As reading gets popular, there are a lot of opinions flying around.

BookTok, a subculture of TikTok, boomed in 2020, right around the time of the pandemic. With an astounding 52 million hashtags, it’s safe to say that most people know what BookTok is.

I was one of the millions of TikTok users in 2020 scrolling through the many book recommendations, monthly unboxings and bookshelf organizing videos. I would consider myself a casual reader in the 2000s and 2010s in the days of “Percy Jackson” and “Divergent.” It was the era of young adult dystopian novels, a genre recognizable to the Millennial generation, especially. 

I got back into reading in 2020 with “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo and “Legend” by Marie Lu being the hottest books on the app at the time. These titles weren’t even new, with “Six of Crows” being published in 2015 and “Legend” in 2011.

Now, it’s all being rediscovered on BookTok. 

Emily Teigland, a second-year University of Minnesota student and president of the book club through the University Libraries, said she likes how easy it is to digest and access a vast collection of books on TikTok. 

“I think BookTok is really, really cool, personally,” Teigland said. “It’s so fascinating to watch how it has allowed people over the last six years to find books and build community around books.”

Along with promoting older books, BookTok also pushes lesser-known books into the light, giving self-published authors, especially, a chance to land on the bestseller list. 

“Stone Maidens” by Lloyd Devereux Richards was published in 2013 but was not very popular. Ten years later, his daughter posted a TikTok of him promoting the book and “Stone Maidens” rose to the No. 1 bestseller on Amazon. 

Many self-publishing authors have found luck promoting their book through an eight-second video using words like “enemies to lovers” or “dark romantasy,” two genres that I’ve seen surpass all other book genres in recent years. 

BookTok has also brought light to heavier genres, especially explicit romance. Such books have received backlash for branding their book with the new, cartoonish style found on books by Ali Hazelwood, Emily Henry and Hannah Grace.

These romance authors, who grew into fame through BookTok, are being called out for their explicit content marketed by a cover attracting both adults and young teens.

Lacie McMillin, an undergraduate services specialist at the University’s libraries, said that, although controversial books are being promoted to the young audience of BookTok, at least there’s a space to have those conversations.

“Hopefully, if someone learns that that’s not the book for them, and they should not read that, maybe they learn that from BookTok,” McMillin said. “I think it can be good at sparking angles in important conversations.” 

Kate Peterson, an undergraduate services librarian, said her and McMillin’s perspectives may be different from those of a public or elementary school librarian, whose target audience is younger. 

“I’m not as worried, per se, about young readers getting their hands on a book that’s not a good fit for them because you don’t know what you don’t know,” Peterson said. “We get to be in that place where the expectation is that all of our students are making their own choices about what they read.” 

Peterson recommends speaking to parents, teachers and local librarians when it comes to picking out a book, controversial or not. She said she also believes that if a book isn’t sitting right with the reader, they are free to put it down and find something else. 

At the end of the day, people still have preferences and are not obligated to like a book just because it’s famous on TikTok. 

Speaking of fame, the formula for book fame has changed drastically thanks to BookTok. I’ve noticed many new romance and “romantasy” novels feel like skewed versions of older books I’ve read. 

All the readers I talked to agreed that new books are appealing more to the industry and less to the readers, especially in the genres mentioned. 

Mira Ratrout, a second-year student at the University, said she sees books for the importance they’ve held throughout history rather than the dissemination of the stereotypical romance reader. 

“Since early times, books and literature are a form of protest where authors would write about something through fiction to combat something happening in real life,” Ratrout said. “BookTok has taken a capitalistic view of the art of reading, where there’s a guideline to write a trendy book instead of focusing on the art of writing and the beauty of books.”

Amidst her opinion, Ratrout said she found it ridiculous that people judge others for the books they read. At the end of the day, she believes people read to get what they want out of it, whether it be books on history, self-help and so on. 

I frankly don’t care what you’re reading. 

In an age where children are handed iPads before “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” people are worrying about teens and young adults reading trending books on TikTok? It’s a little absurd. 

