Another is that you can't scroll very far without running into jokes and memes that treat nihilism like the latest trend. It's like everyone's in on this wry, "nothing matters" vibe, funny captions, deadpan videos, ironic aesthetics, and yeah, sometimes it's a way to cope or feel less alone. But there's a downside to this: turning real existential pain and big philosophical questions into punchlines flattens them. When everything becomes a meme, it's easy to start seeing deep feelings as just another aesthetic, not something worth unpacking or getting help for. That can make disengagement feel normal, even cool, instead of something to think about seriously. Existential thought is vast and varied across cultures and people, it isn't one-liners and dark humor. Nihilism isn't just a dramatic way of saying "everything is useless", it's really about recognizing that life doesn't come stamped with a meaning, so we're the ones who have to make it. People often turn that into a gloomy shrug, but that's a misunderstanding. Thinkers like Nietzsche weren't cheering on the "why bother" attitude, he warned against letting that sense of emptiness turn you limp and passive. There's a different move you can make, instead of surrendering, use the lack of preset meaning as a chance to tear down old stories and build your own, that's what people call active nihilism. The passive kind just floats in the void; the active kind treats the void like open space to create something real. So yeah, dark memes miss the richer, more challenging side of the idea. Many people think that nihilism is just giving up and not doing anything, and think everything is useless, when the concept is much more nuanced than that. So while the internet can create community around hard feelings, it can also nudge a whole generation toward shrugging off important questions and emotions instead of actually dealing with them.
It's easy to forget that social media isn't just silly videos and memes, it also spreads narrow, sticky ideas about who people are. Take women as an example, we still see the same old jokes that they're somehow too emotional to lead, and that kind of nonsense chips away at real achievements. Or think about how race gets turned into a punchline: viral clips that lean on exaggerated accents or behaviors make whole cultures into caricatures, and suddenly people's identities are something to binge for laughs. The "Asian parent = hardcore pressure" trope is a great example, it ignores the massive differences inside communities and squashes real stories into one tidy stereotype. It's not just annoying, it actually changes opportunities and relationships, so we should call it out more and push for stuff that shows people as full, messy humans.
Conclusion
Social media spreads a lot of quick, flat takes about who people are. It can shrink whole cultures, personalities, and beliefs into one-liners or trends so easily that the messiness of real life gets lost. But it's not all bad, those same platforms can also lift up local voices, preserve traditions, and spark real conversations across borders if we use them thoughtfully. The trick is smarter tech and smarter people, pushing the algorithms that don't just reward the loudest stereotype, support community-made content, and teach digital literacy so folks spot and call out the lazy stuff. Creators and platforms need to share responsibility, and we can stop flattening identity and start helping people actually understand one another.
References
Yolanda, A., Andary, R. W., Tamsil, I. S., Zaman, K., & Wei, S. (2025). The role of social media in the formation of global cultural identity. Journal of Social Science Utilizing Technology, 3(1), 10--18.
Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research. (2023, July 23). Cultural identity in the age of social media.
Farihah, A. (2025, February 17). The Role of Social Media in the Formation of Young Generation's Cultural Identity. Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.
Sustainability Directory. (2025, September 13). What Impact Does Social Media Have on Cultural Identity? Sustainability Directory.Â
Ezeah, G. (2025). Influence of Social Media in Strengthening Cultural Stereotypes: The Case of Ethnic Groups
Nguyen, Q. A. (2024). Deconstructing the Impact of Social Media on Gender Stereotype Reinforcement and Disruption in Vietnam's Digital Landscape
