Buying less? Thank deinfluencers

At a time when inflation is high, fast fashion overwhelms landfills and clutter is causing mental health issues, their buy-less message is resonating. More people are questioning whether constant shopping adds genuine value to their lives — or just more stuff to manage. And deinfluencers are here for it.

What are influencers?

Influencers are social media personalities who have built an audience that trusts them and use that trust to promote products. They make money by sharing hauls of clothing, makeup, home goods and gadgets. Influencers often buy or receive items they don't need just to keep the content flowing to the audience.

Their job — and don't be mistaken, it is a job — is to sell sell sell. They market either directly through sponsorships from companies paying to promote their products or indirectly through showing off purchases to their audience and getting paid for their views on the content. The result of their work? Constant influencer pressure to buy more, shop more, watch more, eat more and keep up with what everyone else has, and believe that happiness is tied to new purchases.

Here come the deinfluencers

Deinfluencing flips this high-pressure buying model on its head. Instead of telling people what to buy, deinfluencers tell them what they don't need, showing how normal, real people can live once they opt out of the high-stakes influencer-driven market.

Deinfluencers challenge the push for overconsumption by showing how much influencer marketing drives unnecessary spending. Their social media content often focuses on making do with what you already own, fixing things instead of replacing them, making dinner at home, watching free television and being intentional with purchases. No one needs new couch pillows every season and they're leading the charge on saying no more.

Unlike traditional influencers, deinfluencers don't rely on constant new purchases to fuel their content on their social media channels. Instead, they showcase a lifestyle of contentment with less and focus on making the most of what they already have, whether by repairing a worn-out appliance or cooking from things in their cupboards.

Deinfluencers post about wearing the same clothes for years, patching and mending to stretch the lifetime of their garments. They learn to repair electronics instead of upgrading them, cook from scratch to stretch their budgets and learn to cook instead of going out to eat. They utilize most of the things they buy until they're exhausted, used beyond repair or become incompatible with modern systems. Many deinfluencers are open about past overspending habits and how cutting back has improved their lives.

Repair isn't intuitive

Are deinfluencers just intuitively better at fixing, mending and making do? No, of course not. They actively seek ways to fix or make things, leaning heavily on YouTube, blog posts and friends to help them figure it out.

It takes a bit of courage to fix or make something the first time, but once you've finished, the feeling of accomplishment makes it easier to tackle the next repair. Before long, choosing to fix instead of replace becomes second nature.

Do they just know how to make sourdough from scratch? No, they take steps to learn these things to help them live well within their budgets, or to get them off the hamster wheel of new bigger better products they must have — perhaps it's a little of both.

Changing consumer habits

Deinfluencers take a practical but nearly radical approach to help change consumer habits. They remind people that it's okay to wear the same outfits repeatedly, use an older phone and enjoy their well-loved furniture instead of chasing the next purchase.

They encourage secondhand shopping, patching and repairing, and questioning whether a new purchase is necessary. By showing that happiness and well-being aren't tied to shopping and being entertained, they make buying less feel like a choice — not a sacrifice.

Deinfluencing is more than just a trend; it's a response to the overwhelming consumerism cycle plaguing the planet and the people who live here. Thanks to deinfluencers, the pressure to buy, buy, buy is finally losing its grip.

Laura Sampson is the writer behind Little Frugal Homestead. She and her husband, Jack, are two Gen-Xers living in a 90-year-old farmhouse in Alaska. They keep chickens and honey bees and grow a garden and small orchard; their dream is to live well within their means on their little piece of land.