It’s odd how people will immediately judge someone by one single book they have read. By the way, the Webster’s Dictionary definition of a reader is, “One that reads,” not “One that reads Charles Dickens” or “One that reads Game of Thrones.” 

One. That. Reads.

With technology only getting better, books will soon collect dust in the background. So don’t be ashamed to pick up a book you find online. 

If BookTok motivates you to read, don’t let anyone stop you. BookTok may just be our greatest effort to keep books alive.

Much of a student’s life in 2025 consists of romanticizing everything around them. 

From buying yourself flowers to studying in a coffee shop, much of this tendency grew in popularity during COVID-19 when people needed motivation during quarantine. Now that TikTok includes more “A day in my life” and “POV” content, more of us are beginning to see the world through rose-colored glasses.

TikTok’s #romanticizeyourlife has around 427.7K posts. Instagram stands with 283K posts. The trend constantly surrounds student life at a pleasant desk decorated with plants, pastel stationery and a keyboard that has the softest clicks whenever you type.

Other posts feature women in dresses similar to the ones found in “Bridgerton” or a Jane Austen novel. This style was deemed “cottagecore” during the pandemic and is still popular today. Thrifting for old clothes and trinkets and searching recipes for sourdough bread continue to flood #cottagecore. 

Creators and commenters alike have found that these videos motivate them to cook or bake more — a task most adults have to encounter every day. For example, a TikTok user tracy.tracy0212 made a video titled “What I eat in a day.” The comments are flooded with people complimenting her cooking, asking for more tips or recipes and more. 

Much of TikTok’s romanticizing of life falls under studying. It’s something that all students must do but dread doing. The motivating audios, montages of papers with a red A+ and late-night timelapses in a library really appeal to viewers. 

I am very fond of these videos, and I think they really encourage the community of students on TikTok. It’s so interesting how the tone and sound of a video that’s less than 10 seconds can fuel me with the motivation I need to complete such a grueling task. 

Why are we so attracted to the image or video of someone else’s day in their life? How exactly do these videos motivate us?

Nicola Grissom, associate professor in the psychology department at the University of Minnesota, researches goal-directed behaviors and how to maintain motivation. Grissom said motivation for long-term goals is a challenge our brain faces. 

“On one hand, we see students studying as a benefit to them because it’s helping them with their long-term goals, which is to do well in classes and earn the skills and contacts needed in those classes,” Grissom said. “On the other hand, it’s a really good goal, but it’s really far away, and it can be very hard to maintain goals that are really far away.”

Grissom said the motivation circuits in the brain are not prepared to act in terms of months and years, but instead from moments to hours. That’s when the question of how to stay motivated for that long comes into play. 

Grissom used the example of aesthetically decorated desks, which can be very helpful to those who have trouble staying motivated to study. TikTok creators may feel rewarded from the feedback and, therefore, use it to continue studying. 

However, there are caveats to this reward-based system. 

If the goal to study morphs into a goal for likes and popularity, then it can be detrimental to the creator, according to Grissom. It can get in the way of studying and become stressful, in which case, a new method of motivation would be needed. 

“You have to be really careful and honest with yourself. Like, ‘Am I actually gonna do this? Is it actually going to help me or is something that I’m doing instead of studying that feels like studying?’” Grissom said. 

I’ve always found myself romanticizing my life with the help of music, and according to the curated YouTube playlists with titles like “you’re writing love letters in an ancient library during autumn,” others agree.

Almost by instinct, certain songs, colors and celebrities relate to certain emotions. Little research is needed to tell you that a majority of Generation Z won’t choose Laufey for workout music nor Charli XCX for that heartbreak feeling in the rain. Grissom said the music and visuals can definitely play a part in short-term motivation, especially. 

Blake Hoffmann, a second-year student at the University, said he likes to romanticize his life as if it were a TV show.

“When you’re doing these normal tasks, there’s not like a soundtrack playing in your life 24/7,” Hoffmann said. “But making it prettier or more aesthetic makes it seem like the task you’re doing that’s mundane is actually a lot more glamorous.” 

