Those who on TikTok recommend what NOT to buy

(Pixabay) Loading player TikTok, just like Instagram, is full of people constantly creating videos advising them to buy more or less expensive things that are “worth it” or “life-changing” for the buyer, and if you pass enough time on the app it’s very easy to come across at least one product that everyone seems to be buying. But in recent weeks TikTok has also begun to be populated by another type of content: “deinfluencing” videos, i.e. those in which people who have tried one or another product that has gone viral on the platform talk about it in a realistic way, often ironic and tendentially negative, to convince other users that they are not really worth buying. The trend is a response to the massive arrival of influencer marketing – i.e. advertising campaigns created in collaboration with highly followed people – on TikTok. But according to some commentators, the videos under the hashtag #deinfluencing that are getting millions of views on TikTok are not only a response to the compulsive shopping encouraged by social networks, but also a direct revolt by some users at the way the app is transformed over the past year. In November 2022, TikTok had made TikTok Shop available for the US market, a section of the app that allows users to shop directly within the platform and content creators to earn a commission by inserting links to products in the Shop in their videos. The new feature has brought a sudden increase in corporate-sponsored content on TikTok, annoying some users who do not appreciate the transformation underway. “In the beginning, the TikTok experience felt more authentic because users didn’t take themselves seriously. Companies weren’t investing much in creators. It was a fun space, with no outside pressures. Now, the pressure has reached boiling point,” Charlotte Palermino, CEO of a popular cosmetics brand on TikTok, told Wired. Many “deinfluencing” videos directly criticize several products that seemed to be going strong on the app, such as certain specific leggings or books by romance novelist Colleen Hoover, often published by people who say they regret “falling for it”. Most don’t seem to do it to criticize consumerism itself: it is very common that these videos rather recommend less expensive and famous alternatives that perform a similar function to that of the original product. Others, however, try to question the fact that people need that kind of product in general. The most frequent categories are cosmetics, clothing and interior decoration items. @alyssastephanie I love deinfluencing ❤️ #deinfluencing #deinfluencergang #cultproduct ♬ original sound – Alyssa ✨ «It is interesting to see a group of people start a debate on the methods, techniques and distortions of a certain type of influencer marketing, using the same means and the same channels», wrote the communication expert Valerio Bassan recently in his newsletter Ellissi. «But I have a doubt. Isn’t it that these deinfluencers, in the end, are a little too similar to the system they would like to denounce? In fact, on social media, even saying who we are not or what we don’t believe in helps to create our character”. One of the most popular creators under the #deinfluencing hashtag, Alyssa Kromelis, recently told Wired that the hype around her videos has effectively turned her into an influencer herself. If initially Kromelis had gained 30,000 followers on TikTok by posting videos about her daily life in general, since she started creating #deinfluencing content she has begun to receive packs of products from companies that they hope she will appreciate instead, and then share with their followers , the gifts received. @michelleskidelsky Replying to @canxd97 🫡🫡 back again to hate on things for the purpose of saving all our bank accounts #deinfluencing ♬ original sound – michelle