Contrary to Popular Belief: You Are Bothered. - The 'Contrarian' Archetype, Today's Social Media Landscape by Enyjé Sandoz

In the current age of social media, everyone is striving to be heard, seen, and recognized. As a result, it has been 'normalized' (a buzzword) for people to intentionally go against the grain through their 'unpopular opinions' and 'hot takes'.

While the onset of the popularization of 'unpopular opinions' was to challenge groupthink, it has now been weaponized (ding, ding, ding! yet another buzzword) to solicit attention (and with social media creator funds, revenue) through people strongly opposing their views or noting it as an outlandish statement. 

There are several names for this: rage-baiting, engagement farming, again—boost revenue, or just good old-fashioned attention-seeking. 

People—please, do not fall for the hype.

Over the years, I noticed another archetype. It is one that has existed for eons, yet seemingly slips through the cracks on social media. 

It is: the contrarian. 

As defined, "a person who opposes or rejects popular opinion, especially in stock exchange dealing." 

On the surface, this seems to be a good thing. But when someone is habitually contrarian, it becomes inauthentic and a problem.

In person, the contrarian is the one you deck in the throat. They are the one person who has to challenge everything the professor says and make sure their two cents, which by the end of class equals five dollars, is heard. 

Online, it is the one you tell to shut the fuck up, or just roll your eyes because again: shut the fuck up.

See, the issue with social media contrarians is that they are not secure enough in their beliefs, so they then project that onto others or find fault with those who express otherwise. This is common in fanbases.

For example, an artist releases a new song. Here's how the contrarian manifests—it can go either way.

Contrarian A - The song is a hit, so I am going to dislike it.

• Hates the song
• Criticizes the artist beyond the song, and it oddly seems personal (?)
• Points out everyone else's alleged lack of taste
• States that people will like anything their favorite artist puts out

Contrarian B - The song is trash, so I am going to point out how much I like it.

• Constantly refers to how much people dislike it
• Points out everyone's alleged lack of taste
• "Fake fans" - they call everyone who dislikes the song
• Talks more about how much other people dislike the song, and why it is a problem, rather than talking about how much they like it.

There's no winning with a contrarian, as they are going to find fault with everything and everyone. Again, in person, they are the ones who illicit the urge to throw a jab to the throat, and online, they are the ones whom you unfollow and maybe even block.

Point being: they are insufferable.

It is not cute; it is not cool; it does not make you more 'real'; it does not make you unbothered.

Newsflash: You are very much bothered. 

Here are my thoughts in the form of tweets, but just typo-free:

I wish people knew that being contrarian does not make you any less bothered than the people whose opinions you wish to oppose. In fact, it makes you a bit of a weirdo to be insistent on being the contrarian, and low key gives off that you’re hiding your actual feelings.

A level of investment—typically deeply—if not deeper, is required to be on standby, and ready to refute the opposition and/or point out how others feel, and why they shouldn’t feel that way—whether valid or not.

Perhaps others are voicing what you feel, but you do not want to appear a certain way.

All in all, very bizarre behavior, and too much energy—especially for those who claim to be unaffected.

This happens a lot on social media, and I always thought it was a peculiar position for people to take. 

Why care so much that others feel/care about something? 

Why feel the need to assert that you don’t care? 

The call is coming from inside the house.

If you ever run into a contrarian, ten times out of ten, they are the most bothered bitch (not gender-specific) you know. 

Do yourself the favor and ignore, block, delete, and unfollow them.

And if you are the contrarian, shut the fuck up.

Merci Beaucoup.

(Credit to the original creator of this meme)