Hoffmann said he thinks there’s nothing wrong with having long-term goals as long as you can find motivation to simultaneously handle short-term goals. As most of TikTok is filled with “study with me” and “pull an all-nighter with me for my final exam,” it can get overwhelming. The long-term goal of getting your degree, for example, should be accompanied by the motivation to complete smaller tasks as well.  

Humans are driven by small rewards, according to Grissom. The small reward received from completing a small task, let’s say washing the dishes, can train the brain to be motivated for bigger tasks.

For the creators, Grissom leaves them with this parting message:  

“As long as people are able to be thoughtful and honest with themselves about what motivates them, then yes, let yourself be motivated by having your beautiful situation and sharing it with others,” Grissom said. “It doesn’t mean that your life is perfect, but equally, make sure you are using what actually motivates you to achieve the goals that are really important to you.”

Although some TikToks discourage “toxic positivity,” or romanticizing too much, most people agree that romanticizing life is a choice that doesn’t hurt the people around them. 

So if you need to listen to Lady Gaga while walking to your least favorite class or personalize your kitchen to match a fairy’s, go ahead. 

Wear that sundress to the grocery store. Go browse a bookstore while listening to Hozier through outdated, wired earbuds. Light that new $20 candle. Hang eucalyptus in your shower. 

If all these acts make you feel more inclined to study, cook, go outside or whatnot, by all means, go wild, child.

The constant Red Bull car visits, TikToks encouraging all-nighters and endless new brands are feeding into teens’ and young adults’ addiction to energy drinks.

As much as these flavored drinks provide a quick sugar high and concentration due to the heavy pounding of one’s heart, energy drinks have negative, long-lasting effects on a developing body.

I first noticed the rise of colorful, caffeinated drinks and the downfall of bitter Starbucks frappuccinos during my junior prom. My friend and I were planning to stay up all night. She was already four Red Bulls in, and it wasn’t even 3 a.m., while I drank only half a can — about 40 mg of caffeine or equivalent to a cup of green tea.

I went to bed at around 4 a.m., and my heart was still pounding in my ears. I thought I was going to die in my sleep as I remembered the presentations we were shown in middle school on the detrimental effects of energy drinks.

Miraculously, I survived the night. To my surprise, so did my friend, who ended up drinking seven that night.

According to the American Heart Association, 90% of adults start their day with some form of caffeine. The FDA recommends 400 mg a day as a healthy dose of caffeine for adults, equal to about two to three 12-fluid-ounce cups of coffee. This dose is typically not associated with negative effects, so it’s safe to shoot for that dosage daily.

The issue arises when teenagers and children start consuming these drinks.

Joanne Slavin, professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, said energy drinks aren’t regulated.

“For kids, yeah, I am worried,” Slavin said, “It’s never been tested (on kids), and, for anyone with an existing health issue, I would not recommend it…it’s really not necessary.”

Caffeine is found in many natural foods such as coffee, chocolate and tea. Slavin said finding the right dose in natural foods is harder to measure. Additionally, people’s caffeine metabolism is different, similar to alcohol intake. A line can’t explicitly be drawn for people under 18 when metabolism, heart health, health issues and genetics are involved.

Dakota Flanery, a first-year student at the University, used to drink Bubbl’rs every day in high school. When she entered college, she started drinking less caffeine and experienced withdrawal symptoms.

“I’ve found it really takes on you like a drug,” Flanery said. “I’d get caffeine headaches, and then I was realizing my body was very much dependent on the caffeine.”

Flanery referenced the Panera Bread supercharged lemonade, a heavily caffeinated lemonade that killed a 21-year-old woman after she consumed it. 

According to the lawsuit from the woman’s parents, the woman had a pre-existing heart condition, but the restaurant chain wasn’t transparent about the drink’s caffeine content. Panera said the caffeine content in a 30-oz cup is equivalent to its Dark Roast Coffee, which is 390 mg. The lemonade is also mixed “in-house” by employees, so the caffeine content is inconsistent. 

If artificially caffeinated lemonade can be inconsistent, who’s to say energy drinks aren’t? 

