In the world of today, if you haven’t posted something for longer than 2 days, people start worrying and wondering whether you’re ok or not. Most probably sending you some DMs through Instagram and checking either with a direct “what’s up!” message or sending a funny post just to see your reaction and proof that you, in fact, are still alive. Hahaha… How humanist and lovely we are!

Well, people mostly refer to Instagram as a self-promo or marketing platform which I entirely agree with, but also it could be interesting to see it as a personal diary which turns to ones’ daily runway. With social media, and specifically Instagram, I believe fashion has been much more integrated into our lives than before. Imagine a person you know who is the most irrelevant person when it comes to fashion and style, and now have a quick look at his/her profile. Probably you will see a well-tried profile that enhances the visual aesthetics, even if you don’t think he/she is a ‘fashionista’. Of course, this is not done just for the sake of fashion but also for the desire of ones’ ego to show off that the life he/she is having is the best.

Notably, Millennials and Gen-Z have changed the fashion industry, or better to say have shaken its core. Not only fashion but also marketing, buying, trends and more. Instagram profiles have turned into business profiles, even the individual ones. Because as a platform, one of the most identified features of Instagram is visibility. Everyone has the opportunity to show his/her “added value” and the rest is left behind. You want someone to find you and relate to your uniqueness, you want to turn every follower to a dollar sign and hope it will be enough to make the famous figure you dream of. And you know… The more you’re famous the more you will see $$$… It’s a knock-on effect. So when you think in that way everything sounds okay, like it is okay to invest in you and in your profile, weekly shopping, daily posts and many more. People have become more consumerist than ever with all these new trends that social media pushes every day. Brands like Gucci, Off-White etc. have so much power to affect youth culture and their behaviours. On the other hand, it also has a huge impact on our personalities (which, ironically, is also shaped by our daily social media dosage)

Once I saw a meme on IG which goes like this;

What’s worse than a heartbreak?

Wearing a good outfit and not getting a pic.

Well… LOL.

This is also one of the main reason why we have shifted to a “throw-away society” more than ever before. In case you are hearing this for the first time let me give you the definition from Wikipedia; “The throw-away society is a human society strongly influenced by consumerism. The term describes a critical view of overconsumption and excessive production of short-lived or disposable items over durable goods that can be repaired.” As a result, many fashion brands/companies decide to become more sustainable. Some of them just take this as a marketing opportunity, and some really believe in it. According to several pieces of research, people only use an outfit 7 times, and that is only if the clothes are really lucky! Did you know that people throw away their clothes after a maximum of 3 Instagram posts? Did you know that only 2% of your wardrobe is used on a daily basis?

It is shocking, right? How the effect of social media on our lives is sometimes more than the effect of a “real” relationship. Have you ever thought about this? What is controlling your life? How much “realness” do you have? Maybe it is time to question about these, no?

Okay, okay…

In the meantime, I’ll just scroll down again.. You know.. Just for checking….