The term overconsumption on Tiktok is the excessive use of the platform. Users on the app will spend long hours on the app without taking any type of break. This can be very negative for users’ mental health. Another huge problem with the app is over consumption. Over consumption is promoted by influencers on the app, always trying to sell products and encouraging people to buy items they don’t need.
With social media only growing, products and consumerism go up as well. America alone is responsible for 17% of the world’s energy consumption when making and processing goods. Social media is flooded with influencers constantly promoting products and trying to convince you that you need this new and trendy item.
In an interview from the ‘National Public Radio’ the host interviews a solitaire townsend. The Host Scott Detrow talks about how “They partner with brands from Amazon to Louis Vuitton to promote goods and services to their followers, convincing them to buy everything from $40 insulated Stanley mugs to slimy snail mucin moisturize,” Detrow states.
Everything you see these influencers use in their videos are usually products they are trying to sell. In influencers bio’s they can put a link which has a bunch of other links taking you to the page where the product is for sale. If you buy the item off the creators link they earn commission for it.
De-influencing videos and items has become increasingly more popular. The townsend being interviewed starts by talking about the common impacts to climate change. A local Townsend with an environmental degree was sent down to be interviewed on the radio show.
“We have got to be more careful with energy, how we travel, how we eat, and recycle,” Townsend said.
In the interview they mention how influencers and the media and how they can help make changes when it comes to climate change.
“We actually asked some influencers what they thought about changing their content. 76% of them really want more sustainability in their content, and over 96% of them say when they talk about the issue they get positive engagement,” Townsend said.
They talk about the misinformation people get when it comes to sustainability. The idea is that you have to be more well off, when people think about using less energy they think about solar panels, windmills, big investments when that isn’t true at all.
We can all make changes, changing your spreading habits, the amount of energy you use in your day. De-influencing videos is a trend that needs to stay around.
“You know, this is a long-term change that we need to make to how our systems work and how we behave, but this is most definitely not a trend,” Townsend said.
We all need to make changes to the way we consume and buy anything. A lot of people don’t think about the long term effects of selling and buying things.
“Overconsumption doesn’t just have a negative effect on our wallets. It’s also the planet and the climate,” Townsend said.
