As social media becomes more popular viewers are watching what people get which creates an almost societal pressure on gift-giving. The materialistic aspects of relationships have grown in demand especially because of this expectation of gift-giving. From Boo and Burr baskets to 55$ Jellycats the boost in popularity of buying and receiving these gifts has risen.
When talking to my friend she mentioned how her friend’s significant other always buys her things he sees on TikTok and when talking about this she used the term “TikTok gifts”. It made me think about the sentimental meaning and value of these items. Buying a Pandora necklace or Jellycat isn’t bad at all if anything these are amazing gifts but only buying them because you see other people buying them adds to a materialistic expectation that sometimes can get in our heads. Conversations with peers on what they got for their partners and friends also contribute to this materialistic pressure.
Buying what you see on TikTok or Instagram is really nice but constantly only buying things you see online lowers the sentimental value of gifts. And these things aren’t always affordable. With Boo and Burr baskets you can make them affordable but seeing what some people put in them brings almost a “Is this good enough?” mindset.
As our generation values more materialistic aspects of gifts it can create strains on gift-giving when it should be an enjoyable experience. Stressing about not buying enough comes from the idea of whether you are spending enough. An article from The Courier talks about the marketing tactics companies have over us. It states, “If the strength of your relationship is tested on yet another consumerist trend and whether or not they make you a basket (and if it’s up to standard), then I think the issue lies more in overconsumption habits and the control the marketing industry has over us all as individuals.” Because of how gift giving has been implemented into our minds, I feel like we start getting the idea that if someone doesn’t get a gift basket they aren’t special or they are a bad partner because of the overconsumption habits we as a society have.
