A dancer, also a social media content creator, sets up in front of the doors of a Montreal metro train in an inflatable costume to film a dance video with his friends. The video is a hit on the social network TikTok, but he finds himself unwittingly associated with the main character syndrome. What is it about?
Main character syndrome is not a clinical syndrome. It is a term used to criticize content creators who often behave in an egocentric manner on social media, where they imagine themselves as the main character in a fictional version of their life.
The “syndrome” has attracted the interest of influencers and even psychologists around the world, and especially in the United States.
Aged 17, Montrealer Ali Elmouna, better known by the nickname Alibaba on TikTok (3 million subscribers), got a taste of this criticism when his dance video was posted on the American website Reddit, a platform for discussions and social news.
In the video in question, Ali is about to begin a “sturdy dance” choreography, a mix of breakdancing and hip-hop. Wearing an inflatable costume, he makes his way through the hurrying passers-by exiting a crowded train. In search of reactions from passengers, he interrupts a passer-by while he walks by performing a backflip and starts a wild dance in the middle of the station.
He was then accused by Reddit users of not caring about the people around him. “A complete idiot blocking everyone’s path on the subway,” reads a post in English on the Reddit page called “r/ImTheMainCharacter – The Center Of The World,” which has 1.3 million members and lists similar videos to denounce people with self-centered tendencies on social media.
“People will always have something to say,” says the main person concerned, Ali Elmouna. “I have a stopwatch during this famous video. I had an exact time to move to leave space in front of the door so that people can enter,” he replies.
Psychologists arrested
The main character syndrome has piqued the curiosity of American psychologists, including that of Dr. Phil Reed, the first to address the subject in the American magazine Psychology Today in 2021.
The “syndrome” would share similarities with narcissistic personality disorder, he writes.
According to his analysis, the term would reflect the tendency of a person who presents or imagines himself as the main character in a fictional version of his own life.
Other theories are emerging. People may have started exposing themselves on social media in this way to regain control over their lives after the pandemic, believes Laurence Grondin-Robillard, associate professor of communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), who refers to the words of Sherry Turkle, psychologist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It branched off, But content creators have no choice but to sell themselves, since they are the product,” says M.me Grondin-Robillard.
Content creator and magician Raphael La Ferrara was linked to the phenomenon by Reddit users for his attitude in his TikTok video series “Nobody cares what you do.”
Lying on the ground or in improvised speeches, he puts himself on stage in public to prove that one should not worry about the opinions of others. He rejects being associated with the phenomenon.
“I’m not a narcissist. My intention is to show that you can go from being a shy person to being an extrovert, that you can live the life you want to live,” assures the 19-year-old content creator followed by 1.8 million people on TikTok in English.
People who take over public spaces, who seek to provoke or disturb passersby with their content or simply rude people… the majority of the videos listed by the members of the Reddit page were published by popular content creators on social networks.
One of the most famous cases is that of Antonia Freya Lydia, an Italian influencer who was put on the hot seat on Reddit for criticizing passers-by who walked in front of her video while she was posing on the London Underground. “We don’t even recognize the presence of others in everyday life…” says Laurence Grondin-Robillard. It’s becoming a problem and we shouldn’t let it become the norm.