After years of being told what to buy, TikTok users are trying something new: buying and using only what they need. They’re calling it “underconsumption core,” the latest move away from influencer culture.
Like many TikTok users, Meghan Pexton found herself constantly bombarded with videos of influencers suggesting items she should buy — such as matching workout sets and $4,000 couches, along with the aspirational lifestyle that goes with those items.
So when TikTok served Ms. Pexton, 24, a stream of content over the July 4 holiday weekend that featured scenes of luxury in the Hamptons in New York, she reached her limit.
“Is anyone just over the era of influencers recently?” she asked her TikTok followers. “I can’t do it anymore. I can’t watch any more videos of people going to Pilates at 5 a.m. and drinking their greens and bone broth and walking around the city and sending emails and going to the Hamptons on holidays.”
She was not alone.
After years of being told what to buy, TikTok users are trying something new: buying and using only what they need. They’re calling it “underconsumption core,” the latest move away from influencer culture. Instead of pristine fridge shelves, makeup bags with the latest products and fashion fads, users are posting simplified closets, secondhand clothes that have lasted for years and minimal makeup and skin care collections.
Yes, being normal is now trending. But experts also say it’s just one way of responding to a period of economic hardship.
