{"id":2246669,"date":"2024-05-17T07:11:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T11:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tiktoks-attention-economy-warps-our-wallets-and-brains\/"},"modified":"2024-05-17T07:14:26","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T11:14:26","slug":"tiktoks-attention-economy-warps-our-wallets-and-brains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tiktoks-attention-economy-warps-our-wallets-and-brains\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok&#8217;s Impact on Our Finances and Minds"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftiktoks-attention-economy-warps-our-wallets-and-brains%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2246669&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the influence\u200b of TikTok on Americans, particularly those under 30, leading \u2064to impulsive\u200b spending driven\u200b by social pressures. It highlights how\u200c influencers shape purchasing\u200b behavior, causing financial dysmorphia. Social media&#8217;s profit-driven nature, with influencers as \u2064professional pitchmen, blurs \u2063authenticity. The urge to belong \u2063and fit in \u2063fuels a cycle\u200c of \u2064conspicuous consumption.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>On the face of it, it seems absurd. Why would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/do-they-want-to-live-in-a-handmaids-tale-sunny-hostin-screams-at-white-women-compares-them-to-roaches-voting-for-raid\/\" title=\"\u2018Do They Want To Live In A Handmaid\u2019s Tale?\u2019: Sunny Hostin Screams At White Women, Compares Them To \u2018Roaches Voting For Raid\u2019\">people make decisions based<\/a> on what they heard on an app affiliated with China\u2019s Communist government?<\/p>\n<p>Most people don\u2019t view the phenomenon of TikTok influencers through that prism, yet that scenario aptly describes the choices made by millions of Americans each day. Above and beyond the question of whether the app should have anything to do with the Chinese government (and it shouldn\u2019t) lie larger existential questions about the nature of 21st-century society.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1524112651\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b1ecf250e1659911dee5f054e95432f9 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b1ecf250e1659911dee5f054e95432f9\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Profligacy as Narcissism<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A recent Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/tech\/personal-tech\/how-tiktok-is-wiring-gen-zs-money-brain-fc43ba6c?mod=trending_now_news_3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">article<\/a> examined the effects of TikTok on Americans under 30. The piece featured several disturbing quotes and examples of questionable financial behavior, based largely upon what so-called \u201cinfluencers\u201d do and say on social media:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>One 20-something financial analyst said she uses a budgeting app \u201cto be able to afford the things she feels she has to buy, like Lululemon leggings. \u2018Between TikTok and having your friends around you, you\u2019re pressured to buy the things because you want to fit in. \u2026 That\u2019s always been the case, but with TikTok it\u2019s more prominent.\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cSome 91% of Gen Zers say they have purchased something they saw on social media, according to a survey from Citizens Pay, a buy-now-pay later service.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cBreAunna Rodriguez, a 23-year-old mom of two in Houston, likes to buy TikTok-popular baby clothes and other small things for herself, including eyelash extensions, coconut oil mouthwash, and a pumice stone that influencers said reduces stretch marks. \u2018It\u2019s hard not to buy things if they say it\u2019s good for me,\u2019 she says.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>One 28-year-old lawyer noted that \u201cthere\u2019s an internal pressure among my age range to constantly have these experiences and share them.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The financial analyst said she bought a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/05\/ladies-please-one-stanley-cup-per-person\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stanley tumbler<\/a> six months ago: \u201c\u2018I held out as long as I could,\u2019 she says, adding that she had bought several other water bottles that were trending on TikTok.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Journal article also notes a strand of financial supersavers on the app. As with most things social media-related, both extremes get the most clicks, such that \u201cthere are Dave Ramsay TikToks that warn of the evils of debt, followed by influencers showing off their shopping hauls of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/7-types-of-facial-wrinkles-and-what-they-say-about-your-internal-health\/\" title=\"7 Types of Facial Wrinkles and What They Say About Your Internal Health\">skin care products<\/a> and handbags.\u201d Little wonder then that financial advisers have coined the term \u201cmoney dysmorphia\u201d to reflect the distorted sense of priorities among some young adults.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u2018Influencers\u2019 Are Professional Pitchmen<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The quotes from the Journal article reveal the pernicious nature of social media and the warped picture it presents. Start with the assertion that \u201cit\u2019s hard not to buy things if they say it\u2019s good for me.\u201d The comment belies the obvious: Professional \u201cinfluencers\u201d ultimately get paid from people buying things as a result of their videos. Products promoted by these latter-day pitchmen may or may not be good for their viewers but are <em>definitely<\/em> good for their own bottom lines.<\/p>\n<p>To some, the informality of social media may make TikTok videos appear more authentic than, say, a traditional television commercial. But both still have their roots in the profit motive, meaning viewers should retain a healthy dose of skepticism. Not for nothing did TikTok create its own e-commerce engine last year, in an attempt to take market share away from Amazon and other retailers. And over and above the TikTok Shop, that app and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blackburn-says-facebook-whistleblowers-plan-would-silence-conservatives\/\" title=\"Blackburn Says Facebook Whistleblower\u2019s Plan Would Silence Conservatives\">social media companies manipulate<\/a> their algorithms to generate more clicks, and thus more revenue.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c8818e184b5a407cc824c7b345bf988e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c8818e184b5a407cc824c7b345bf988e\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for Belonging<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The lawyer interviewed by the Journal hit at the root cause of this profligacy when he spoke of \u201cpressure among my age range to constantly have these experiences and share them.\u201d But in this case, the word \u201cshare\u201d carries a far more loaded meaning than it did just a decade or two ago.<\/p>\n<p>To this observer at least, sharing experiences describes (for instance) a group of people eating a meal together in person \u2014 something that can be done rather affordably in a home if one knows how to cook. It doesn\u2019t accurately describe something like making a TikTok video that features an \u201cunboxing,\u201d or shows off one\u2019s new Gucci purse, or even displays \u201cTikTok popular baby clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And therein lies the real problem and the true dysmorphia. This \u201cinfluencer\u201d culture \u2014 the \u201cattention economy,\u201d as it were \u2014 consists of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/they-will-lose-jen-psaki-concedes-democrats-cant-let-midterms-be-about-biden\/\" title=\"\u2018They Will Lose\u2019: Jen Psaki Concedes Democrats Can\u2019t Let Midterms Be About Biden\">people spending money<\/a> to chase clicks, in the vain hope that clicks will somehow substitute for real human connection. As bad as the profligacy may be for individuals\u2019 wallets, it speaks to a psychological bankruptcy as much as a financial one.<\/p>\n<p>For better or for worse, conspicuous consumption and \u201ckeeping up with the Joneses\u201d existed well before the modern age, as medieval castles and palaces across Europe will attest. But having that culture force-fed to us through our ubiquitous phones has placed the movement into hyperdrive. And our society would do well to take a step back and examine the depth of the alienation, anxiety, and even paranoia that our culture \u2014 where we are always connected virtually yet are increasingly disconnected in real life \u2014 has wrought.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bc1d5b1bb1542fbb8c27f112234262f3 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bc1d5b1bb1542fbb8c27f112234262f3\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-120114fd4058c944eb43d45a0d56786d fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-120114fd4058c944eb43d45a0d56786d\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At first glance, it appears incredulous. Why would individuals base decisions on content from an app linked to China&#8217;s Communist regime? While many overlook this fact when engaging with TikTok influencers, it accurately reflects the daily choices of millions of Americans. This dynamic goes beyond mere influence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2246670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/pexels-liza-summer-6347621.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2246669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/pexels-liza-summer-6347621.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2246669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2246670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2246669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2246669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2246669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}