AlgorithME- how hyper labeling to gain attention of social network algorithms is influencing microtrends, visual aesthetics, and our consumption practices
It seems impossible to escape the TikTok language that is labeling our media and material goods. All bookstores and even public libraries seem to have an “as seen on Booktok” section, Spotify promotes “sad girl” playlists, and hair and makeup brands promote their products as a means to achieve the “clean girl” look. Wherever you look, this hyper specific categorization of search bar terms permeates outside of the realm of social media, actively working to define consumption by aesthetic means.
From the excessive use of hashtags on Twitter and Instagram, sorting of shared experiences, common interests, reactions to media, and beyond is nothing new. Subcultures have always existed, defined by certain stylistic means of presenting to define who is a part of the in-group. However, the emergence of these new visual aesthetics seems to have spiraled completely out of control since the popularization of TikTok in 2020. Beginning with VSCO girls (named after photo editing and social media app) scrunchies, oversized t-shirts, Birkenstock sandals, and hydro flask waterbottles became a micro-style trend. Just as quickly as it appeared, the style quickly was relentlessly mocked across the app, and fell to the status of uncool.
This is only one example of the super specific and outrageously named fashion trends that have swept across the app and almost immediately burnt out after gaining notoriety. From coastal cowgirl, fairycore, blueberry milk nails, to one of my favorite terms - tomato girl summer (no really, I’m not making this up), the trend cycle is turning over at more rapid rates than ever before. The cultivation of these aesthetics relies on notably more unique terms in order to foster attention and cut through the noise of constant marketing in the digital space. A prime example of this is the style “Twilightcore”, expressing nostalgia only fifteen years after the films were released, and deeming clothes from the early 2010s as vintage. These visual aesthetics blow up seemingly out of nowhere, then are oversaturated across social media feeds, until very soon after the aesthetic is born, it is considered outdated.
The super-specified labels to these styles are reflective of the fast fashion consumer culture we live in, and also actively perpetuate this cycle of overconsumption. There is also an element of selling and branding ourselves as users of these apps, building our identities based off of the niche corners of the internet we occupy. TikTok’s algorithm is incredibly intelligent and addictive in nature. It is able to conclude a plethora of details about an individual user simply based on the content one interacts with. Therefore, it is no surprise that these increasingly specific micro-aesthetics are emerging, as audiences are increasingly fragmented based on interest.
Though it is not only TikTok where this aesthetic obsession comes into play. Spotify is known for utilizing user data to create fun, shareable infographics and terms for users to find like minded peers online in the form of Spotify Wrapped and beyond. The latest development, Daylist, creates a personalized playlist based on your typical listening habits during that day of the week and time of day. I found myself looking at the adjectives used to describe my playlists (Magical Mountain Girl, Overthinking Floaty Morning to note two of the latest perpetrators), with as much confusion as the latest absurdly specific TikTok fashion trend title.
The algorithms on these apps work to break down the content we consume into extraordinarily specific categories in order to create as personalized an experience as possible. In this environment, the adoption of these hyper specific titles allows us to stand out, and feel a sense of individuality within the overwhelming and constantly shifting storm of mainstream trends. Our relationship with media as well as fashion, style, and material goods is undoubtedly changing due to how we interact with social media algorithms, and how we attempt to construct identity within and outside of these platforms.
