photo credit: Valentina Urbaez
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, is a surprisingly strong ruler of the mind. As it propels people, especially teenagers, further into a state of anxiousness, they turn to the most available outlet: the internet.
Overconsumption is a tricky battle as its ties to consumerism and media consumption can’t be forced apart. The “fear of missing out” and the incessant need to buy are married to each other and brands need for their audience to be as addicted to their worries, as they are to their profit.
Overconsumption triumphs in many forms, such as media or physical products. Both always influence the other, and the most recent example has to be the Stanley epidemic. “23-year-old woman arrested over 65 stolen Stanley drinking cups,” according to ABC News. To camp outside Targets like there’s a Black Friday event or open seating at a concert is beyond my understanding.
I, myself, have fallen victim to several cute reusable water bottles; that will never change. But, they’ve been reasonably under the $25 mark, where Stanley’s are valued at a $45 minimum and beyond, for them to be resold for hundreds of dollars to the next vulnerable person who desperately needs their water chilled in a tall beige thermos. Limited edition labels also create a sense of urgency that tricks people into thinking they need something.
Cases much like the one on ABC are on the rise and as stated by a fellow Stanley fanatic, “I think it’s just the chase, you know. Five or six are used regularly, while the others sit on her shelf ‘looking pretty,’” according to USA Today. People buy them and turn to social media to showcase their new cup, offering free advertisements to keep the brands they’re loyal to rolling in money.
Stanley is an easy example to pick on with this issue though, considering how women are now seen on TikTok laminating their Stanley cup labels to keep them forever. Products are directly tied with popularity, and with the presence of the internet, popularity becomes a synonym for necessity.
FOMO is a money drain quickly seeping into the minds of kids who grew up with the internet as more than just a distraction. Everybody laughs at the growing idea of “Sephora 10-year-olds,” but when they try and force a $900 purchase on unsuspecting parents, according to
People.com, that laughter is quickly snuffed out. The issue of media overconsumption alone is turned on parents once it translates to the minds of children.
The need for “things” can just as easily be traced back to unfulfillment. Money is spent where it doesn’t necessarily need to be for instant gratification. Much like in the mind of an addict, that first dopamine release after buying something new is never as high again. Once the temporary fix of shopping has faded, people turn back to see what else they might need to cure them. They then spend hours of their lives sifting through content, to spend even more because it just might work that time. I myself fall victim to “doom scrolling” often, and by the end of it there’s always a feeling of wastefulness. The cycle of posting and finding new places to spend spins harder the more people get lost in the trends.
