(opinion article)

Everyone from childhood wants to believe that she or he is sui generis. All and sundry has his or her own tastes, preferences, fears and desires. We position ourselves in the center of the universe, but as we grow older we become a part of a society where someone else dictates the rules. And we become a sponge that absorbs all the fashionable and popular things. Let’s talk why it happens and why is it so important not to lose yourself in the world of popular mind.

Firstly, we live in a society where trends are quickly picked up by people and become commonplace. Also we are so drastically affected by the people around us. If we are around people who lead a healthy lifestyle, it stimulates us to care about health too. If we are around people who listen to k-pop, we are more apt to interest in this music. In social psychology, such trend of humans to align their beliefs and behaviors with those of a group is also called “herd mentality” or “groupthink.” The witty thing is that when people copy the behavior of others, they still consider themselves special.

Nowadays, blogging is not only about spreading opinions on social networks, but also about influencing the target audience. We can shout out that flipping the tape on Instagram is monkey business, but we don’t think about great influence of bloggers on us. For example, you signed up for a book blogger who assured that Neil Gaiman’s new edition is just a failure. You position this blogger as an expert, so you decide to ignore a new book by your favorite author. And so will the majority of the audience, who trust their lеаder. Similarly, if you see a lot of positive reviews about the product and take it because it was chosen by the majority. It is breezy for us to consume chewed information and draw conclusions where they have already been made.

One of the powerful rules of society is “normal people do it”. Normal people clean on Saturday, so you should too. Normal people go to university after school, so don’t even think about the gap year! Normal people have long thrown away the tea set, stop holding on to the past! Normal people have a two-room apartment and a car, why do you still ride the subway? The simple truth of public life: aim to be like normal people and Bob’s your uncle!

Another reason for jumping on the bandwagon is the fear of being a white crow in a crowd of black crows. If you start speaking Russian among Ukrainian-speaking group, your colleagues will look at you strangely. You will probably be afraid to criticize Ukraine’s performance at Eurovision, knowing that most fans praise Go_А. Similarly, if most of your classmates hate a teacher, you will not admit that this teacher is your favorite. On the contrary, you will begin to look for pros and cons and believe as most people believe.

Therefore, the question of preserving one’s individuality in the world of popular ideas is at the peak of urgency.So this does not mean that you need to go to a desert island for being unique personality there! The answer to this problem is hidden in the Ukrainian proverb, “Listen to the wise, but also have your own opinion.” Of course, most people and experts have influenced us and will influence in future, but it is worth making this influence reasonable. It is necessary not only to consume popular trend, but also to analyze it unassisted and to decide to follow principles or not.

As for me, everybody can opt for jumping or not jumping on the bandwagon. It often happens that your opinion is really superfluous, but sometimes the individual’s idea ​​ can change the essence of the social herd. Stay part of society but don’t lose your personal priorities!