Social Media and Its Role in Elementary Education and Spending Amongst Youths
By Sudipta “Sud” Paul
Where It All Began
Currently, the media exerts the largest influence over how we spend public spending. A 2019 survey from Allianz Life Insurance found that upwards of 57% of Millenials made unplanned purchases because of what they viewed on social media. The statistic is blatantly high compared to the 28% of Gen X and 7% of baby boomers that spend based on what they see on social media.
Pressure to spend is oftentimes driven by the holidays. A survey from Bankrate found that 51% of Americans felt more pressure to spend more than they felt comfortable spending on gifts for others during the holiday season. Coupled with the dynamic of social media bearing and spending, Americans are loaded year-round with both spending gratification and illusive obligations to do so. With all of these problems surrounding the new American culture, it begs the question: what started all of these problems in the first place? Well, the answer is simple: consumerism.
What is Consumerism?
Consumerism is the designated belief or idea that when one spends more on the consumption of products and services within the market it equates to an overall desirable goal. In some aspects, it is thought that people will be happier when consumer spending increases drastically. However, the origins of consumerism stem mainly from the start of the late seventeenth century. Through the innovations of the Industrial Revolution, the concept of consumerism spread to most of the European Subcontinent, and then the rest of the world. However, there are other dynamics that can be attributed to the growth of consumerism.
Before the Industrial Revolution began, much of the European and North American continents suffered from large income gaps between the rich and the poor. The first class made up much of the nation’s economy wherever they were, while the poor struggled to bring food home. In lieu of this, political values that centered around socialism emerged, bringing forth a new middle class to act as a backdrop between the rich and poor. The middle class was better off than the lower class and managed to fend for themselves. With the ability to buy houses, food, and afford quality education for their children, the middle class’ presence intensified consumerism. The more people that lived comfortably meant more products and goods were purchased throughout the nation. This may have been the start of the appeal of goods and consumerism in modern times.
As consumerism consumed much of the world, it scourged its ideals and philosophies into a “Golden Age of Consumerism” during the 1950s and 1960s. During this era, marketing campaigns brought forth strategies and values to further the expansion of consumerism. Goods, products, and services became far cheaper and sold on even larger scales to meet consumer demands. For many of these companies, marketing and advertising through these campaigns was the lifeblood needed to help ripen their social standing. As more and more companies participated in this practice, the chains of consumerism were let loose as production skyrocketed in factories all over the world.
Although advertisements and marketing campaigns brought forth the Golden Age of Consumerism, modern consumerism today has mainly developed because of outsourcing. Outsourcing is hiring outside parties and services to create goods that were once done by “in-house” factories and developers. When companies and countries send themselves and their manufacturers to other nations, it increases the production of goods exponentially. This advent brought society forth to what is now modern-day consumerism in all aspects of life.
The Ballpark of Consumerism and Social Media
A research paper by Santa Clara University found that in recent years, consumer culture has “infiltrated” the social media world as a result of social media collaborations. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in September 2018, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat users increased triple-fold over the past decade, leading companies and other developers to advertise their products and services on these platforms. In 2020, the amount of money that was spent on social media advertising was upwards of 40 billion dollars and will likely continue to increase.
With advertisements on social media only increasing daily as new users continue to create social media accounts, the effect that social media has on economic and goods spending are immeasurable. An AARP report as of 2018 found that Facebook Users who spent longer on the platform tended to have lower credit scores and more debt compared to their counterparts who did not indulge as much time in social media platforms. While the individual is harmed, companies still benefit economically as more people continue to spend on products and services they see on social media platforms.
By appealing to a strong base using media networks, companies can easily market their product with flashy ads. The product’s appeal continues to affect younger generations as they spend more and more time on these platforms. In the end, social media is the true culprit!
References
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