By Jocelyn Katz
We all know TikTok has our data, but how do they use it? Well, to sell. The e-commerce function, which allows users to purchase from influencers without leaving the app, has expanded into a dominating force in online shopping. With a few taps, users can buy products from home goods and skin care to clothing and even electronics. The prevalence of these ads blurs the line between entertainment and retail. TikTok is the Amazon of social media.
These days, the site targets users with data-driven advertisements that use information like their location, household income, age, gender, and even device costs, and will receive a percentage of each purchase made within the app.The convenience of buying through the interface creates a fast-paced shopping experience and normalization around impulse buys — one that facilitates the trap of consumption culture that can have sizable impacts on our environment. According to the World Bank report, excessive consumption drives global waste production to 2.01 billion metric tons of municipal solid waste each year, with at least 33% unmanaged. Based on statistics from the United Nations Environment Programme for 2023, the fashion sector is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions each year, (a large portion driven by overproduction and waste) which is greater than the emissions from international travel and shipping combined. Taking into account that many of the places that these products are produced have potentially questionable standards for workers, the sustainability factor of these purchases plummets even lower.
Amid this digital shopping frenzy, there is a counter-movement underway dubbed the “underconsumption core.” It’s often spotted with a trending hashtag and it’s less about aesthetic minimalism and more about authentic sustainability. Creators showcase the beauty of longevity — dried flowers that still bring life to a room, well-loved furniture, homemade alternatives to store-bought products and making what was once old new again. But even this anti-consumerist stance faces its challenges, with companies marketing new goods to simply look like worn goods — think terms like “vintage-inspired” to capitalize on the aesthetic.
The takeaway here? Movements like these don’t exist among the relentless product promotion on platforms like TikTok Shop. Less is more. This movement toward mindful consumption asks us to consider whether we truly need an item or not. If not, consider borrowing or thrifting to breathe life into new items, or perhaps, making due with what we have.
