There’s a funny sub-community on Instagram. Well, I wouldn’t exactly say it is funny — I’d definitely call it interesting instead. The community isn’t only on Instagram — it has spread to YouTube and TikTok as well. Saying the word “spread” makes it sound like a disease. It’s really hard to describe what this spread is all about, but I’ll try to do my best. There’s a group of videos that are quite large on these social sites and that all work to roll out a crowd of negative emotions. The emotions that are focused on can range from sadness to loneliness or anxiety and this is just to name a few — they all stem from social media, which, if you ask me, shouldn’t even be used a lot and should be gotten rid of, but that’s a whole other argument. What I want to focus on is why you should avoid these negative videos and the community that has risen around them.
To begin with, why the hell does this type of media exist? It’s odd to think about. Before we get into why this is a thing, let’s talk about exactly what it does. These videos aren’t exactly in a specific genre. It’s not like jazz or RnB — it’s more of a self-named thing. So, let’s take fitness YouTuber Sam Sulek as an example. He’s super popular and has this wholesome yet lonesome demeanor to himself. A video can be made to include a clip of him working out with a sad song in the background and text saying something like “working out because we didn’t, I still love her.”
Alright, what the hell do these videos look like? This group online goes by many names — I’ve heard a lot of them refer to themselves as “sigmas” or “loners,” which is really just kind of cringe. This is a bit goofy. Alright, it’s goofy as hell. The “sigmas” and “loners” have essentially evolved into their own meme community. What you experience honestly depends on what side of the community you’re on, but a common theme throughout all of them, other than the negativity and pessimistic nature, is the relatability. Many of these content creators will take a clip from an anime, a movie or a YouTuber, put music over it and put text on it that usually has parentheses in it. Yeah, teenage kids are trying to relate to each other by spreading their sadness and loneliness. Oddly poetic in its own way.
Absolutely bonkers, right? It’s funny on a surface level. The joke is, the person who’s posting this is relating himself to Sulek, who is this guy with a great physique, who some would say also “gets no bitches.” It’s funny to compare oneself to this guy because he doesn’t seem relatable at all. Again, that’s the appeal of this whole thing. What’s even funnier to me are the comments on many of these videos. Scroll down in the comments and you’ll find many people commenting “real”— colloquial for “that’s so true and/or relatable.” When you explain internet terms, it gets all mumbled and jumbled, doesn’t it?
The crazy part of all this is how odd it is. Why would communities of young people share posts like these? It’s hard to get exact numbers, but it’s safe to assume this community is dominated by men. Any look at the comment section and the profiles of said commenters gives that away. Still, the main question is why? Why on Earth is there a community full of seemingly adolescent young men who seemingly enjoy trauma-sharing and bonding?
It all circles back to social media. Social media does many things for us — good and bad. I’m not trying to paint it as completely bad, but when misused, like many things, it can be quite negative. I personally believe these kids get their negative emotions from using social media in the first place. Think back to 30 years ago — if a young man broke up with his girlfriend, unless they lived next to each other, they really wouldn’t have seen each other afterward. On one hand, it’s scary to think about what your ex is up to, but it’s also peaceful in a way to never hear from them again.
Now, with Instagram, you’re cooked. It’s easy to be so connected to people in your circle nowadays that it begins to feel inescapable. A lot of Gen Z will just doom-scroll on social media for hours. And listen, I’m no scientist, but holy shit — the human brain was not made to contain so much information, especially about other people. I know this because I’ve been there. It’s easy to sneak into someone’s life when it’s all so public. This shit is hard man. Getting over heartbreak, feeling lonely or just feeling sad — all of that is exacerbated by social media.
So at the end of the day, I’m just going to say it. You should delete social media. Stop using it. It’s poison. I didn’t have social media until my late high school years, and I wish I had never even joined. DELETE ALL THAT BULLSHIT. Stop scrolling forever. Go outside. Lately, what I’ve been doing is, on the way back from the gym, I turn my phone off. It feels good to do so too. It’s tough to be alone with your own thoughts sometimes. But, if you can become your own best friend, as cheesy as it is, you can do anything.
Nicolas Scagnelli is a senior majoring in English.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.