Micro Trends have taken over social media around the globe for years, from clothing to trending food, and objects. Micro trends might be one of the most problematic yet normalised objectives in our world today. The definition of a micro trend being a short lived, specific shift in consumer behavior which is often influenced by social media that grows to obtain an extensive amount of popularity, which we have seen spread out over several years.
This all really started in 2020, where social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and youtube were and still are big in popularity, which caused an extreme impact especially towards the younger generation of consumers. From cow print on clothing to Dubai chocolate and Labubus. Micro trends have become more, and more extreme throughout the years, and though they might be what’s trending, they do fade and eventually lose their popularity being forgotten when another trend arises.
One of micro trends biggest issues has been rapid buying of fashion that soon becomes outdated and discarded. This leads to over consumption and pollution, eventually adding to the global problem of environmental problems like climate change. Causing pollution from the discardment of buying a popular item just to throw it away when it becomes out of style and a new trend becomes apparent. When asking freshman Ashlynn Gonzalez on this topic she commented,
“I understand people want to keep up with trends, but then for you to throw away all the clothes when they’re out of style is pointless. Like I will be recycling through the same clothes every week.”
Micro trends are not only physical but they’re everywhere on social media. Different Aesthetics and cores (used to describe subcultures and themes) like clean girl, balletcore, and other popular styles and continuous beauty expectations have negative effects on mental health. Especially on younger generations with the constant beauty standards and comparison to others which has become more and more relevant from social media and influencers.
When asking Gonzalez again on this subject she states that these trends do help people express themselves but also the negative side of it is,“Teenagers will look on line and be like I wish that was me or that they want to look like these other teenagers which makes people our age more self conscious and unsure about themselves.” The effect of micro trends not only showing in our consumption but in our thoughts on appearance and others around us. The question is will this issue ever really change, or are we caught up in a loop of what’s most popular and cool for the times we live in?
