Deinfluencing TikTok During the Cost-of-Living Crisis: Neoliberal Logics of (Over)Consumption Across Popular Media

Abstract

Following the economic recession of 2008, media texts blamed individual consumers and their reckless and wasteful consumption of designer goods and extravagant homes for contributing to the financial crisis. Within the current context of the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis has led to increases in the cost of everyday necessities. At the same time, social media influencers promote excessive consumption of expensive viral products that are often discarded upon purchase. Responding to these socio-cultural events, deinfluencing became a viral trend on TikTok, where users post videos encouraging viewers to purchase certain products rather than other more expensive options. Positioning deinfluencing as an example of cultural responses to financial crises, this article highlights the parallels between deinfluencing and previous discursive articulations that emerged during the 2008 global financial crisis. Deinfluencing reproduces longstanding cultural formations of consumer citizenship while also reacting to the overconsumption promoted by the digital economy.