Note: If you were able to avoid being enchanted by the spell of consumerism these past two years, that’s great and kudos to you but be advised that this article is simply not for you.
Having slowly come out of a (still ongoing) pandemic, we all are aware and felt the extreme urge to give into every new thing that showed up on our feed and saw how it took over all of our souls this past year to two years. It’s almost as if we had been under a spell clouding our ability to determine whether or not we needed that new life-altering thing that changed every week or if we simply decided to ignore the right answer and gave in to that new product anyway.
But now, with constant layoffs in multiple industries and fears of economic downturn, we are now seeing social media users becoming sick of being bombarded with ads and videos promoting overconsumption. Hence, the trend of de-influencing has taken over many of our feeds.
Having been influenced one too many times by TikTok’s ability to get me to purchase that thing that will change my life or fix that problem, I too have been loving the videos of the “de-influencing movement/trend” on the same platform that I’ve been influenced on. Especially when it comes to beauty or fashion items, I have definitely taken part in a few of those “life-changing” purchases, which in fact did NOT change my life.
Even before this trend took off, having been a broke college student (especially this past semester), I became more cautious about where my money goes and which impulses I decide to give into. This was a stark contrast to how I was just earlier last year when I was working essentially full-time at whatever job I was working and had more money to spend. Many of us, myself included, forget how easily swayed we are into making these materialistic choices and constantly buying things we do not need, but simply want or think we want, especially when our income was much more disposable than it may be now.
Especially with recent tech layoffs that have been happening, social media users as a collective, specifically on TikTok, which in my personal opinion has pushed hardest in consumerism towards young people, have been realizing that it has come too far and has gone too far where now we are able to distinguish the needs and wants of our daily lives. Basically, we’re tired of constantly being told we need this or need that when we all know damn well, we don’t. Forcing us to really give ourselves a reality check and essentially making us say “in this economy?” no longer as a simple online joke.
I think that the age of excessive overconsumption is slowing down and the act of “de-influencing” taking over TikTok is a big sign of it.
Currently, the trend is focused on makeup and skincare products that have been popularized on the app and are what some, or many, users find overhyped and underwhelming, to say the least. For example, many beauty products from brands such as Olaplex, Charlotte Tilbury, and Dior are all items that have been popularized over the course of the last year or two. Many users are taking this opportunity to finally speak out against them and how they may not be worth your money. We all know we either bought or were at least very tempted to buy, a $40 lip balm, a $30 shampoo, or something that was not worth what we paid for.
The purpose of this trend is not to bash these products or brands, but to let people know it’s okay to think over their purchases and acknowledge that some of those “trendy” products may work for some and not others, which is also okay. It’s the idea of encouraging more conscious and intentional reasonings/methods of consumption when it comes to all industries, not just beauty. This includes fashion and technology, two industries notorious for the various severe environmental impacts they have.
Not only does de-influencing encourage conscious buying decisions, but it also slowly puts the power back into the hands of the customer and helps the environment while we’re at it. It also shows the true power social media and TikTok hold over consumers and how useful of a tool it can be for advertisers and brands, a double-edged sword to say the least. I don’t think it’s all bad, as it seems the users are taking accountability for the past two years too by making the act of de-influencing the new trend, making it the “cool” thing to do right now, at this moment with these circumstances.