The video, published on TikTok, uses all the codes of influencers and influencers with an opposite goal: to dissuade you from buying the product.
It’s an honest version of what we see every day on social media
explains Valeria Fride, 23, to AFP.
It’s called the deinfluencing(the disinfluence
). The hashtag that corresponds to it is so popular that it peaks, in early April, at more than 430 million views on TikTok.
Its followers advise against, for example, buying overpriced soaps or ultra-sophisticated dumbbells if you have just taken up sport, and do not hesitate to ask you if you havedifferent flavors”,”text”:”really need 25 different flavors”}}”>really need 25 different flavors.
The trend is seen as a response to maddening inflation, even an anti-consumerism movement. But would it ultimately be just a way for influencers to reinvent themselves?
These content creators have become ubiquitous on social media. Through videos, they and they promote mascara, tea, shoes or video games… generally against payment from the companies selling these products.
Criticizing products therefore goes against their economic model. Valeria Fride also admits having had really scared
brand reaction.
: “Mom, I hope they don’t hate me.””,”text”:”When one of his videos went viral], I said to my mother: “Mom, I hope that ‘they won’t hate me.”””>[Quand une de mes vidéos est devenue virale]I said to my mother, “Mom, I hope they don’t hate me.”
Since then, however, she has received partnership proposals from companies that have appreciated her disinfluence videos. A sign, according to her, that brands are evolving and looking for more nuanced opinions
.
A response to overconsumption
Jessica Clifton, 26-year-old American influencer, explains for her part that this trend has found an echo in her personal experience.
A few years ago, she became aware of the ecological impact of her consumption.
The young woman realizes that she receives clothes ordered on the Internet almost every day
and has a plethora of foundations and lipsticks – I don’t even know how to use makeup!
– as well as 56 pairs of shoes.
I thought, “My God, how did I get to this?”
To spread the word, she opens an account that promotes responsible drinking. So, seeing the trend of disinfluence, she was really happy.
Jessica Clifton self-posts several videos with this hashtag. But she quickly finds that more and more publications are not intended to discourage consumption, but simply to encourage people to buy one product rather than another
.
Disappointed
she now considers that this trend has been partly hijacked by designers who simply seek to gain subscribers
.
A trend that reflects sincere convictions?
For Lia Haberman, influencer marketer at UCLA Extension, disinfluence being all the rage on the app is driving people to take advantage of all this attention
regardless of their beliefs.
Seeing this movement as an anti-consumer revolution is a misinterpretation
Who doesn’t match how the trend emerged
she adds.
According to research firm Tubular Labs, the trend – which went truly viral in January – emerged in September, with a certain Maddie Wells.
Far from being a fierce campaigner, the young influencer was simply using her experience as a saleswoman in cosmetics stores to explain which products were disappointing customers.
They were pretty factual videos, without really judging
let alone political demands, explains Lia Haberman.
Disinfluence is a way to appear honest, while the voice of influencers is no longer perceived as authentic
by the public, who know very well that these people are paid, believes Americus Reed II, professor of marketing at the prestigious Wharton School of Business.
He considers that it is also quite simply a matter ofa way to differentiate
. Even if, at bottom, according to him, disinfluence remains influence marketing.
