The dark truth of social media consumerism

Fashion and beauty are often conflated with identity. Throughout time, these vessels have been used to represent a kaleidoscope of personalities. Now, with the emergence and hyper-fixation of social media, influencers have been given a platform to promote and endorse brands. Fuelling an overconsumption for viewers, influencer endorsements often use deceptively casual marketing. Forms of media, like TikTok, are especially positioned to accentuate the demand and desire for these products using relatability factors to draw consumers in.  

Whilst consumerism has snowballed, with Forbes acknowledging this by stating that ‘80% of consumers make buying decisions based on a friend’s social media post’, it’s stark that the visual dopamine of online platforms consciously increase sales for items, even for unnecessary purchases.  

The consumption of clothing and footwear is predicted to rise by approximately 63 percent over the next ten years. 

At first some may not directly link their excessive spending with environmental damage, with the government website itself professing that the fashion industry ‘produced over 2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018’.  To place this into perspective, this makes up only 4 percent of total global emissions. Yet with the drastic rise in social media consumerism, this figure will keep accelerating as the consumption of clothing and footwear is predicted to rise by approximately 63 percent over the next ten years. 

The current tension between drastic consumer demand and the planetary state is proving insurmountable to navigate. The idyllic lens through which fashion and beauty influencers present products, using their relatability and colloquial delivery, hooks watchers through short form videos to buy and buy more into new and desirable products. This strategy, coupled with their participation in viral, fast-dying trends like the recent blush obsession on TikTok means that companies are chasing increased visibility of their products to attract consumers without concern for the environment.  

These industries continue contributing detrimentally to the pool of microplastics.

Packaging waste is a particular worry when it comes to online purchases. The beauty industry produces at least 120 billion pieces of packaging each year alone, with 95% of cosmetic packaging being thrown away as refuse. Thus, these industries continue contributing detrimentally to the pool of microplastics. Compounding this fact, at least 633 different marine species are affected by the microplastics in our waters. Devastatingly, these effects of over-consumption are often shielded from the mainstream media, thus undermining efforts to enforce environmentally protective strategies.  

The social media marketing industry, with its deceptive marketing and increasing carbon footprint, proves abysmal amidst the desolation of our planet. Trending pieces and viral brands being hyper-illuminated online results in wardrobes being expanded further than those items actually being worn. A report elucidates that the fashion industry is on a trajectory that will exceed the 1.5 °C pathway to mitigate climate change set out by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). To reach this pathway, fashion would need to cut its GHG emissions to 1.1 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030.

As revealed through these figures, there is a crucial need for initiatives to soothe the rapid destruction of our planet. One of these is, of course, to encourage sustainable consumer behaviour and end the mindless purchasing that social media exacerbates.  

We are not only adding to waste production but also affecting carbon emissions, water pollution, and deforestation.

After all, while one extra purchase here and there may not seem so bad on the surface, the need to buy constantly into social media trends contributes to huge systematic issues. Take fast fashion for example, by purchasing clothes that are made cheaply and at extreme turnover rates, we are not only adding to waste production but also affecting carbon emissions, water pollution, and deforestation. To put things into perspective, ‘to make a single cotton t-shirt, it is estimated that 2,700 litres of fresh water are required, enough to meet one person’s drinking needs for 2.5 years.’

Whilst social media continues to exploit consumers by selling cheap, fashionable products only a click away, the social impacts are profound. Assessing supply chains and prioritising the earth’s health over margins is useful, however, in a world of social media-accelerated capitalism, the question still remains if we can truly fight these deep-rooted systems on our own or if such an issue can only be resolved by collective, fast-acting change.