Why Not Be Yourself?

This is a very over explained concept already but I do feel the need to give everyone my two-cents anyway.

In this semi-glorious day and age on the internet, we all have the ability to create, share, and make our own little show-n-tells for the whole world. Which, don't get me wrong, it's AMAZING. It's incredible that we can all spotlight our lives and stories. But in the rise of the ever-consuming social medias we all spend 100% of our time on, with the lack of limits we have, it feels to me like we have lost the ability to be ourselves. That's so contradictory to what I just said previously, right? Ironic in a way?
Trends and aesthetics have almost completely ruined one's personality development. Everyone wants to fit in their own 'unique' box that was built by someone else, for the purposes of maybe getting some attention. We want to be the same, but we also want to be individuals. How does that work? How does that make sense?

One of my major critiques of alternative communities is that it has all become this: "Don't conform, but actually do conform to us, you gotta conform by not conforming, blah blah blah" why, in these spaces built off of clear individuality, has it become 'against the rules' to ACTUALLY be alternative? To be yourself? We are people, we are built to grow and change, and we don't stay the same. We cannot fit into boxes and it seems we have lost all ability to experiment as a person because everyone has such a fixed and set idea of who someone should be.

I don't think there is a wrong way to be who you are, I don't think there is a wrong way to express yourself. But why try and cater to the majority? Why stunt your own growth because you want so badly to BE like everyone else? Help me understand!


Does all that make any sense? I'm struggling to put my words together. Ugh! Complicated thoughts in my noggin!