Caffeine studies are typically done through natural foods and drinks. Coffee is a natural source of caffeine; the Ghost Energy X Sour Patch Kids can in your fridge is not. 

I’ve noticed energy drink brands try to attract consumers by prioritizing plant-based ingredients. Plant extracts aren’t as commonly tested for natural caffeine, Slavin said. Common plant extracts like guarana, a native plant of Brazil used as a stimulant, are treated more as herbal supplements in the health world. Because of this, its caffeine content is often not listed on the nutrition label.

“The dose makes the poison,” Slavin said.

Slavin said most medicinal drugs produced are made from plant extracts, reminding me of why I initially wanted to write this story. When I walk into the Dinkytown Target, the first thing I notice is the cooler wall of canned and bottled drinks.

It’s hard to miss it. The entrance directs you immediately to the grab-and-go wall of different drinks, including every energy drink imaginable. There are so many flavors and brands to choose from. Students slip past me, grabbing two or three cans for the road, mumbling about midterms and exams on their way to the checkout counter. Others just got off of work, rubbing their eyes as they contemplate their poison for the night.

It looked like a wall of vapes, the scene resembling moths to a deadly flame. If you’re looking to pick up a quick energy drink on your way to class, this is the place to be. 

“Do people really depend on these to get through the day?” was all I could think.

Third-year student Lynniah Weddington said energy drinks exist to help people get through everyday life and obligations. Although neutral on the topic, Weddington said school and work schedules make it hard to stay focused throughout the day. Sipping an energy drink helps her finish tasks.

“I think it’s definitely dangerous when you get to younger people under 18 who like drinking them,” Weddington said. “But I’d then ask, ‘Well, why do they feel the need to drink it?’ Is the amount of work they’re putting on people too much to where they have to rely on energy drinks or a 5-hour ENERGY to stay up and meet obligations?” 

The number of teenagers, and even middle schoolers, depending on energy drinks astonishes me. 

When I graduated high school in 2023, Bubbl’r and Alani Nu had just become popular among my peers. The junior high girls were beginning to dabble in the hype, especially after Bubbl’r started recruiting athletes to be ambassadors. After that, I’d see posts of my high school volleyball team posing with Bubbl’rs in hand. 

Many students have noticed negative effects from their caffeine consumption. Jitters, sporadic concentration and insomnia have been reported by people between the ages of 18 and 22, according to the American Heart Association. High doses of caffeine can cause anxiety, raised blood pressure and heart palpitations.

For those who consume caffeine daily, withdrawal symptoms like headaches, fatigue and depressed moods can occur. Not to forget long-term effects like heart, liver and kidney damage, Slavin said. 

So why do young people continue to reach for the can when they know the damage it’s causing?

“There are so many other things that I do, like diet and exercise, that probably have a positive long-term effect on my health too,” Weddington said. “I think that’s what other college students would say as well.”

I don’t blame you fellow students who need pick-me-ups throughout the week. I’m an occasional coffee drinker when a busy day or long night catches up to me. 

It’s normal to need a little stimulation, but people should understand the consequences of constantly incorporating sugary, aesthetically-pleasing drinks into their diet. 

Perhaps the workforce and school scheduling is the real issue, but that’s an argument for another time. If you want some energy, getting plenty of sleep, eating routine meals and staying hydrated can fuel your body and keep it trucking in the long run, Slavin said. 

Remember to stay healthy and take care of yourselves as finals season approaches.

Social media has made educating the world on cultures and traditions easier. However, as fashion continues to move forward, TikTok influencers are rebranding cultural fashion as beauty trends. Such fashion — reserved for tradition –– is popularized by people unfamiliar with the history, stirring controversy in comment sections.

Henna art blew up on TikTok around 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic settled in and teens everywhere were eager to get crafty at home. Predominantly white women and girls used the plant-based dye to stain temporary freckles on their faces. Some users of South Asian descent labeled the trend as cultural appropriation.

