WCP 2025

Introduction   Youth are not only the “next generation,” but the very architects of the future. Yet in today’s digital landscape, the growing use of algorithm-driven social media has begun to reshape their psychological and academic development in subtle but profound ways. This presentation explores how the unconscious structures of the psyche, self, ego, and object relations are being reorganized under the influence of digital platforms. The question at the center of this inquiry is: What are the psychoanalytic implications of social media’s pervasive presence in the lives of young people?
Methodology / Approach This presentation draws upon psychoanalytic theory, particularly Freudian and post-Freudian concepts such as the pleasure principle, ego development, transitional objects, and identity formation. It integrates clinical reflections with theoretical analysis, and builds upon insights from the author’s doctoral research on the voice structure in the digital space and the future of illusion.
Results / Findings Social media environments foster performative digital identities, amplify the pleasure principle, and diminish ego strength, all of which compromise the psychic functions necessary for emotional regulation, deep learning, and authentic connection. Parasocial interactions and curated personas act as displaced transitional objects, offering illusory forms of attachment while weakening real-world relational capacities. These dynamics contribute to a broader psychic reorganization that mirrors the documented decline in academic engagement, not as a cognitive failure, but as a symptom of disrupted symbolic development.
Conclusion / Perspective The erosion of youth potential in the digital age is not merely an educational crisis, it is a psychic one. If the capacity to think deeply, feel authentically, and relate meaningfully is undermined, we risk building a world where inner life becomes flattened by the algorithm. Psychoanalysis has a unique role to play in understanding and addressing this shift. This contribution invites a deeper conversation about how we can meet these challenges therapeutically, culturally, and politically.