Rise of the Monoculture?
Are subcultures dead, or is everything just an aesthetic? On fandoms and fangrling
As a student of culture, I’ve been diving into different subcultures, especially those that exist in online spaces, and I keep noticing the same thing: subcultures are being co-opted and overly commodified. TikTok fashion trends, “Get Ready With Me” videos, and brands hopping on niche aesthetics have blurred the lines between actual communities and fleeting trends. Some internet anthropologists argue that we’re seeing the rise of a monoculture among Gen Z as globalization shapes our societies. This also means brands are casting a wide net with global campaigns, rather than catering to smaller, more distinct subcultures.
In the past, subcultures like skater, goth, punk, and emo were anti-establishment built on rejecting capitalism and consumerism. Ironically, these same subcultures have now been watered down into aesthetics anyone can adopt. Even retailers like Dolls Kill sell gothic-themed clothing, and we’ve somehow ended up with things like mall goths and even conservative goths.
The Pinterest 2025 Trends Report highlights aesthetics like "fisherman aesthetic," "castlecore," "goddess complex," and "aura beauty." But are these actual subcultures, or just another wave of aesthetic trends? We’ve seen Barbiecore, Y2K, and Cottagecore take over, but do people actually want to live in a quaint cottage and forage for berries, or is it just visually appealing?
I think a lot of this has to do with the lack of third spaces: public, non-commercial places where people can just exist and form communities. So much of socializing now happens in digital spaces like TikTok, Instagram, and gaming platforms like Roblox. If there were more communal spaces for people to gather, would we see subcultures grow and evolve the way they used to? Or is our definition of subcultures changing?
Take K-pop fans—once seen as a small, niche subculture, now fully mainstream. Maybe subcultures aren’t dying; we just don’t recognize them until they hit the mainstream. So the real question is: Are we actually seeing the rise of a monoculture, or are we just looking in the wrong places?
Take K-pop and anime, for example. Ten years ago, if you were into K-pop, watching K-dramas, or deep into anime, people would give you the side-eye (or think that you’re a weirdo). Now, they’re global phenomenons. BTS dominated the charts, groups like Katseye are forming with international audiences in mind, and anime is everywhere, from major streaming platforms to high-fashion collabs. So does this mean K-pop and anime were once niche subcultures that just went mainstream? Or is the real subculture not the content itself, but the fandoms that formed around them?
Because if you think about it, online fandoms—whether it’s K-pop stans, anime Twitter, or even Swifties, have their own rituals, language, and ways of engaging with content.
Fangirling is practically its own culture now, shaping trends, boosting artists, and even influencing brands. So maybe the question isn’t just whether subcultures are dying, but whether the internet has made fandom itself the new subculture.
