Slow living TikTok is inherently anti-capitalist, but the aesthetic is not
i-d.vice.com
Has 'slow living', a TikTok trend rooted in sustainable and anti-work movements, become yet another inaccessible moodboard?

Many elements of what people consider to be “living slowly” are connected back to pre-technology life, reflecting a collective yearning for offline simplicity. However — like other escapist trends (like cottagecore and coastal grandmother-core) that it has risen in conjunction with — it’s gone from being a helpful lifestyle change to an extremely online aesthetic.

This article really drives home to me how social media is so inauthentic that it can turn even a very personal, intentional, and counter-cultural movement like simple/slow living into an aesthetic, a performative hollow shell of its true meaning. I personally shudder at the idea of setting up a scene in my home for a photo to prove to others how “in the moment” I’m being — that feels inherently like not living in the moment.

I am very glad I do not use TikTok, Instagram, or any other media-focused website.

  • inasabaOPMEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I think that in a way even decluttering has been co-opted. There was a huge wave of popularity surrounding it a few years ago thanks to Marie Kondo, and even before her there were many viral books on the topic. But I’ve never seen the majority of people associated anti-consumerism with it — they keep on purchasing as normal, but also routinely “purge” their possessions so that they can have more space to keep on consuming.