how long will the joy of fall last this year? are social media and consumerist habits to blame for our sudden tiring of the current season?
Out of each lovely season we see every year, there is no argument that could convince me fall isn’t the best of all. I look forward to fall every year and celebrate the day I see the leaves change color and the temperature drop. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel myself yearning for the fall season at the start of every school year, hoping that the feelings of changing seasons emerge along with the piling school work.
While I myself feel eager for this experience every year, I noticed something that felt somewhat bothersome this time around. I had this video recommended to me in early August.
In this video from influencer Sara Hendry, Sara spends her day in the peak summer heat romanticizing the upcoming fall season. She highlights her favorite aspects of fall: a delicious baking recipe, how she relaxes in cooler weather, but most importantly and prominently, her fall purchases. She spends half of the length of the video showing the audience her experience shopping the fall collection at Anthropologie and detailing her other fall-related recent purchases, including a pumpkin-wearing Snoopy keychain and matching pumpkin pajamas. She also used a term I heard for the first time: “Augtober.”
While this video was all in good fun and I enjoyed seeing Sara appreciate her love for the fall season, I couldn’t help but begin to notice more and more the frequency at which I was seeing content like this, particularly from influencers.
Some more examples include:
I am all for romanticizing a season, but why must this be done with so much emphasis on shopping? In my opinion, this phenomenon is fully faulted by the prominence of social media and how much social media influencers aim to, well, influence their viewers’ wants.
In the videos linked and others that are similar, I see a focus on products like mugs, cups, and candles. How many of these items will be forgotten after fall ends this year, or even before? How many will go to landfills before they can be used again next fall, only to be replaced by newer, similar items?
More importantly, how does purchasing these products make us better appreciate the season? For me, fall is so wonderful because the weather is just right—not too hot or too cold—and it signals the beginning of cozy celebrations with my family and friends. I also love taking long walks in the short-lived colorful woods, full of red, yellow, and orange leaves that will soon fall. While blankets and candles make the time feel nice and cozy, they do not necessarily make the season much more appreciable.
I also felt shocked as to how early in the year I was seeing content like this—the first video is from the week of August 23rd, the second from the week of July 26th, and the last from the week of July 5th! It felt like influencers were really pushing early fall shopping and using romanticization of seasons to come to get their viewers excited about products they most likely didn’t need. With that, the choice to post these videos so far in advance to the introduction of fall made me realize that people were ready to move on from the current season well before it was over.
Was this feeling because the same influencers had encouraged purchases of summer bikinis and sunglasses in early March? And before that, did they commission Easter baskets in late January? Why does the term “Augtober” exist when the real October is not far away and August is begging to be appreciated?
It is my belief that our ability to enjoy temporary experiences like the ever-changing seasons has been severely stunted by the enchantment of social media. I wish that the appreciation of beautiful fall weather and experiences were not cut short by the encouragement to get Christmas shopping done, go ice skating, and buy every holiday-related item that could possibly be found by November 1st.
While winter is wonderful and activities like making snow angels, building gingerbread houses, and watching holiday classics are so enjoyable, we will get there when we get there. In the meantime, fall is here to be enjoyed. The colorful leaves and cool air are only around for so long. If we started romanticizing this season so far in advance, why are we not reveling in the joy it brings while it’s actually here?