When my friend, who is not South Asian or Indian, asked if she could use my family’s henna — or what we call mehndi — to apply fake freckles to her face, I remember thinking it was odd of her to be suddenly interested in it after I had been traditionally wearing the stains on my hand for years.

I realized then that my culture was noticed, but never recognized.

My preteen peers would point out and question why my family looked or dressed the way they did. Of course, some respectfully asked about the meaning behind the designs or saris my grandma would wear, but until it was seen on social media, I was practically an alien.

TikTok wasn’t popular until I was in middle school. Before that, it was hard for me to embrace my Indian heritage. I grew up in a predominantly white town of less than 2,000 people. My family was the only Indian family for a long time. It was hard to grow up proud of my culture when people around me constantly dismissed it, particularly my fashion.

I will admit that I felt seen whenever traditional Bollywood dances or wedding saris would go viral on TikTok, and I’m sure others can agree. It made me feel less like the odd one out. Instead, people wanted to be me and wished they had some culture like mine. It was a weird observation for a 15-year-old to analyze.

It doesn’t stop at ethnicity-based culture. There are fashion trends that derive from U.S. subcultures, such as Black and Latino descent, that were rebranded on social media.

The popular oversized T-shirts and baggy jeans originate from Black families, who often have to rely on hand-me-downs to save money. Nike and Air Jordans were simply sneakers until rappers and celebrities popularized them into the status symbols they are today. Even gold earrings, once worn by Sumerian women in ancient Mesopotamia, grew in popularity among Black and Latina women. Now, white women everywhere are wearing gold hoops.

There are many other examples, but this raises the question of why these became popular on TikTok in the first place.

Marilyn DeLong, professor emerita at the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, said social media makes it easier for people to stay up-to-date with fashion.

“When you see something on the internet, and it registers in your brain, you think, ‘Oh, that looks modern,’” DeLong said. “So the next time you see that thing, in a shop or on a catalog, then there’s a desire to have that.”

DeLong said most cultural fashion trends could result from multiple reasons. There’s the social aspect, the desire to fit into the norm and a personal aspect that speaks to you and you alone. 

DeLong said Ralph Lauren, a fairly high-end brand of clothing that grew in popularity in the 1990s, often takes inspiration from Native American motifs. 

“If you look at style as a recognizable pattern that can be repeated, then (Ralph Lauren) is using ‘Americana’ as a theme in almost every style he designs,” DeLong said. “But anything that’s a part of someone’s history needs to be respected.”

Depending on the trend, respect can fall either way. Gold hoops have been popular for a long time and normalized to be modern. The same could be said about acrylic nails, even though specific demographics, such as Black women, wore them more than others. Cultural clothing, such as the Chinese hanfu or Indian sari, should be worn correctly and researched in order to respect their origin. 

Julie Shaw, a second-year student at the University, said cultural fashion now tends to aim for gratification rather than honoring.

“I think white women kinda adopt these trends and then it’s seen as more upper class and something more desirable, a wealth symbol,” Shaw said. “The issue comes when there’s gentrification and no recognition of where (the trend) stems from.”

Shaw brought up  Hailey Bieber’s “brownie lip,” a lip liner look created by Bieber to recreate iconic brown-lined lips often worn by Black and Latina women in the ‘90s. Women of color spoke out against the lip combo’s name and educated viewers on its true origin. People found it odd that Bieber, a white woman, tried to rally up a trend that wasn’t new.

The same goes for Kim Kardashian’s “Bo Derek” braids which are a play on cornrows, a hairstyle originating from African women. 

The rebranding of cultural fashion and beauty continues to rub me the wrong way. The fight for a tradition of their own is something I’ve seen in white culture. As someone who’s half-white, half-Indian, I’ve had to experience both worlds. 

Vyan Abdullah, a first-year student, said people don’t want to homogenize fashion, but microtrends make it difficult for ethnicities and demographics to identify with their culture.

“The U.S. is very heterogeneous, like people share cultures and that’s okay,” Abdullah said. “The important thing to remember, especially within fashion, is that fashion should reflect the heterogeneity of said culture.”

