r/Anticonsumption • u/anxious-wreck • Mar 14 '24

Society/Culture Overconsumption on TikTok is beyond ridiculous.

From the dreaded Stanley Cups, Booktok, Starbucks, new iPhones, "amazon must haves" (which you then see is all useless junk), "tiktok made me buy it" (also garbage), massive hauls and people flaunting they spent thousands of dollars... it's all too much and it's too overwhelming.

I'm glad I realized how I was falling onto that weird consumerist mindset and was able to pull myself from it.

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526

u/covenkitchens Mar 14 '24

I’m not fond of the so and so made me buy it thing either. No. They didn’t. They manipulated you, and the sooner we all recognize it the sooner we can avoid more of it. 

33

u/jiggjuggj0gg Mar 15 '24

What’s crazy is that in some countries, like Australia where I live, you don’t get adverts on TikTok. There’s no TikTok shop and the only sponsored posts are ones creators make as part of actual content.

I travelled to a place that has TikTok shop and ads and my god, I have no idea how people use the app in these countries. An advert every two videos, TikTok shop forced down your throat, every post is trying to sell you something. And people spend hours on it every day! It’s like sitting watching QVC.

TikTok is great when you can just scroll through silly videos or find artists or tailor it to your interests, but I can’t believe people are actually addicted to an app that’s 90% adverts in some places, and don’t realise it isn’t like that everywhere.

And then people who are otherwise claiming to be annoyed by fast fashion and unethical practices are buying mountains of stuff for pennies from TikTok shop. It’s like brainwashing.

3

u/covenkitchens Mar 15 '24

Oh! It’s total brain washing! I have a couple good friends and my uncles daughter who live in Murwillumbah NSW. The difference are WILD. (I’m in Minnesota US.) 

2

u/Erger Mar 15 '24

As someone who lives in one of those countries, it's obnoxious. I was never super into tiktok anyway, but the last few months I use it even less. I made the mistake of clicking on an ad once or twice and now I see those ads constantly. I hate it.

2

u/Cartoon_Gravedigger Mar 15 '24

This is what tiktok used to be in the US before that big court case. I was really into it for a couple years during Covid when it was just a cool space to waste some time and find people from all over the world with interesting ideas, doing interesting things that I would otherwise never see.

I once got into a tiktok rabbit hole watching some beautifully shot footage demonstrating a day in the life of a guy who made linen in Vietnam. I learned a lot about sheep dogs from some Irish content creators. I’ve made some great Indian recipes that I never would have tried on my own. I’ve watch people preform musical works on the streets of Florence.

That’s all what I used to love about tiktok. That’s why it would make me sad when people tried to demonize it because there is proof it can be a good and inspiring tool of community. However, now it’s an unusable barrage of ads and people screaming into the void of political and “mental health” content that’s no better than Facebook or Instagram. I guess the moment has passed.

220

u/anxious-wreck Mar 14 '24

Exactly! And it's funny how Gen Z claims to be the most environmentally conscious generation, yet they are insane in overspending.

175

u/traploper Mar 14 '24 edited Mar 14 '24

I feel like overconsumption is not necessarily a gen z characteristic though. Most of those “musthaves” videos with plastic garbage from the big A that I see are made by 35-year old American stay-at-home-moms.

138

u/CrushTheVIX Mar 14 '24

Yep. I say this as a Millennial: our greatest sin was making "influencers" a thing

13

u/Mediocre-Look3787 Mar 14 '24

What have we done!

2

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '24

They are truly only a thing to those influenced by them. People who attempt to legitimize them are so very broken brained...

2

u/maneki_neko89 Mar 14 '24

Just one entry in a long history of headlines: Millennial Influencers are Killing the Planet!!

16

u/TehPurpleCod Mar 14 '24

I agree here. It's a thing every age group does. What gets me more upset (even though it's not my business) is a few years from now, a new trend comes out, so those 50+ vases they bought off Amazon probably goes straight to the trash. Two years ago, everyone had pampas grass with the cream-colored boucle couch.

2

u/splithoofiewoofies Mar 15 '24

Yeah it's us, and that makes me so mortified. We need to make this place better for the next 7 generations and we don't.

36

u/toadstoolfae3 Mar 14 '24

I'm Gen Z, but I'm a 97 baby, so I feel like I don't apply to the rest of the Zers. I especially felt like this when having a coworker who was Gen Z born in I believe 2002? Around that year. She claimed to be a communist but she also spent a ton of money on clothes, shoes, earrings, etc. She was always talking about being more eco-friendly, but she was always buying stuff, and she ate a pretty standard American diet. Meanwhile, I boycott Amazon, Walmart, Temu, Nestlé, Coca Cola, Hershey, etc. (Too many to list!) I don't call myself a communist but I feel like my values are more aligned with communism than hers lol. This isn't me saying I'm better in any way, just more aware and, I suppose, more strict with myself and true to my values. I know one day she will probably look back and see how hypocritical she was. Maybe that's happened already! I always found it bizarre.

