Consumerism in the Age of Social Media
By Anabel Kim
Consumerism has always been intertwined with culture, shaping how we express our interests, social status, and experiences. In the age of social media, this relationship has changed, turning platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat into powerful forces driving our behavior as consumers and affecting our spending.
Social media has made us cultural consumers in new ways. Every scroll exposes us to a plethora of advertisements, celebrity endorsements, and carefully curated posts that can make it hard for us to draw the line between genuine posts and strategic marketing. Social media, although designed as a commodity, now symbolizes class and evokes emotions. When we consume mass culture, whether it’s a new Apple product or a trending beauty product, we seek to conform to societal expectations because we feel the need to. We need to fit in and to have what’s trending.
Platforms like Instagram or TikTok enable us to market and brand ourselves, creating a virtual persona that reflects the life we aspire to lead. Everyone knows not to believe everything you see online. But we often do not realize the extent to which this goes. The pressure to maintain a certain image often leads to a mindset of "proof or it didn’t happen." A luxurious vacation, a gourmet meal, or the newest fashion trend must be documented online to validate its significance. Consumer culture feeds off this, making us believe that wants and needs are the same.
Convenience also plays a major role. Online shopping, complete with reviews and influencer endorsements, makes purchases even more frequent. But this ease extends and boosts the cycle of short-lived trends. For instance, beauty standards shift often, creating new insecurities and expectations for both women and men. People feel as though they have to buy a new product to keep up, which is not financially smart.
Ultimately, social media-fueled consumerism traps us in an endless loop of dissatisfaction, where buying more is mistaken for being more. By critically examining our spending habits, recognizing the influence of social media, and focusing on long-term goals over fleeting trends, we can reclaim control over our financial and emotional well-being.
