Are we done with over-relatability on the Internet?

It’s a funny thing to be online in 2026. Half of the Internet is arguably dead, consumed by bots coexisting amongst long-disused websites, and the other half is crammed with social media trends that, somehow, last even less time than a SHEIN ‘fashion trend’. While I was in Bali a week or more ago, I was largely offline. My screen glare was too bright (my lobster too buttery, my steak too juicy!), and I did want to properly switch off. But, on one activity-less day, I succumbed to a quick doom scroll while at the beach. My feed was flooded with aesthetically pleasing photos, plastered with soft yellow text proclaiming ‘kinda chic’. I sighed. My content creator brain of 17 years whirred into action. Time to hop on the bandwagon before it leaves for the next fad.

Just a few days later, right on cue, I noticed an influx of the quote-unquote version of the ‘kinda chic’ trend. It happens with every single social media trend; the second wave that love the antithesis of anything that takes off online. There’s people that are definitely cooler than you, more nonchalant than you, don’t you know? God, we’re all just so dumb for being sheep, etc. etc.

I belong to the elusive cohort of millennials that grew up as the Internet did. The Internet was somewhere that we went for an hour a day1, not somewhere that we practically lived. We had the best of the 90s and 00s, then we got to be the ones that were chaotic on MSN, MySpace and Tumblr. Us weird kids finally found online forums to nerd out. Some of us2 even became early adopters of blogging before it was rebranded into influencing. We connected with thousands of people globally about niche interests and utterly thrived in our individuality; relatable content, listicles and dance trends came over a decade later. So, in my wizened eyes, it’s only natural that a backlash comes next. Nothing good lasts forever.

Over a handful of years, we moved from slice-of-life peeks into strangers’ lives to oversharing every moment in a bid to show off how relatable we all are. In other words, posts that reassure us that everybody is in the same boat are just that: reassuring. After six years and counting of living through tumultuous once-in-a-lifetime unprecedented events, it’s no wonder that we all crave social comfort blankets and a little security. We want to feel seen, heard and understood. There was complete comfort in knowing that others felt the same way as us, especially when we couldn’t find the words to voice it. Then came the advent of AI and finding that every once-social space online began to feel robotic. Somewhere along the way, it was only natural that we’d then fight back a little and desire to feel like people again. Like individuals.

I think that’s where we’re at now. It’s uncomfortable, but I think we’re finally in the strange corner of the digital age where we are done with over-relatability. Are we really conversing with friends when we fire 50 ‘relatable’ Reels and TikTok’s at them? No. Do we need to touch grass? Yes. Comforting as it may be to know that I’m one of thousands that have never had a unique experience before, it’s kinda chic (sorry) to remember that I’m an individual too. I love a cute social media trend as much as the next girlie, but it’s also pretty cool to remember that there’s nobody on this planet with my exact combination of experiences, interests, music taste, personal style, astrology chart… You get where I’m going.

There’s a reason that so many of us flocked to create so-called ‘personal curriculums’ and why the anti-rot movement took off – we’re craving a sense of individuality. It’s the sort of feeling that has people3 travelling to South East Asia to find themselves, or book that solo trip to feel something, or do it just for the plot. I’m all for it! I am here for filling our one wild life with as many fun things as possible! Move countries, kiss strangers, stay up late, say yes to the side quest, quit your toxic job, have cereal for dinner, screw what the 8-frame guide on Instagram says. Something else will be made-up-for-maximum-engagement next week anyway. Lately I’ve noticed each trend slowly tick towards wanting us all to simply be ourselves again, and I am all for it.