Today’s social media world allows for more individuality at the same time as it creates a higher dependency from those surrounding us.

The need to belong, to be part of a group has grown alongside the rise of social media.

With a “public self” ever present on social media we find ourselves confronted with a higher potential for judgment and expectations. At the same time, this presence has allowed us to find people like us. Those people having similar interests and ideas on a very detailed level. Having our own group eases being different. Those in the group know and see each other as being different from the others. At the same time, there exists pressure from being a member of the larger community. A community asking to be like them, creating the impression that everyone has to be like them. Dealing with this tension is eased by belonging to a group of people like us.

The need to deal with these tensions has allowed culture to become a driving force for change. The network effect corresponds to a shift in the behavior, needs and wants of those around us and invites us to follow and take it up. People like us do things like that.

A changing culture now enables individual change