"That Girl" trend

Overview

The “That Girl” trend, which emerged in early 2021 on TikTok, represents a significant cultural movement among content creators and users aiming to inspire and motivate themselves towards personal betterment throughout the year. This trend captures the essence of online aspiration, encouraging individuals to blend physical and mental health practices to unlock their utmost potential. It is characterized by the sharing of idealized and aesthetically focused morning routines, often highlighting the beauty of these rituals over the substance of the activities themselves.

With over 7.4 billion views for #thatgirl, the trend’s massive popularity underscores its impact on digital culture and its audience on TikTok.

Cultural Significance and Critique

The “That Girl” trend serves as a mirror to current societal norms and values, reflecting and shaping what is considered desirable and trendy. While ostensibly promoting health and self-care a closer examination reveals a nuanced narrative. The trend promotes an idealized lifestyle emphasizing early rising, productivity, aesthetic living spaces, regular exercise, healthy eating, and self-care, all set to motivational music. However, it also aligns with capitalist ideals, driving consumerism and perpetuating socio-economic inequalities, thus offering a complex view of wellness and self-improvement within a consumerist framework.

TIkTok’s Role in Promoting the Trend

TikTok’s effectiveness in propagating the “That Girl” trend can be attributed to its visual appeal, personalized algorithms, user engagement, influencer culture, and short-term content. The platform’s features are perfectly suited to showcasing and promoting lifestyle trends, fostering a sense of community, and driving e-commerce through direct in-app shopping capabilities. This synergy between TikTok’s functionalities and the trend’s characteristics makes the platform an ideal medium for the dissemination of such aspirational content.

Commodification and Consumerism

The commodification of the “That Girl” trend highlights how wellness and self-improvement have been transformed into marketable commodities within the realm of social media. Influencers and content creators play a crucial role in this process, endorsing products as essential tools for achieving the “That Girl” lifestyle. This phenomenon reflects Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of social, symbolic, and cultural capital, where the acquisition of certain products is linked to social belonging and identity. The trend underscores how personal and cultural life has been monetized, with social media platforms like TikTok facilitating this commodification through targeted advertising and influencer collaborations.

Socio-Economic Implications

The “That Girl” trend on TikTok not only promotes consumerism but also highlights the socio-economic disparities inherent in the pursuit of wellness and self-improvement. By equating personal betterment with the consumption of branded products, the trend creates a divide between those who can afford to participate and those who cannot. This division raises questions about the accessibility of wellness and the role of consumerism in shaping personal and societal values.

Conclusion

The “That Girl” trend on TikTok offers a window into contemporary youth culture, reflecting broader societal trends and values. While it promotes self-improvement and wellness on the surface, the trend also amplifies capitalist ideologies, driving consumerism and highlighting socio-economic inequalities. This analysis emphasizes the need to critically examine social media trends, understanding their broader implications and the ways they shape societal norms and individual behaviors in the digital age.