The Post-Individual

Yancey Strickler argues that the internet has produced post-individualism, in which people split themselves into many online identities and then seek community to find meaning. He traces individualism to around 1000 A.D., when Church leaders' decree forbidding first-cousin marriage helped set off the rise of cities, guilds and universities within roughly a century. He cites Sherry Turkle's 1984 book The Second Self on how computers shape identity, and Ben Thompson's account of separating his identities across platforms. K-Hole's 2014 "Youth Mode" is quoted saying people are now born individuals and must find their communities.