A friend of mine had a birthday recently and noted that it was sort of bittersweet to him. When asked why, he said that it feels like everyone around his age is successful, while he doesn’t really know what he’s doing with his life. This seems to be a common factor with people in our generation, that everywhere you look is somebody younger and more successful than you are.
It seems like with the rise of social media, the more people grow to become young celebrities. Whether they’re influencers or singers, I am beginning to see young, successful people everywhere. So, what’s with this rise of young stars?
A big part of this rise would be social media. Social media makes fame more accessible to young people. Any video could go viral at any moment and skyrocket somebody into fame. For example, look at TikTok creator Bella Poarch. Her video lip-syncing to “M to the B” by Millie B has over 72.3 million likes.
Since that video was posted back in 2020, she has garnered over 93 million followers and has started a music career. Poarch was only 23-years-old when she posted her viral video.
This random selection of viral videos can make a lot of younger people feel as if they aren’t doing enough, even when some of these young influencers didn’t try to create their viral video.
Not all young celebrities happen upon stardom by chance, though. Another big influence on the rising popularity of young celebrities could be hustle culture.
Brittany Beringer from Medium described hustle culture as “the firm belief that in order to attract true success in a career and in life, the pursuit will involve having to work more, harder and for longer.”
This contributes to the growing number of young stars, as many more of them are working tirelessly at a shot to achieve their goals. While this is a good lifestyle for some people, a lot of young people just can’t see themselves submitting to such a tiring culture.
It’s the notion that everybody has to work so hard for so long to make a living that damages the ideals of a regular work life for young people.
Dr. Stephanie Dowrick said in Girlboss that “a work-worshipping paradigm actually asks you to sacrifice almost everything else—including how you regard your own mind, heart and soul—for a depth of validation that comes from way outside yourself.”
This perfectly describes the effect that hustle culture has on our generation, as it seems to fundamentally create bigger burnout. It also makes the people who don’t submit to this style of working feel like they aren’t doing enough.
Social media also has a big impact on hustle culture as it continues to promote this unsustainable way of living. This is where the sense of not doing enough comes from, as social media seems to only promote and platform those young people that participate in hustle culture.
Feeling inadequate for the amount of work you’re doing is a feeling almost everybody, no matter the generation, knows. However, Generation Z seems to encourage the idea that working nonstop is the only way to live, ignoring a slow, simple lifestyle.
There are multiple ways to be successful, many of which don’t involve “hustling” or being famous. What most forget is that there’s time to figure out what you want, whether it’s an always-on-the-go work life or a simple and slow job. Neither one is wrong, and different things work for different people.
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