Social media is such a huge part of today's culture & that can be seen as both a positive thing and also a negative thing. The rise in social media use and life online seems to bring with it the drive for wanting more, especially when it comes to consumerism.
Brands and social media
Social media is a driving force for many brands and companies in today's culture when it comes to driving up sales and increasing the audience for their products. And with the rise in brands employing social media influencers and celebrities to do sponsored posts and "ad" stories, we are constantly having consumerism pushed at us, even when we don't necessarily realise it.
It seems to be harder than ever before to be satisfied with what we have and the list of how to
"upgrade" our lives, especially as consumers, seem to be never-ending.
Self-comparison
Along with this is the element of comparison and constantly comparing ourselves from factors such as our appearance through to the homes we live in, most of all, the things we own. Something that social media plays a massive role in & therefore is mirrored when it comes to our habits as consumers as we are constantly playing the catch-up game of wanting bigger and better and more.
And it's interesting to consider if our lives were not so "online" all the time, a lot of us would be oblivious to what we were each consuming, and so that drive of wanting to one-up each other would not exist or at least would cease to exist on such a huge scale as it does now.
The hidden issue
It would probably be a lot easier to be more content with ourselves & our lives as they are, but a lot of brands would rather buy into our insecurities as for them, this increases profits and works in their favour.
Social Media and self-comparison unfortunately make consumerism stronger than ever before.