The TikTok wave of under-consumption
Trend, or core life value?
When you open TikTok, you are immediately hit with a wave of videos. Many of these videos focus on different niche communities on the app. Additionally, they also highlight the various numbers of trends that are shoved in our faces daily.
Each month, there is either a new trend on TikTok, or the resurgence of an old trend. It is the cycle of trends, or as I like to call it, trend sustainability. We almost seem to recycle the same exhausted trends and topics every few months. This is what ultimately makes TikTok what it is.
Among the wave of recent trends on the app, there is one that stands out to me the most personally. This is the ‘under-consumption’ trend.
This trend focuses on sustainability and emphasizes the importance of re-using and recycling. It encourages people to use what they already have, rather than falling into the soulless trap of purchasing things they do not need. While it is paraded as a trend on the platform, it is the reality for many people. It is the essence of humanity. It is normal. It allows us to revert back to simple living.
I personally find this trend to be refreshing. Across the platform, you are forced to watch beauty influencers and their fifty-step skincare routines, full of products they were gifted through PR but pretend to have purchased. Under-consumption reminds us to wear what we have, to use the skincare products we have, and to simplify our routines so as to live sustainable lives.
It is a breath of fresh air. TikTok is not merely a social media platform, it is also a marketing tool. It may as well be the next Shein or Temu. Every other video you see is telling you to purchase some life-saving product, invest in some absolutely necessary makeup product, or buy a lipstick that is similar to a shade you already have. There is a difference between indulging and spoiling or treating yourself, and purchasing items that you do not even really need.
Life is expensive. It is getting pricier by the day. As morbid as this may sound to my readers, even dying is expensive. Nothing is cheap. With inflation rising, our culture is changing as a way to adapt to it.
Nobody has the money for a shopping spree or an eight-step Korean skincare routine. Getting groceries is a treat these days. It is a blessing that we should never forget.
On the other side of the spectrum, it is disturbing to see how people live such different lives depending on the income that they make. Under-consumption is a trend that every person should try to adhere to, doing whatever they can, whether big or small, to live fuller lives, and to live more sustainably.
I always encourage everyone to take some time off from social media, and see how it impacts their lives. I predict that the change you will see will be positive rather than negative.
For starters, you will not be bombarded with influencers convincing you to purchase products you do not need. You will not have to be a slave to one trend after another, dictating your fashion and how you spend your finite resources. You will develop a longer attention span, and you will find yourself buying less and less as time goes by, thereby saving more money.
In the end, under-consumption is a notion we should all live by.
