating a sense of solace. The trend also facilitates the idea of slowing down and enjoying the now, not in an idealized, moralistic manner but through positive reframing, wherein the individual perceives the consumed content and their life constructively, focusing on the positive aspects. This trend also revolves around a lifestyle of simplicity, making this trend more accessible to consume and create within, unlike other trends focusing on a lifestyle of opulence, like quiet luxury, which involves a lifestyle revolving around refined elegance and subtle consumption of high-quality products such as the old money aesthetic.

The duality of the trend of romanticising mundane life calls for its consumers to be mindful of the same and view it through a lens of balance. Mindful consumption of this trend can greatly benefit the manner in which one perceives oneself, leading to the appreciation of simple acts and encouragement of creativity and growth. It promotes living life with intention and purpose. However, this dual nature can flip a person’s self-perception when they view curated versions of such acts with an over-reliance on the aesthetics of the act rather than the efficiency. Balance is vital in the consumption of this trend. Engage with the content in a manner that is cognizant and fulfilling instead of being performative. The intent is to find meaning in everyday life rather than creating aestheticised perceptions of one’s life.

Authors: Meher Malhotra, Undergraduate Student, FLAME University & Prof. Moitrayee Das, Faculty of Psychology, FLAME University.