The Evolution of the “Lying Flat” Mentality and its Social Media Expression: The Youth Perspective

In this digital era, social media has become an indispensable part of people’s lives. As young people are the primary users of social media, their mentality and behavior have received widespread attention. Among the mentalities that have become a popular social phenomenon among young people in China is “lying flat.” In the face of the development process of the outside world and amidst social involution, young people who are lying flat maintain a personal philosophy of living their own “slow life” as a set of attitudes and behaviors. Through conducting image analyses and in-depth interviews, this study aims to examine the lying flat mentality among some Chinese youth and explores the reasons for its evolution and strategies for coping with it. The study concludes that in a period of complex transition in Chinese society, young people feel confused, anxious, lost, and conflicted, and in lying flat, they self-construct a set of values and a lifestyle as a method of relieving pressure.