In an increasingly fast-paced world, social media reigns supreme when it comes to product marketing. Consumerism is commonly defined as the ever-increasing focus on buying goods and services, specifically as a measure of success. In other words, the more you have, the better you are. Social media and consumerism exist in a symbiotic relationship where they both promote each other.
Social media’s inherent nature lends itself to rapid consumerism with how quickly different trends rise and fall. Fast fashion is a great example of this phenomenon, where new fashion trends appear out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly.
Increasing amounts of consumption encourage increased production, oftentimes done in environmentally damaging ways. Overconsumption, therefore, indirectly leads to excess resource extraction, pollution, and other waste issues.
There are also many ethical concerns surrounding consumerism. Social media companies have gained a bad reputation in the last decade for data leaks. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok utilize user data without explicit consent to recommend hyper-personalized ads according to Wired. Some people consider this data use to be an invasion of privacy. These hyper-targeted advertisements tend to be more effective than regular advertisements but can creep out consumers. Thankfully, companies like Apple have begun to offer options to opt out of personalized ads.
While consumerism tends to get a bad reputation, some argue that targeted advertising on social media is a good thing. For one, it is far more convenient to buy products through social media. Also, many products and brands would struggle for recognition without the help of platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Consumerism defenders argue that, although advertising is changing, the change is not necessarily negative. The problem, however, is that for every positive interaction, there are far more negative ones such as online bullying. In general, social media fosters mindless consumption and the vast majority of people would be better off without it. There are more trustworthy alternatives to using social media as shopping platforms such as directly buying from a company’s website. False advertising and scams are another unfortunate side effect of using social media as a shopping platform.
Much has been said about the negativity surrounding social media and how constant comparison leads to self-worth problems. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO, apologized to the victims of families of online abuse in an emotionally charged Senate hearing this past January according to the Washington Post. There have unfortunately been many victims of online abuse since the start of social media which only adds to self-worth problems.The more people scroll social media, the more they see an idealized version of reality to compare their lives to. An unfortunate solution to this problem is spending more, oftentimes on products advertised directly by businesses or indirectly by influencers. Users are subconsciously led to believe that buying the promoted product will somehow benefit them. Instead, it leaves them with a lighter wallet and regret. We must recognize when enough is enough and remain more conscious while scrolling through social media to avoid feeding into consumerism.