Mouth of the River

“I need that”–something I hear and say almost daily. But do I actually need it? Generally, the answer to that is “no”, but social media has made me feel like I do. 

As someone who is easily influenced, I know how it feels to see something on social media and immediately want to buy it. But I think it needs to be stressed that this has become a problem, especially for young people.  

Although overconsumption has been around for a long time, social media has made it easier to be persuaded into buying unnecessary things. For me, I realized that I could be buying things I need, or nothing at all, instead of buying something for the sole purpose of desire. 

The impact that social media has on overconsumption is huge. There are examples of this with “trends” like Stanley cups and unnecessary skin care products. Now, I am not innocent in all of this, I own more water bottles than I care to admit. But I believe that owning up to the fact that social media has an effect on what you buy is a good first step in the right direction. 

I think that the reason I first started buying things I saw on social media was because what I saw was not the authentic product, but the glorified version of it. 

Video creators on these social platforms are making it even easier for people to buy things. Ways they do this are setting unrealistic expectations or even straight up lying about the products that they are promoting. These lies are easy to fall for especially for kids in the high school demographic. 

I personally have run into this as a consumer. One of my favorite influencers came up on my feed one day with this shirt that I loved. I clicked on her LTK (link products shown), and that’s when I realized how easy influencers make it for people to give into overconsumption. There was a link to almost everything she used in her past 20 videos. But also, a link to her Amazon store front where there were hundreds of more products, most of them specifically geared towards teens and helping them “glow up.” 

Eventually I found the shirt she had convinced me to look at buying. But I don’t know who would buy this shirt, because it was over a hundred dollars for a T-shirt that had a printed design on it. 

This is where the saying “is it a need or a want?” really came into play for me. I knew that I didn’t need that T-shirt, but did I still look to buy it? Yes. After I saw the price, I asked myself: “do I want to pay for 2 months of gas with this money, or get this shirt when my closet doors are practically busting open with the amount of clothes I have?” 

I think that is something that teens should look to do before buying something, if you ask yourself, “Do I need this?” I will guarantee you will find yourself buying a lot less. 

A teenager who acknowledges how she overconsumes is Emma Storace (‘26). In the past month, Storace has bought 16 things that were not necessities. She recognizes something may be wrong with not only her spending but her willingness to buy things she doesn’t need. “Influence comes very easy to me… I’m not scarce with spending my money,” said Storace. 

I personally can agree with Storace about having that feeling of influence coming almost too easy, especially when it comes to social media.  

On social media, another way that I have personally seen overconsumption is people showing off the amount of something they have, almost bragging about just how much they consume.  

Seeing things like that can lead to people not only buying something they don’t need but buying an unnecessary amount of it. According to a Linked In article titled “The Psychology of Consumer Behavior: Understanding How Emotions Drive Purchasing Decisions,” the fear of missing out can trigger an emotional reaction and cause a consumer to buy something. 

So not wanting to miss out on a trend like seeing who has the most lip balm can trigger someone to consume more to be a part of the craze, especially for teens. Teenagers are more impulsive than adults because their brains aren’t fully developed according to an American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry article titled “Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making.” 

Social media has not only created a space where influencers can promote overconsumption, but a place where brands can as well. Brands like Ipsy have monthly packages filled with skincare and makeup products. Some of the reviews I have seen are people not getting the brands that have been promoted, and those consumers throwing the products away, then waiting for next month’s package to arrive.  

Most ads that I have seen for Ipsy are specifically geared towards teenagers. The videos I have seen promoting Ipsy are other teenage girls saying how amazing that months’ package was and to subscribe to get the next month’s shipment. 

I had monthly packages coming to my house, but not for me. There are many other monthly subscription companies, but my sister subscribed to Ipsy for about 6 months before she realized what a waste it was. 

Ipsy seemed to do the same thing each month, lie. They would promote on their social media of how this normally expensive product was going to be in their package that month, and it would show up each month to my doorstep, but that product wouldn’t be in there. 

The teens that are subscribed to companies like this need to know when to stop. Saying no to buying something was a learning experience for me. But advice from a fellow teen who was in the process of doing just that would have been super helpful to me. Storace shared her advice of ways she can buy less of what she wants: “I could focus on looking at what I already have, how often I would use it, and how practical something is,” said Storace. 

I think that is the key to not only the subscriptions but buying anything at all. As Storace said, “Focus on looking at how practical something is.” Is this thing you “need” practical, or do you just want it because your favorite influencer showed it in their most recent video? 

So, the next time you pick up another water bottle or makeup product you can ask yourself: “Is it a need or a want?” 

-Bella Jackman