A popular trend on TikTok at the moment shows people romanticising their lives. Do you like this trend or do you think it can be quite toxic? While it is interesting to see how certain professions work, does it lead to people unnecessarily comparing themselves to others?
A popular, ongoing trend on TikTok of ‘A day in the life’ videos, has allowed people to romanticise their lives, whether that is showing daily activities within their professions or otherwise. This has received differing reactions, where some people have been positively influenced and others have turned inward and questioned their own lives and productivity. So, are these lives being shown as easily and realistically achievable as they appear?
The rise of influencers has been somewhat beneficial to the advertising industry where they can work to promote products or ways of living. The outreach of this data is significant as TikTok gets global traction and can help people by showing them different environments and situations. However, could the idea that we know too much about one another lead to obsessive comparisons of personal achievements?
Affordability is an important factor to consider; most of the activities presented are ones that are more than likely to cost money, such as the gym or expensive food products. Although these influencers have viewers that can sustain a similar lifestyle, some cannot. Not everyone can dedicate their time, resources, energy and risk harming their mental wellbeing to change their lives entirely just because people living differently appear to be happier. You shouldn’t feel like that kind of romanticised life is completely replicable or will result in positive outcomes. People will judge you regardless, so do what you want to do!
As this is an app that reaches a wide demographic, influencers sometimes don’t consider how young their audiences can be and how much they are easily influenced by their posts. The trend centralises white middle or upper-class influencers, and therefore lacks diversity. This is when the toxicity of these kinds of trends is highlighted. TikTok, already on its own, has been an app shunned for its levels of distractibility and how it creates an escapist attitude in viewers. The more we indulge in these online personas these influencers create, the more we distance ourselves from reality.
We cannot overlook the certain benefits of TikTok trends like this. These videos can be a source of inspiration, and it can motivate people to change or enhance the way they approach their day to day lives. It also allows people to feel closer to their favourite creators, and less isolated, especially after the pandemic. However, even with its accessibility worldwide, typically it is the unattainable presentation and ignorance of external factors like the complexity of regular people’s lives that results in negative consequences. You don’t need to be living lavishly and constantly posting about it on social media to be authentically enjoying your life. Perhaps take these posts and trends with a pinch of salt.
Edited by Lucy Wilcox
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