While scrolling on social media, you’ve probably come across a video on “overconsumption” referring to how people buy and consume goods. If you look around your own room, how many items have you purchased because someone online made it seem like it was necessary, especially as a status symbol?
Originally part of the economic lexicon, overconsumption is defined as the high rate at which people consume resources, such as online products that are commonly cheap and poorly made. This rate is unsustainable, meaning what is being used to produce the goods purchased cannot be easily replenished. In short, we buy so much and so often that the supply chain has a hard time keeping up with our purchasing habits in a sustainable way for the environment.
Producing the amount of products necessary to suit the demand of consumers has come with extreme consequences. Companies tend to produce their goods overseas, and while this can make production less expensive and more efficient, labor regulations are often far too lax. It’s not uncommon for manufacturers overseas to employ children for cheap and plentiful labor. Children work long hours in unsanitary and unsafe work environments to meet the soaring demand of products.
Products are sold to customers not by the company, but by its appeal as a symbol of social acceptance. To fit in, customers feel they have no choice but to buy the product, even if deep down they know they do not need it.
This is what is referred to online as “overconsumption core.” The damage of overconsumption is its lack of sustainability. Just because one can purchase what they want, whenever they want, that doesn’t make it environmentally sustainable or ethical.
In addition to the harm caused to the environment, many young social media users have become susceptible to online marketing that seeks to convince them owning products that are popular online mark status and popularity, especially in school.
One elementary schooler reported being bullied in school after they asked for the $40 Stanley tumbler for Christmas and instead got a knockoff product. They said classmates had teased them for not having a “real” Stanley. Younger generations have felt the effects of products becoming status symbols firsthand, proving how the consequences of overconsumption can negatively affect the mental health of social media users, especially children.
Many were fed up with influencers touting collections of products like Stanley tumblers, Amazon “dupes” and “must-have” products. Their solution was to make videos where they show viral online products and explain why their viewers should not purchase it. This is also called “de-influencing.” It encourages customers not to buy more, but to be flexible with the products they already possess.
Overconsumption is just one of the ways that social media fuels consumerism. Content creators make money off products they advertise, like Stanley tumblers or Amazon partnerships. These are not “must-haves,” they’re fads that will pass in a few months. It’s up to us, the consumers, to choose whether or not we fall for the ruse of overconsumption.
