It’s Time to De-Influence Ourselves
“This VIRAL product will change your life!”
“I’m obsessed with this new top from TikTok Shop. Only $1.50 for a limited time!”
“You NEED this lip balm before it sells out again!”
Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with advertisements. Influencers on social media film themselves using products that they claim are life-changing, sending their masses of followers to the shelves in hopes of achieving the same result from using the product as their favorite social media star.
Today’s trend cycle moves at a rapid pace, meaning that consumers everywhere are buying tons and tons of products that they wouldn’t have used otherwise if they hadn’t been influenced to do so. The rise of one-click fast fashion retailers such as Shein, Temu, and most recently, TikTok Shop enables customers to purchase cheap products quickly and have them show up at their door just a few days later. It has never been easier to buy so many different products, and their low prices make it easy for customers to justify purchases. However, when these products are no longer considered trendy, they are just thrown out or donated to make room for even more cheap clothes.
This cycle sparked a new type of influencer online: the de-influencer. These creators share their thoughts on why you actually *don’t* need a new lip gloss when your old one works just fine or question why you never see influencers drinking a full glass of the nutrition drink that they “swear by.” Deinfluencing seeks to promote a more cost-effective form of consumption: using what you already have. TikTok creators duet viral shopping videos with snarky comments like, “This is going to end up in the garbage in a year,” in hopes of preventing overconsumption. This TikTok from @depressiondotgov is a prime example of these types of videos.
One of the biggest motivations for de-influencing and scaling back unnecessary consumption is climate protection. OceanConservancy.org reports that there are currently over 171 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. According to Time Magazine, Shein, a fast-fashion giant, emits around 6.3 trillion tons of carbon dioxide annually. Constantly buying and throwing out different products only makes the climate crisis worse, so it’s essential to consider this before purchasing yet another going-out top, mascara or kitchen gadget.
It’s impossible to stop shopping completely, and it’s unrealistic to suggest that you shouldn’t treat yourself to a cute new sweater or a nourishing lip balm from time to time. But consider before buying something if you actually need it and will use it for a while. If the answer is “no,” maybe you should try de-influencing yourself.