Step aside, influencers. We’ve all seen young, photogenic people promoting fashion, food or services to their huge followings on TikTok and Instagram. But now a new generation of “dis-influencers” has arrived, saying that materialism and overpriced trends are no longer in fashion.
As consumers watch their spending in these inflationary times, this emerging group of social media users is asking people to weigh up whether they really need that $200 blanket.
Its messaging is simple and straightforward: these items are overrated, you don’t need them, and here’s why. Sometimes they suggest other options. They also talk about sustainability and the cost of waste associated with certain sectors such as beauty and fashion.
“Disinfluencers” are becoming more and more popular. On TikTok, for example, 582 million of the total 584 million views of the hashtag #deinfluencing occurred in 12 months, the platform reported in May.
To better understand what disinfluence is – and what it isn’t – we talked to the people who best understand the subject.
What is disinfluence?
Disinfluencer is an emerging trend in social media that discourages consumers from buying certain products that the “disinfluencer” deems ineffective or worthless, explains Kris Ruby, social media analyst and president of Ruby Media Group.
“To be uninfluenced, you must first be influenced.”
Social media has become crucial for marketing products and services, especially to younger consumers. According to a recent study, 87% of respondents followed a brand, visited its website or made an online purchase after seeing a product advertised on social media, making visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok profitable for business promotions.
Brands and companies pay influencers to market products, experiences and services to their followers. In short, influence is trying to persuade social media users to buy certain products.
Disinfluence is the opposite, but with some caveats.
Is this not influencing by another name?
For Rubi, instead of saying “buy this”, they say “don’t buy this”.
Both are ways of influencing. It’s no different to say, ‘Vote for this candidate,’ or ‘Here’s why you shouldn’t vote for this candidate,’” says Ruby.
However, she says, the lack of influence and the backlash against excessive consumption reflect a growing trend towards minimalism. Rather than buying a bunch of “must have” items promoted by a social media figure, this trend encourages consumers to assess whether they need an item before spending money on it.
Mikayla Mains, 28, is a content creator from St. Louis who claims to connect with the disinfluencer culture. She says the trend feels refreshing at a time when social media marketing can feel like pressure, suggesting you need expensive luxuries to feel good about yourself.
“As someone who has always struggled in the influencer realm with the morals of influence, I love to see us taking it in a different direction,” she says.
“While I don’t think influencing is all bad, I like that we’re taking a step back to rethink how we consume not just products, but content as well.”
Michelle Skidelsky, a Canadian deinfluencer, used a recent post to tell her 173,000 TikTok followers that they don’t need a new wardrobe at the start of each season.
“First of all, new clothes that aren’t like fast fashion are pretty expensive these days,” she says. “If you’re going to travel, if you’re going to a concert, you probably don’t need a whole new wardrobe for any of those things. Fix yourself with what you have and live within your means.”
Skidelsky then discourages people from overdoing it with summer accessories like sunglasses, handbags, belts and purses.
“You definitely don’t need several new pairs of sunglasses,” she says. “Listen, I know it’s really fun to have your sunglasses match your outfit and use them as accessories and all that. But how does your bank account feel about you constantly buying new sunglasses? It’s probably not good.”
How much can we trust disinfluencers?
Not everyone is sold on disinfluence. Aria Connor, 36, creates lifestyle content on social media and says some influencers aren’t on it for the right reasons.
“Many people who participate in the de-influencer trend are more interested in making people feel bad for spending their money in a way that doesn’t align with the de-influencer’s values or budget,” she says.
Others, she says, are simply trying to persuade people to buy some other product. Connor doesn’t believe it’s useful for consumers.
“There are so many disinfluencers telling the public, ‘Don’t buy this. Buy it.’ And for that matter, stop calling it a disinfluencer,” she says. “Just call it a difference of opinion about which products are the best.”
Some disinfluencers suggest that their followers avoid specific products, while others speak more generally about not wasting money on items people don’t really need.
Ruby says it’s unclear whether some influencers are being paid by rival brands to disparage products.
But those who tell followers what to avoid may be more credible than people who just share recommendations on what to buy, she says. Ruby says that disinfluencers can instill more confidence in their followers because their advice rings honest.
Mains, who has 13,000 followers on TikTok, says de-influencers can bring much-needed balance to social platforms that encourage binge drinking and have been blamed for a rise in mental health issues among teens.
But social media advice about what to buy and not to buy isn’t as meaningful, she says. Instead, disinfluencers should lead people “to question how we are consuming, what we are consuming and why we are consuming” [isso]”, she says.
“The problem with a new movement like this is that everyone kind of creates their own meaning behind it,” she adds.
Hold brands accountable?
Victoria Sola, an influencer who creates beauty content, says disinfluence fosters honest conversations about products and empowers underrepresented consumers.
As an example, she cites disinfluencers who denounce brands that exclude products for people of color.
These disinfluencers help promote transparency and hold brands accountable, says Sola, who has 17,000 followers on TikTok and has questioned the effectiveness of some sunscreens on people of color.
“A lot of people lose trust in influencers who just want to get paid and forget that on the other side there is a person who just wants you to talk to them honestly and real,” she says.
Ruby, the social media analyst, offers another perspective. Influencing and disinfluencing on social platforms aren’t that different, she says.
“To be uninfluenced, you have to be influenced to begin with. I think the tendency to de-influence takes place within an echo chamber social media system where people are…familiar with the products that are being de-influenced,” she says.
The key for consumers, she says, is not to trust everything you see on TikTok, YouTube or Instagram. That way you don’t have to be uninfluenced.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.
