Meet the De-Influencers: TikTok Stars Who’ve Built a Brand on Buying Nothing

by admins

The Internet is a bit like physics: for every trend, there is an opposite reaction. For example, influencers are increasingly balanced by a D-Influencing the trend. What is effect cancellation? It’s not about telling people to ignore everything you say. It’s about trying to counter the trends and habits that influencers – who now extend beyond the stereotype of the sulky model into every corner of online life – tend to encourage.

This mostly comes down to whether or not you buy things. Influencers tell us to buy things, from swimwear to skincare to scented candles, with varying degrees of precision. Sometimes their posts read as full advertisements; Sometimes the content looks casual and original, with a small disclaimer #ad in the caption. By contrast, influencers tell us no To buy things, whether it’s for environmental reasons – a force driving much of the de-impact trend – or just because they think some products don’t work. Considering how much the Internet thrives on people ignoring things, or each other, it’s no surprise that de-influence has become a strong and consistent trend on social media: #Influence It has received over a billion views from over 42,000 posts on TikTok.

Tik Tok content

This content can also be viewed on the website arises from.

This includes user comments on restocking someone else’s kitchen, critiquing each product’s usefulness and environmental impact; Examine the makeup they recently bought and criticize it all in turn; Or outlining the principles of the “low-consumption essence” (there’s always an “essence” somewhere), which involves wearing sneakers until they fall apart and squeezing out every drop of cosmetics. But the impact economy is currently worth About 250 billion dollarsAnd the bank Goldman Sachs It expects it to grow to nearly half a trillion dollars by 2027. Compared to these numbers, the trend for reducing impact is a portable propeller directed toward the hurricane.

Simeon Brown, Channel 4 correspondent and author Get Rich or Try to Lie: Ambition and Deception in the New Influence EconomyHe points out how there are all kinds of counter-cultural movements, including Remove Influence and Black Lives Matter, that are “trying to use the infrastructure of social media to push their platforms.” However, since social media sites follow the logic of big companies — TikTok, for example, has a built-in store — trends that go against them will always hit the roof. He says Twitter was seen as a democratizing force a decade ago, particularly for its role in organizing protests against authoritarian governments during the 2011 Arab Spring. But now it’s owned by Elon Musk, and some voices are being suppressed. on Social media “will never be a progressive or radical thing,” Brown says.

You can see this contradiction in the influencers themselves. Although some, such as Diana Webby (@depressiondotgov On TikTok), they simply spend their time talking about the dangers of consumerism, while others are using the opportunity to build their own brands as well. Christina Micaskiw has Tik Tok and Instagram The accounts promote a “minimalist” lifestyle, which includes “intentional spending,” tidying, and mending clothes you already own — one video is titled “You don’t need to buy that, you’re just bored.” But it also links to its newsletter and PodcastShe has a magazine about her philosophy that encourages her followers to buy. Her campaigns against waste and consumerism are impressive, but her model is very similar to that of the average influencer.

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