I’ve come to the same conclusion as most people on the internet — do thorough research. 

I can only leave readers with the advice to be careful jumping on a trend train. Do some background research. If it seems off, such as Bieber’s lip combo, there could be some context left unsaid. I believe when done correctly, trends can spread education on the culture and enhance a safer space to indulge in fashion.

“I don’t think it’s all bad,” Shaw said. “I think there is a space for it, and there is a space for appreciation.”

As streaming continues to be the main line of entertainment, we’re rediscovering old media treasures from another time. From visiting vinyl record stores and bringing digital cameras to parties, Gen Z is participating in activities our parents and grandparents once did. 

Millennials and Gen Xers have told me stories about how cumbersome it was to carry a flip phone, camera, Walkman and even a flashlight wherever they went. Now, they’re content with having those all in one device.

Gen Z tends to land on both sides of the timeline. 

I remember lugging around our DVD binder and my little DVD player whenever I went on car rides. My mom’s CD binder from the ‘90s would sit at my feet in the backseat while she played Michael Jackson and Enigma. I would guess that 80% of my life is documented in the six shelves of photo albums in our basement my mom made. 

Now, we have streaming services and camera rolls that require $10 a month to get an extra terabyte of storage. Monthly fees, lack of ownership and unfair distribution to artists have brought down the streaming appeal, according to The Week. 

“I think it’s important to buy a lot of physical media,” said Isaac Schroeder, a first-year student at the University of Minnesota. “If you buy from the artist or author, I think they make a lot more money from it since they don’t make a lot of money through streaming services.”  

The money from music streams first goes to the artist’s rights holders, which include record labels, publishers and collecting societies, according to Streaming Media. The money is distributed to the artist based on royalty systems and contracts. 

When consumers buy vinyl records and CDs, the money bypasses most of these systems and contributes more to the artist. 

In the book world, authors can experience similar trends with e-books on the rise. Only now, ebooks pay more than physical copies. Depending on the popularity and contract, royalties still play a huge role in the author’s success. These contrasting media affect how fans wish to support their artist. 

However, as a developing author myself and a believer in authors’ entitlement, the decline of print books saddens me. In a time when most things can be archived and found on a smart device, I want to believe the beauty and simplicity of physical media continue to interest the human mind. 

Ruth DeFoster, assistant professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said ownership plays an important role in the desire for physical media. 

“From my perspective, in the streaming and digital environment, it’s very slippery and very intangible,” DeFoster said. “Even if you purchase something (on a streaming service), it’s not really yours.” 

My mom still asks me why I buy $20-$50 vinyl records when I have it all on Spotify. She’ll walk into my room, take one look at my CD and LP stack, and scowl at all that can easily fit into my smartphone. I can understand why it’s confusing to see younger generations want the hard way of accessing something like music.

But why do we still yearn for it? 

DeFoster paraphrased a quote by Ben Bagdikian, a media scholar, that resonated with me on the book side of physical media. 

“There’s something in the human DNA that really favors words on a page,” DeFoster said.

Art is too abstract and personal to disappear in the presence of technology. Books, in this case, will always interest the human mind. There will always be that spark in one’s heart when a physical medium catches one’s eye. 

Beth Mergens, a first-year student, related the feeling to the quote “Eating with your eyes first.” 

“If you go to a thrift store, there’s going to be older media you don’t understand or know the music of,” Mergens said. “But if you see an album cover that’s really pretty to you, you’re going to see it in the same way we see art.” 

The excuse that physical media is art is something many people agree on. When I first started collecting vinyl records, I didn’t understand them. I was amazed to see grooves on a disk play the music I love. It was magical — enchanting even. I think many people feel the same way and are constantly in awe of the outlets humans build their art into. 

Is sifting through our parents’ and grandparents’ media a normal occurrence in humans? If so, how relevant is it for Gen Z? 

DeFoster said pop culture tends to cycle every 20 years. This explains the rebranding of ‘90s Birkenstocks shoes when I was a kid or the comeback of ‘70s bell-bottom jeans in the ’90s when DeFoster was young. If fashion can do this, why can’t physical media? 

