The Damaging Effects of “Vibe” Culture

We are all chasing something, whether that be academic success, a perfect resume, athletic excellence, romantic attention. And what do each of these ambitions have in common? They grant a certain sense of validation that makes us feel more important. After all,  doesn’t everybody want to be important? While these noble(ish) pursuits have been connected to human experience as long as historians have documented civilization, I can’t help but highlight one form of attempted fulfillment that has gravely amplified itself in recent times: the emergence of ‘vibe’ culture. 

For some context: the word ‘vibe’ emerged in the 1940s as an abbreviation for the word ‘vibration,’ referring to the vibraphone, a pitched percussion instrument that is played with mallets. ‘Good Vibrations’ by the Beach Boys gave the word more prestige in the 1960s, as it evolved into a description of instinctive feelings or the emotional atmosphere of a person. Then, in the 2010s, the word’s popularity skyrocketed, primarily due to social media. 

Today, the word ‘vibe’ is practically daily (if not hourly) vocabulary. When describing one’s personal romantic criteria, often the response is, ‘someone with a similar vibe as me.’ It also takes on verb format, with declarations such as, ‘In all honesty, we just have to vibe.’ Talk about high standards. 

Courtesy of Anna Huang

Aside from romantic requirements, commenting on someone’s ‘vibe’ (typically based on their Instagram or TikTok assemblage), is mainstream these days — especially for Gen Z and especially for students here at St. Andrews. 

One of the main critiques of social media is how it’s an unrealistic and glamorous “snapshot” of our lives, but what is getting left uncriticised is how that ‘snapshot’ now has to fit into a certain ‘vibe.’ We (and I say we because we’re nearly all guilty of it) don’t just put photos out there that make our lives appear enjoyable. We instead think about how we can mix and mould photos together into a meticulously stitched microcosm of the image that we’re trying to achieve. 

I must confess that I too fall guilty of prejudging people based on the ‘vibe’ that their social media presence exudes. During the months spent stalling in the seemingly endless waiting room before college life, I spent chunks of my free time shamelessly stalking my future peers on the St. Andrews ‘29 Instagram account, primarily in order to see if a future classmate  and I would ‘vibe.’ Being from America and being from the South, I found myself mentally writing  off students who didn’t seem like they’d be ‘my people.’ But as it turns out, some of those people are now my best friends. 

This ‘vibe’ culture is damaging because it leads us to make false assumptions about who somebody truly is. In reality, our connection with someone is far more authentic when it’s organic and not based on how congruent our social media accounts are. 

To be sure, I’m not suggesting that  our alleged ‘vibes’ are inconsequential. It still can matter that we spend our time around people who have similar social media visages. But it’s imperative that we broaden our horizons and spend time with people because they genuinely make us feel seen, loved, and understood – not simply because our twin auras will blossom into an absolutely rocking Instagram post. 

And of course this cultural phenomenon is destructive because it’s entirely unrealistic. It conceals our mundane and highlights only what will appeal to the audience we’re trying to attract. Which bears the question: are we trying to attract the right people – or are we merely trying to attract a confined community within a deemed ‘vibe’?

My best advice: take that photo and post that photo because it’s real and because it speaks to you and will perhaps speak to others. St. Andrews is diverse, and we should celebrate our individual authenticity instead of making authenticity a bubble.