TikTok and the Underground Man: Digital Narcissism as Existential Crisis in the Algorithmic Age

Abstract

This comprehensive study establishes a profound philosophical and psychological parallel between Fyodor Dostoevsky’s archetypal Underground Man and contemporary manifestations of digital narcissism on TikTok. Through rigorous comparative analysis and digital ethnography, we demonstrate how the platform’s algorithmic architecture cultivates a distinct form of existential crisis characterized by performative inauthenticity, ontological alienation, and the commodification of selfhood. The research reveals that the Underground Man’s psychological dynamics, his hyperconsciousness, contradictory self-image, and tortured relationship with societal expectations find technologically-mediated expression in the behavioural patterns of TikTok users. Our investigation concludes that digital narcissism represents not merely individual pathology but a socio-cultural symptom of broader anxieties about authenticity, meaning, and identity in technologically saturated societies. The paper significantly contributes to the understanding of how algorithmic systems reshape fundamental human experiences of selfhood and agency.