Will We Ever Escape Trend Cycles?

Written and Graphic By Liz Garcia

Beige Stanley cups, black mini skirts, Instagram photo dumps, Rare Beauty liquid blushes, green juices, black flared leggings… should I go on? Let’s BeReal: we all fall victim to vicious trend cycles that feel impossible to catch up to. Social media dictates what we wear, how we behave, which celebrities to hate each week, and most alarmingly, what we think. Staying on trend is fun—we have a sense of unity when we do. In fact, society rejects people who don’t keep up with the times, coyly snickering at those who fall behind. And yet the well-oiled machines of the Internet have thrown us a curveball: suddenly, being cool is so not cool anymore.

“Deinfluencing” is now deprogramming our brains of the trends we all know and love. Don’t be fooled — while this concept is teaching us to reject trends on social media, the movement itself is still a trend. All at once, our favorite Tiktokers and influencers are persuading us to declutter our lives. Who needs 10 different blushes that are the same shade anyway? Oh, and while you’re at it, throw away that new Stanley cup you just bought — why is there a popular new water bottle every year? Don’t forget to perfect that capsule wardrobe you should have in your closet! Do you really need to dress exactly like Matilda Djerf?

After a decade of overconsumption, society is responding to the desperate wake-up call. For the betterment of the world, this is generally a positive thing. Buying less, or simply with intention, combats constant purchasing that cripples our environment. It also declutters our life of unnecessary social media infiltration. Though, the lines between social media fads and lifestyle preferences are blurred here. Most people can benefit from a healthy spring cleaning, but deinfluencing speaks to a profound urge for individualism. In a media-centered world where our online identities are perfectly curated and scrutinized by others, being original is the most valuable thing we can do to say, “Hey, look at me! I’m more special than everyone else!” What better way to be different than to rid ourselves of the things that make us similar? Rejection of the norm is nothing new—it’s the form it’s taken that’s unique. The spell Tiktok casts on our minds with heavily curated, short-form content easily manipulates our brains. Overnight, this trend has churned out a list of popular items we should all suddenly dislike; and just as quickly, it will disappear as every trend does. 

This ephemeral life that trends live is the center of the question: will we ever escape trend cycles? On a psychological level, people cling to trends because they give them a sense of safety, while straying from the community makes you vulnerable to social attack. With short-form content plaguing us everywhere we go, it seems impossible to avoid being influenced—I’m sometimes convinced it is. But on an individual level, we have the power to decide what we do or don’t like. Social media doesn’t own us, not if we don’t let it. Following trends is not a bad thing; it’s fun to participate in the niche corners of the Internet we all belong to — I just wonder if we might all be a little happier when we start living for ourselves.