Bob Fuchs, a retail music manager at the record store Electric Fetus, has seen pop culture ebb and flow for decades. 

“So many times on Saturdays we’ll see families coming in with grandma and grandpa, their kids and then their kids’ kids,” Fuchs said. “It’s like two or even three generations all coming in to look at music.” 

Fuchs has worked at Electric Fetus for 37 years and continues to watch families grow. He described physical music as a “stamp in time,” which I cannot agree with more. 

My turntable is some Panasonic system with a dual cassette player built into it, courtesy of my grandma. My CD player is a silver Sony boombox that my mom used when she was in college. My mom stopped using her blue Sony digital camera around the time I turned 15, but now it’s capturing all my college memories.

I’ve personalized them with stickers and paint, but the fact that they’re a part of my family’s past makes me feel closer to them. Some people even settle for careers in physical media, bystanders to time and yet timeless themselves. 

“People are buying records and don’t even have a turntable. They just want it for the artwork,” Fuchs said. “They want to hang them up, and I think ‘This is great!’ They are appreciative of one element of what I think a record is, and it validates, practically, my whole life’s worth.”

Humans will always collect artifacts of their past. Through the owning and cherishing of these media, they remain locked in time. They will always be there, even as humanity continues to evolve. 

There’s no replacing the work of delicate fingers as they pop in a DVD, the steadiness of a hand as it directs the needle over the vinyl record or even the buying of physical books only for them to be stacked and used as a mini table. 

This is what feeds our soul and builds our identity. 

“Physical books and, in the same way, physical media are never going to go away,” DeFoster said. “We’re going to have these rounds of nostalgia that come and go for various types of physical media, but I don’t think they’re ever going to completely go away.” 

Girls nowadays are waking up at the crack of dawn to start their skincare routine — even propping up their phones to document it — but it’s all gone too far. 

In an age where dating has gone digital and creativity stems from the Instagram Reels we watch before bed, there is a lot of competition when it comes to beauty and how we keep it up. Perhaps it was always there, but now it’s on the internet, and we can hide behind a screen as we frown and wish we could live a grander lifestyle. 

The face is what most people see on a profile on any platform; it’s the first basis of comparison. We study the jaw, skin, makeup and eyebrows and immediately compare them to the face we’re most acquainted with: our own.  

Don’t fret, though, because now we have lotions, moisturizers, toners and all sorts of labels to massage into our faces in hopes of outshining the 21-year-old influencer in her New York City penthouse. 

Wrinkles gone? Sign me up! No more eye bags? Yes! Clear all the impurities from my pores (whatever that means)? Take my money!  

If this is the case, why shouldn’t I pamper myself up and post three videos in hopes that others envy me? I might as well shout from my sixth-floor apartment, “I am also clean and taking care of my skin for you all to see!” I get it, truly. 

Anti-aging reminds me of the “Twilight” movies, in which Bella was obsessed with her age and staying young forever. As I enter my 20s, I find people my age concerned over the same thing, only there aren’t any vampires or werewolves to impress. Although, aren’t we still trying to impress the people around us?

Beauty trends aren’t new and are always evolving. Women and girls find makeup and skincare on social media to be inspiring, eager to buy the same product an influencer from Calabasas, Calif., is using to get rid of her sun-kissed smile lines and crow’s feet. 

Shayla Thiel-Stern, a teaching associate professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, said the anti-aging industry is ageist.

“People are taught at this very young age that aging is a bad thing, and the only way to be successful and attractive is to ‘battle aging,’ but aging is a privilege,” Thiel-Stern said. “They create products based on insecurity that they, in the industry, continue to feed through marketing.”

Piper Sandler, an investment bank, found a 19% increase in skincare spending in the fall of 2022 in a survey of nearly 9,200 girls. 

When one wants to achieve smooth, glowing and poreless skin, it’s no surprise these products are pricey. With the popular Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi drops selling for $40 and the Drunk Elephant C-Firma Fresh Day Serum coming to $80, girls and young adults need the money to keep up with their skincare demands. 