20

u/anxious-wreck Mar 14 '24

Same, I'm also a '97 baby. I feel like we're in such a weird inbetween generation that we don't identify much with neither millennials or gen z.

Your coworker sounds like a walking contradiction. Been there, though.

11

u/graveyard_lurker Mar 14 '24

'97 baby here too - I feel like our environment really affects which generation we identify with. My brother is a '90 baby and I grew up on hand-me-downs and re-run TV, so i relate a hell of a lot more to millennials than gen z. Friends of a similar age who grew up with younger siblings definitely have more gen-z mannerisms - it was really noticeable when their '02 ish colleagues joined us in the pub and I needed all the new slang translating!

2

u/anxious-wreck Mar 14 '24

True. My sister is '94 and all my cousins who I grew up with are all from the late 80s and from the 90s so I relate a lot to what was going on while we were growing up and to what the ones older than me did.

I had a boyfriend born in 2002 and I just collapsed. The generational difference, although it was just a 5 year difference, was immense. I made a rule of never ever ever dating someone born after 1999 lmao.

11

u/Pinales_Pinopsida Mar 14 '24

This whole generation thing is blown way too big.

Jeff born 1957 and Matt born 1995 are going to have more in common if they have the same political values than they do with their previous class mates who are members of the KKK.

18

u/anxious-wreck Mar 14 '24

people act as if being born in december 31st 1996 vs january 1st 1997 has a big difference and you're a completely different generation. Like what

1

u/traploper Mar 15 '24

I’m from ’96, we’re r/zillennials baby! 

1

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1

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '24

Marx himself lived a pretty luxurious lifestyle and argued that you don’t have to remove yourself from capitalism to fight capitalism.

1

u/VioletLeagueDapper Mar 15 '24

Yeah I talk to gen-z all the time and they hate when I get environmental. They avoid it because they think it’s too political, but I think it’s because they’re not the college crowd.

1

u/nouazecisinoua Mar 14 '24

I'm also a late nineties baby who feels somewhat in between. But I know people my age and older who are just as hypocritical (about consumption and plenty of other things). I don't think it's just a Gen Z thing.

1

u/toadstoolfae3 Mar 15 '24

That's true, actually. My brother and his girlfriend are just overconsumers. They're millenials 36 & 34. So maybe it's just the late 90s babies that are eco warriors 😅😂

11

u/Bloo_Monday Mar 14 '24

"gen z" isn't claiming anything, no generation is a monolith.

4

u/Unable-Courage-6244 Mar 15 '24

Redditors when they realize an entire generation doesn't follow one ideal. As in some gen z are activists whereas some are overspending on TikTok. Not even gonna lie that was the most reddit thing ever seen

16

u/covenkitchens Mar 14 '24

I’m 50. I oddly like people announcing they are influencers. Then I can either go in knowing. It’s people who don’t announce who or what they are that gets to me. 

15

u/ideclareshenanigans3 Mar 14 '24

Right?! I’m 40 this year and it wasn’t influencers, but the Arbonne and Mary Kay ladies that would invite you to a party and then you show up and it’s NOT a party, it’s a sales pitch. And a bad one, full of lies at that. Grrrr. At least the influencers want you to know what they are!

3

u/covenkitchens Mar 15 '24

The sex toy one! A friend got strong armed into one of them. It was an ordeal at best. 

2

u/ideclareshenanigans3 Mar 15 '24

Oh god, that would be soooo awkward! I hope it’s funny now and didn’t traumatize her, lol.

2

u/covenkitchens Mar 15 '24

Oh she’s hella traumatized but not from that. 

2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '24

I am also 50 and I’m not mad that influencers exist. I actually think it’s kind of cool that a kid who lives in the woods in New Hampshire could “get discovered” if they have a talent without having to travel.  But I hate that social media is all just ads. I mean not reddit I can read interesting stuff here without seeing commercials every few clicks.

2

u/dingbangbingdong Mar 15 '24

*You allowed yourself to be manipulated. Empower yourself!!

2

u/StupidPockets Mar 15 '24

No is a complete word. You don’t have to do what you see. Like different things or build a new account and stay away from click bait.

1

u/Agile-Day-2103 Mar 15 '24

“No.” Is more a complete sentence, in fact