TikTok ‘deinfluencers’ tap into trend for saving money

More and more content creators on social media are rejecting traditional influencer culture and becoming "deinfluencers" instead, according to social media experts.

Influencers have historically sold something to users. Whether that is the newest trending lipgloss or the viral "it" dress, the products - often available at a discount using influencers' special codes - are perceived to provide a certain lifestyle, one that is aesthetically pleasing and on trend.

However, a different type of viral trend is taking over. Content creators are deinfluencing users, giving advice on which promoted products are not worth the hype or outright telling them what not to buy.

Bita, or @bbybeets, 25, posted a video on TikTok listing items she could not be influenced into purchasing because they're "just not affordable".

In the video, which has had more than 58,000 views, Bita says people on an average salary cannot afford items such as £95 Ugg Tasman slippers and Apple AirPods Max headphones, which cost about £550, but they feel pressured to buy them to stay on trend.

"All the brands I mentioned charge hundreds of pounds per item," she said. "To purchase a lot of these trending items, you'd have to be on a certain income, and most people aren't and that's including me.

"I personally love the brands I showed. It's more that I'm reminding my audience it's actually not normal to have those things. It's quite a privilege and a luxury."

On TikTok, the #deinfluencing hashtag has more than 159.6m views. The popularity of the trend is driven by timing and people becoming sick of being told they have to constantly buy something, according to Jago Sherman, head of strategy at the social media marketing agency Goat.

"We've reached a point of critical mass when it comes to consumerism," he said. "People are kind of fed up with going on social media and being told: 'You need this and this', especially with the cost of living."

For Valeria Fridegotto, 22, a student and part-time content creator living in Chicago, Illinois, the economic climate prompted her to make a video about products she thinks are overrated.

"With the economic climate in the US, people are more careful with what they spend their money on," she said. "I feel like they're naturally attracted to people who discourage them from buying really expensive items."

Fridegotto named Olaplex shampoo and conditioner, costing about $60 (£50) for the set, the Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand (£30) and the Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush (£31) as products that "don't deserve the hype" they have been given by other content creators. Her video has had more than 1.3m views and hundreds of comments.

The TikTok algorithm "can be follower agnostic", so users with a relatively small amount of followers can go viral, which has fuelled the trend, Sherman said.

"The controversial statements are the ones that get more engagement because people comment," he said.

"A big influencer, unprompted, is less likely to start a trend that is 'deinfluencing'. This trend would have been started by lots of small content creators and it has essentially trickled up to the bigger influencers, because smaller creators have less to lose by defaming products."

The success of deinfluencing feeds into the broader "eat the rich" narrative seen across the media in films like The Menu and TV shows like The White Lotus, said Paul Greenwood, head of research and insight at social media agency We Are Social.

"We've seen a lot of creators take this money-saving expert approach," he said. "They'll talk about the value of the product, whether you can get it cheaper anywhere else, whether you can buy different products that do the same thing.

"They know their audience better than anyone else so if they know their audience is feeling the pinch, they're going to react to that to try to stay on their side."

While some users in the comments below Fridegotto's video shared her views about the products, she said she worries her openness might backfire in the future. "In a perfect world, we'd like to think that brands would take it as feedback, but I'm afraid that it might put potential collaboration in prejudice.

"I will continue to let people know: 'Hey, I got this viral thing' because there will continue to be viral products, but I'll let them make their own decision," she said.

For Sherman, this trend is going nowhere. "My perspective is that another word for it is an 'honest' review.

"There have been some people who have said: 'Is deinfluencing the end of influencing?' To which I say: 'Deinfluencing is influencing' - it's the exact same thing," he said.

"I see no reason why six months down the line it won't still be around."