Sixty-two percent of skincare spending comes from family incomes averaging $70,725 annually, according to the Piper Sandler survey. 37% is from the paychecks of part-time jobs. 

Kelsey Kinville, a second-year student at the University, thinks the trends are a scheme to sell more goods. 

“A lot of people will see a video that says, ‘Oh yeah, this is good for you,’ so they think it’ll be good for them when, in reality, they don’t know,” Kinville said. “Especially when viewers are younger, they assume everyone knows everything.”

Dermatologists recommend checking the credentials and credibility of the influencers promoting these products because, however whimsical the idea is, there could be more than what meets the eye. 

Christina Boull M.D., an associate professor of pediatrics and dermatology at M Health Fairview, said there’s an appeal targeted toward tweens and teens. This can come in the form of packaging color or the influencer who uses the product. 

“People often, on Instagram and TikTok, are being paid for their opinion or to promote these products, and it doesn’t mean that they’re actually using them,” Boull said. 

The target audience is getting younger as tweens get roped into the skincare regime through social media and developing girls around them.  

In 2024, the “Sephora kids” trend proved a concern in the upcoming generation after revealing their attention no longer falls on playsets and imagination but instead on the beauty gurus of TikTok. For those of you who missed footage of young girls swarming Sephora and Ulta Beauty for Drunk Elephant products, the title was given respectively after the matter. 

Girls as young as eight years old engage with the skin care hype using money from their parents’ last paycheck and a vision of glass skin, a Korean beauty trend that started in 2012 and grew into popularity through TikTok. 

This plumpy, poreless look is one of the most popular trends on TikTok, but dermatologists like Ronda Farah M.D. say the glass skin trend isn’t a realistic goal. 

“If somebody had a pill or cream that creates a glass skin for everyone, they would be a billionaire at this point,” Farah said. “There isn’t a cream or a trend that could give everyone this glass skin effect.’” 

Apart from children spending hundreds of dollars on products targeted toward middle-aged women, the issue began spiraling when young girls started experiencing allergic reactions or even skin burns, according to CNN.

Skin peeling and irritation can come from skin sensitivity due to ingredients such as retinol (or vitamin A) and hyaluronic acid, Boull said. These ingredients can also increase photosensitivity, which in turn increases the chances of sun damage to those who don’t use sunscreen. 

“Misinformation on social media is definitely a danger to skincare and people’s health,” Farah said. 

Both Farah and Boull agree that consulting with a dermatologist before trying products could save the damage later on. Some of the claims made by beauty gurus might not be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, Farah said. Reading the ingredients or other simple research could save you from damage in the future.

Farah recommends sunscreen, lotion and moisturizers for young people as their skin develops. However, consulting a dermatologist is still recommended since everyone’s skin is unique.

The reality of young girls’ childhoods is upsetting. 

When I was eight years old, I was only hunched over my iPad to film stop-motion movies of my American Girl dolls. My sticky fingers would rub my eyes as I lured past my bedtime, probably forgetting to brush my teeth. There wasn’t any inkling in my mind that I should be spending my time deciding which colorful plastic bottles should accompany my vanity of knotted Sillybandz and failed rainbow loom bracelets. 

The question then stands — why are we so oblivious to the dangers and continue to fight to stay pretty? 

Many of these warnings should be accounted for, but sadly, tweens and teenagers don’t seem to care when it’ll make them fit in. Even when I was in middle school, I had the same ideology. 

As girls grow up, they continue exploring, trying to find their place in the world. We have all felt tempted to hop on the beauty train and ride it for the rest of our lives. 

It’d feel safer, but we wouldn’t blossom into the person we are meant to be. 

Smile lines are evidence of laughing with friends after a long day. Crow’s feet are wings we may have spent hours in front of a mirror trying to replicate after discovering eyeliner. Necklines are remnants of being curled up while reading your favorite book all night. 

“If you understand a little bit and think, ‘Wait a minute, there’s a whole industry based on me feeling insecure,’ maybe you can start having a healthier mindset,” Thiel-Stern said.