IS HATING THE RICH BECOMING A TREND ON TIKTOK?

I don't know if I live in a bubble that my TikTok algorithm dedicatedly maintains, or if there are changes in both the virtual and real world that don't even escape me.

TikTok is at the same time a space where those who filter their reality to the limit and those who bring back into focus the individual who simply talks to the camera, without excessive investments in equipment, gather. In the second case, the focus is on the personality and on the (creative) idea. My impression is that the latter are still more numerous. It's possible that the algorithm is working with me to maintain that belief because it has figured out that I like spending time in that world.

You can't achieve everything you imagine

The change I see is related to the hustle culture, the terror of productivity, and the terror of hyper-individualism. Unlike the situation a few years ago, when motivational speakers flourished on all platforms and endlessly repeated to us that our future is in our hands and that everything is a matter of our choice, now there is a strong current that opposes such convictions. People are becoming increasingly aware that not everything is in their hands and that shifting responsibility to the individual serves to camouflage the fact that the whole system is flawed. This means realizing that at the heart of our limited possibilities is a question of class.

Flexing was popular on social networks years ago - people flaunted and boasted about their wealth. Most often, this would be done by creators who got rich suddenly. The audience that responded to this was mostly young people who would want the same for themselves. At least this is certainly the case with the majority of YouTubers who functioned according to this principle and had a particularly young audience. All this worked until people began to realize that arrogance is not relatable and that they themselves probably won't live this kind of life. As happens with most fascinations - we easily moved from admiration to irony, and some even reached anger.

Class is a man's destiny

Class consciousness in an age of inflation and recession is not at all strange. An even deeper gap is created between representatives of the lower and upper middle classes, which is difficult to bridge. The upper class remains far away but is still subject to criticism. Recently, criticism of the so-called no baby. The hashtag #nepobabies on TikTok alone has 113.2 million views. These are children of nepotism, famous people who became famous and rich thanks to family connections. They often try to sell stories of their own success and perseverance to their fans, but when we consider their family history, we realize that they are rich people who are only getting richer. It is rare that one of the people who climbed to the top actually came from a lower class and managed to make it.

I think that the contemporary class issue definitely became one of the key issues of pop culture when Parasite won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2020. I don't think Parasite was the first to draw attention to this problem, but the Best Picture award helped it reach a wider audience. After that, we had a pandemic, war, and inflation, as a result of which the awareness of class differences only grew. The message of the film, and what we as individuals realize, is that movement between classes is incredibly rare. This is also explained in an excellent film analysis by the YT channel The Take.

What are the creators on TikTok laughing about (and so are we)?

One of the currently popular TikTok channels is @shabazsays (which has 56.8 million views and a successful Instagram account). It is run by a British chemistry teacher who, among other things, in his comic commentary videos in the IRYP (I'm Rich You're Poor) series criticizes arrogant behavior and flaunts wealth. Especially absurd is the obsession of rich people with ice, which Shabazz dealt with more than once. Sorting the ice in the freezer is one of the habits of rich people. In general, those who don't care too much obviously have room to deal with different types of sorting. I recommend this one as an example ‒ if you are interested, you can also watch the other clips.

Criticisms also appear through skits by various creators, and the habits of the wealthier members of society are targeted. Skiing seems to be one of the habits that divides the lower and upper middle class, but videos of this type encourage people to share similar experiences. It seems to me that these kinds of stories, skits, and exchanges of experiences influence the fact that it becomes completely cool to be part of the lower middle class and that this life experience is now presented as "the most realistic". Of course, we should also take into account the cultural context ‒ what is the lower middle class to us is not the lower middle class in a richer country nor in a poorer one.

How does this affect marketing?

In our country, all trends are late, but it is clear that people here are looking for more affordable life solutions more and more openly and with less shame. Creators, especially those aimed at a younger audience, also recommend cheaper cosmetics, second-hand clothing, and the like. The ideal seems to be to look as good as possible ‒ at the best possible price. It even seems to me that there is a growing trend again for people to pretend they are poorer in order to seem even more relatable.

This means that as a brand you need to assess your target audience and you are under no obligation to try to look "expensive" or to work with creators who look that way.

The bottom line is - it's time to position ourselves with a good image to embrace our target group, whatever class it belongs to.

Author: Natalija Jovanović, Senior Content Manager