Spend time on platforms such as TikTok or Instagram and you will likely encounter what are known as “haul” videos. In these clips, creators present items they have recently purchased – clothing in multiple colours, countless new beauty products, temporary seasonal homeware – justifying to the audience why each piece was worth buying.
Other videos include “restock” videos, where cupboards and bathroom cabinets are refilled in carefully arranged abundance, and “unboxings”, which turn opening a delivery into an event.
Online, this culture is often described as “overconsumption core” – a loosely defined term used, often critically, as excessively purchasing items that are not needed.
For younger audiences, this content can be fascinating and inspiring. For others, it may appear curious: why buy so much at once, and why broadcast it for the world to see?
Part of the answer lies in platform design. Content that is visually abundant tends to perform well, the more interaction a post gets the more it will be boosted on the algorithm.
Many creators also use affiliate links, earning commission when viewers purchase featured products. What feels like personal recommendation often sits within a structured marketing system. Consumption is not incidental to the content; it is the content.
I have found myself influenced by this cycle. After repeatedly seeing the same patterned water bottle appear in different colours across my feed, it began to feel less like a product and more like a missing accessory. I already owned a reusable bottle yet the repetitive influence created desire. The purchase felt justified in the moment and keeping up with trends felt like an achievement.
Shelves lined with endless coordinated drink ware, drawers filled with unopened cosmetics, wardrobes containing multiples of the same garment: the aesthetic is abundance, the tone is upbeat and the quantity is rarely questioned.
The environmental implications are harder to ignore. Reusable products, originally marketed as sustainable alternatives to disposable goods, have become collectibles. When an item designed to reduce waste is purchased in multiples, its environmental rationale becomes secondary to its visual appeal and its ‘trend-ability’.
The same logic even applies to fashion. Micro-trends, accelerated by algorithmic feeds, can peak and fade within weeks. Clothing bought for a single event may be worn once, photographed, and then set aside. The UK already sends hundreds of thousands of tonnes of textiles to landfill each year. In an economy driven by rapid turnover, longevity is not always commercially attractive.
The endless “restock “can imply that cupboards should be permanently full and lifestyles permanently upgraded. Running out of something – or choosing not to replace it immediately – is rarely depicted or represented. In this environment, scarcity looks like failure.
This is unfolding during a period of economic pressure. With living costs rising across the UK, many households are faced with little disposable income and non-essential spending isn’t feasible.
Not all trends point in the same direction. “Project Pan“, a trend which encourages users to entirely finish their collection of products before buying new ones, has gained traction. So too has the term “underconsumption core”, celebrating repair, reuse and restraint. These counter-movements suggest growing awareness of environmental and financial limits amid an over consuming epidemic.
Social media did not create consumer culture. But it has compressed its cycles and amplified its visibility. Shopping, once a private pastime, is now public performance. A purchase is no longer complete at the checkout; it reaches completion when it is posted online for everyone to see.
The question is not whether individuals should stop buying altogether. It is whether a digital culture built on constant consumption can coexist comfortably with environmental limits and economic strain.
For now, the scroll may feel harmless, though the impact is anything but.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
