Just a few years ago, social media felt like somewhere to share your life. Today, however, it often feels like somewhere you go to sell it.

Under Pressure …

You can scroll through TikTok, Instagram or LinkedIn, and the message is hard to miss. Build your audience. Grow your network. Create content. Stay visible. For many young men, success is no longer just about getting good grades, finding a good job or pursuing a passion. In a culture where followers, views and engagement are displayed for everyone to see, visibility has become tied to self-worth, leaving many young men feeling pressured to promote themselves just to feel relevant.

Part of the reason for this pressure is that personal branding has become normalised. A generation ago, branding was something associated with companies. Today, it’s increasingly associated with individuals and especially young people. We are encouraged to build an online presence, grow a network and develop a recognisable identity across multiple platforms. 

While women also face constant pressure online, much of it has traditionally centred around health and beauty. But when it comes to young men, we are being encouraged to not only market our looks but also our entrepreneurial skills. The simple fact is that online spaces are no longer about popularity alone but your ‘personal brand’ and how effectively you’re selling it.

The Influencer Effect

The shift away from sharing and communication to branding and marketing has largely been fuelled by the popularity of influencer culture, where success is inextricably linked to visibility. Social media algorithms reward content that captures attention, while creators who consistently post can turn their audiences into patrons and content creation into a lucrative career. There is nothing inherently bad about this. The internet has created opportunities for creatives and professionals that previous generations could only dream of. However, it has also created an unhealthy environment where many young men feel that being talented and hardworking is no longer enough if it is not accompanied by financial success and viral popularity.

The result is that success increasingly feels like public property. And so it is. Every new follower, like, view and comment represents a quantifiable opinion. While comparison has always existed, social media has amplified it significantly. According to Ofcom’s 2025 Online Nation report, young adults aged 18-24 spend an average of six hours and twenty minutes online each day. These hours are, at least partly, spent watching a dizzying array of promotional videos. The result is that young men are no longer comparing themselves to their friends, classmates or childhood role models. Instead, they are exposed to a constant stream of entrepreneurs, athletes and influencers who appear to be more successful, productive and more accomplished. Public figures such as IShowSpeed, with almost 60M subscribers, and Cristiano Ronaldo dominate many young men’s feeds, each presenting different varieties of success through wealth, discipline, fame, or physical achievement. Even though their content can be motivating at times, constant exposure can create unrealistic expectations of what success looks like.

In this hyper-competitive environment, it can be easy to confuse popularity with genuine achievement. A viral post can appear more valuable than a personal milestone, while growing an audience can deceptively feel like proof of progress. For some young men, visibility itself becomes the goal, creating a sense that if nobody is watching, then somehow your output matters less. 

Blurred Lines

There is an unmistakable tension between authenticity and performance. Social media encourages people to present the best versions of themselves, but for many young people, the line between genuine self-expression and self-promotion is becoming increasingly blurred. Research suggests that comparisons on social media can amplify negative self-perceptions and lower self-esteem among young adults. Experiences, achievements and even hobbies can begin to feel more like content opportunities rather than personal moments.

This pressure is reinforced by the rise of hustle culture and online self-improvement content. Across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, young men are constantly exposed to messages encouraging them to wake up earlier, work harder, build businesses, improve their physique and maximise every minute of the day. Much of this advice can be genuinely helpful, especially the tips on exercising, practising discipline and building motivation. Messages such as ‘No one is coming to save you,’ ‘Become the top 1%’ and ‘Work while they sleep’ have become familiar across social media and encourage young men to equate relentless productivity with self-worth. While many creators do promote and reinforce positive lifestyle attributes such as healthy eating and good exercise, these messages alone can imply that slowing down or taking a break is a personal failure rather than a normal aspect of everyday life.

Problems really begin to show themselves when self-improvement becomes a never-ending pursuit. No matter how much progress is made, there always seems to be another goal to reach, another habit to develop or another benchmark to work towards. In a culture that celebrates constant optimisation, many young men feel constantly behind, even if they are doing well. The result can be anxiety, burnout, and the sense that who you are is never quite enough, from a social perspective.  

Rise of the Manosphere

These pressures can also help explain the appeal of certain online communities. Younger men are navigating an increasingly uncertain world and future, facing questions about careers, relationships and identity. At the same time, they’re being told that success, confidence and fulfilment are entirely within their control if they simply ‘graft’ enough. 

As a result, communities associated with the Manosphere and other extreme ‘self-improvement’ cultures can become appealing. Not necessarily because men are drawn to toxic ideas, but because these spaces act as navigators, helping to create certainty and a sense of belonging. 

Personal branding itself is not the problem, nor is ambition or self-improvement. The challenge comes when visibility becomes exclusively tied to value. Young men should not have to think of themselves as products simply to feel relevant. In a culture increasingly focused on performance, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that our value extends far beyond what can be quantified from a social media account.

DISCLAIMER: The articles on our website are not endorsed by, or the opinions of Shout Out UK (SOUK), but exclusively the views of the author.

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