It usually starts innocently enough. You scroll for a few minutes while the kettle boils, and by the time you put your phone down you’ve seen three hauls, a wardrobe refresh and someone “finally investing” in their skin.
None of it feels excessive in isolation. In fact, most of it looks quite reasonable. But when you see it day after day, from different people, in different formats, it starts to feel like this is just how life is now. Like everyone is constantly buying, upgrading, refreshing and improving.
And that’s where the shift happens. Not so much in what we buy, but in what we start to expect from ourselves. Social media has quietly changed our sense of what’s normal, what’s enough, and what it means to be doing okay.
The quiet link between social media and overconsumption
Social platforms make money by capturing your attention and influencing your buying behaviour. Hauls, restocks, “things you need”, productivity tools, wellness upgrades. When identity and aspiration are tied to what we buy, consumption starts to feel like self-improvement.
There’s plenty of research showing that the more time we spend on social media, the more likely we are to compare ourselves upwards to others, and the more likely we are to spend impulsively.
Over time, that can quietly affect how we see ourselves. If everyone else seems to be upgrading, it’s easy to read your own stillness as stagnation. If everyone else is buying solutions, it can feel like you should be doing the same.
We’re not saying you shouldn’t buy things you enjoy. It’s more about being honest with yourself about what actually contributes to a happy life, rather than falling into the trap of thinking you’ll feel better once you’ve got glass skin, a six-pack, or whatever the current ideal happens to be.
10 things social media has normalised around consumption
These aren’t things no one does, we just think they just show up far more online than they do in most people’s real lives.
- Doing regular, large shopping hauls
For most people, buying is occasional event, not a weekly one worth £500.
- Constant wardrobe refreshes
You don’t always need something new for every occasion or the newest trending item. Second hand and rewearing items is just as cool.
- Multi-step skincare routines
Most people don’t need a 15-step routine made up of expensive products to have healthy skin.
- Buying your way to better wellbeing
Nature, rest and friendships are free, so they’re not spoken about as much online.
- A new product for every inconvenience
Not every small problem needs a tech solution or a purchase attached to it.
- Fully stocked and aesthetically labelled cupboards
You don’t need to decant pasta into glass jars or curate a drinks shelf for your kitchen to be functional.
- Turning every interest into something profitable
Hobbies don’t need to earn their place in your life. You’re allowed to enjoy things without monetising them.
- Perfectly styled homes
Your home is allowed to look lived-in. It doesn’t need to resemble a magazine shoot to be a home.
- Regular long-haul travel
Long-haul trips look common online, but for most people they’re occasional rather than annual.
- Occasions for Instagram
Weddings, birthdays and weekends don’t need to be curated for content. They’re better optimised for fun and connection.
Choosing less doesn’t mean you’re doing less
For most people, life offline looks very different to what fills our feeds. It looks like rewearing clothes, staying closer to home, changing your mind, and not constantly upgrading everything. It looks slower and quieter, and crucially, it doesn’t always look good on camera.
Your life doesn’t need to be optimised, monetised or aesthetic to be meaningful. And you don’t need to buy what everyone else appears to be buying in order to be doing okay.
Sometimes the most grounding thing you can do is step away from the noise, come back to your own pace, and remember that there’s no universal standard you’re meant to be keeping up with.
And if that means choosing less - less stuff, less pressure, less comparison - that’s not falling behind. It’s just opting out of being like everyone else.