NOTE: Sorry about the writing formatting in this article. I feel a little off right now and it’s a little difficult to focus on writing.
I’m almost mad at myself for giving in because I told myself, “I’m not buying into this even though almost everybody I interact with has.” But we all know that never works. And I know I’m not the only person who feels obligated to participate in social media trends. So I thought I would share my most recent experience and some of the thoughts and logic I had.
The Bag
I recently came into possession of a $78 Lululemon cross-body bag. The only reason why I got the cross-body was so I could get one of the small red Lululemon bags 50% of the girls at my school had. And the only reason why I even wanted that bag is because 50% of the girls at my school had them. I don’t regret getting it because I do like the bag itself. I just didn’t need it to cost $78. Of course, I have been using the bag. I had my eye on it and it matches my style in addition to being functional. But I know that if I didn’t feel the need to keep up with the current trends, I could’ve gotten a different bag for cheaper. Now that’s not to say that hopping on trends is a bad things; it’s almost kind of expected nowadays.
But I wish I didn’t feel the need to.
The Result
After getting the bag I left the store feeling very interesting. I had one of the small red bags with something valuable inside of it, and everyone who payed attention could see that. Maybe they were thinking, “Wow she must be rich to afford that!” Or maybe they were thinking, “Oh, just another one of those Lululemon people. Whatever.” Or maybe they were completely ignoring the bag which in my mind boosted my status from “boring” to “cool”. That’s probably it because most strangers don’t care despite what I may want to think. Hell, I’m one of those strangers most of the time. But still.
I had my bag and walked with a sort of new sense of purpose. But deep down I felt kind of disappointed in myself. I felt weird about the fact that I let social media and the people my age around me influence my purchasing decisions. Again I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, and I’m probably going to keep doing it because I’m desperate to finally fit into this world. But still.
Outro
So yeah. I will probably buy into social media trends for the rest of my life. But maybe there will be a day where it’s okay to not always know about everything that was posted on Instagram. Maybe there will be a world where you won’t be judged if you don’t have TikTok or Threads or whatever else is going to be what everyone talks about. Who knows? Maybe the world will never change and it will only get harder and harder to keep up. Only time will tell.
Wow. That kind of ended on a deep note.
