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Is influencing on its way out?

In recent weeks, a new trend called de-influencing has taken over TikTok with the hashtag #deinfluencing racking up over 160 million videos.

The initial de-influencing videos that began circulating in January featured social media users talking about the viral products they wouldn’t recommend to discourage overconsumption. Now that the term de-influencing has become more popular, there are videos under the hashtag for nearly every niche including:

• Gamers sharing which chairs, microphones, and headsets they felt weren’t worth the money
• Dermatologists telling users which skin care products to skip
• Sephora employees posting about the makeup products that aren’t worth the hype
• Wedding planners who discuss de-influencing in the wedding industry

What’s causing the skepticism around influencing?

For starters, high inflation and economic uncertainty have people exercising caution with their spending.

There have also been concerns over the authenticity of influencer recommendations. Recently, popular creator Mikayla Nogueira was accused of wearing false eyelashes in a sponsored video promoting L’Oréal mascara. The incident, referred to as MascaraGate, went viral and left users wondering if they could trust the opinions of influencers who benefit financially from recommending products.

So does that mean influencer marketing is no longer effective? Not exactly.

On TikTok, the trend has quickly evolved from videos that say “buy less” into videos that say “buy this, not that.” The video below with over 730K views is a prime example of this, where the creator gives alternatives to the items she doesn’t recommend.

Ultimately, the power of influencer marketing lies in how much the audience trusts the creators they follow and the brands they promote. For some, the act of “de-influencing” can be seen as a strategy to build trust with an audience before influencing another purchase down the line.

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