After a long, tiring, and stressful day at school, I get home and throw myself into bed. It’s finally time to unwind and relax. Like many teens, I open my phone and start scrolling on TikTok. I expect it to be a break – watching some short clips will brighten my mood and help me recharge.
Except they don’t – I am immediately overwhelmed with everything I should be doing: trendy clothes to buy, places to go, and trends I need to follow. I keep scrolling, hoping to get out of the constant reminder that I am not living a perfect enough life like the girls in the videos are.
But it doesn’t end. Video after video, I find another thing that makes me feel inadequate and will subconsciously haunt me. The weight of these reminders is overwhelming, and I’m hit repeatedly with subtle reminders of all the things I lack and another thing I must fix about myself to be perceived as “perfect” by those who look at me.
I arrived home from school an hour ago, and my biggest worries were tests and homework. Now, I am falling short in life in a million different ways. The sudden shift in my mindset is unsettling. I felt so insecure and incomplete; Why? How did this happen?
Society constantly claims to be more inclusive, even though TikTok trends often recycle old and exclusionary standards. Shaming others about their weight and making them feel less valued is out. Body positivity is in, and all bodies are beautiful.
Think of Brandy Melville, for example. The infamous company that sold “one size only” items was canceled for exclusively selling to “smaller” sizes. After being “canceled” by TikTok, the brand had to change some things. They made their items more extensive and, therefore, more diverse. Influencers deemed this a win for inclusivity.
Yet, it still feels like society is going backwards. TikTok amplifies content promoting narrow ideals, causing a regression of decades-old standards masked in a modern way. While these trends may be dressed up in fresh terms, they still have the same exclusionary requirements that society has been pushing back against for years.
Your hair is dead. Start your hair growth journey!
Your skin doesn’t have that glass finish. Achieve “glass skin” with this skincare set!
You have boneless lashes.
Eat cleaner – Starving yourself is attractive!
Too much blush. You have blush blindness.
Feeling cold? It’s time to figure out what we are wearing this winter!
Your lashes are too clumpy.
Sad again? Too bad. Seasonal depression is out. Time to embrace your “winter girl arc”!
This is just a list of the few trends I’ve seen while scrolling through TikTok for as little as 15 minutes, and they all come with a sense of urgency. Trends should feel like inspiration, not a full-time job with an abundant amount of rules to live by. The pressure to follow what is “in” and how we should live all feels emotionally, physically, and financially draining. Makeup tutorials, day-in-the-life videos, and fashion hauls turn into to-do lists with boxes to check off quickly.
The worst part? These trends are infinite and will never end. When we think we have perfected our look, a new trend will arise and make us rethink it. It is an ongoing cycle of feeling worthless, followed by real consequences. The relentless nature of this cycle is exhausting. Social media has become a minefield of comparison and judgment for teens like me, who once used it to relax and have fun.
If we, as teens, want to make a genuine difference in society, we need to shift our focus away from fleeting trends and back to authenticity. We all deserve to live in a world where we can feel free to exist without constantly questioning whether or not we meet an endless list of standards set for us.
This isn’t to say you should delete TikTok and reject it altogether. It’s a platform that can be a source of inspiration and connection. It is essential to consider how much of an impact you want TikTok to have on your life and to use it to promote your mental and emotional well-being, not degrade it.
