What Is Deinfluencing? The Trend and How to Deinfluence Yourself

Deinfluencing is when creators tell you what not to buy. Instead of hyping the latest viral product, they explain why it's overpriced, overhyped, or just not worth it for most people. The trend took off on TikTok in early 2023 as a pushback against nonstop product recommendations, and its most useful idea is something you can do yourself: question the hype before it reaches your cart.

How deinfluencing started

By the end of 2022, TikTok was full of "TikTok made me buy it" videos. Products went viral overnight, sold out, and were replaced by the next viral thing a week later. Viewers started to notice that a lot of these products were fine at best, and that a lot of the people recommending them were paid to do so.

Around late December 2022 and January 2023, creators began posting videos with a different message: "Let me deinfluence you." One early widely shared video came from a creator who said she used to work at Sephora and walked through popular beauty products she thought weren't worth buying. The format caught on fast, and by February 2023 the deinfluencing hashtag had well over 100 million views and the trend was being covered by major news outlets.

Deinfluencing later fed into other money-conscious trends like underconsumption core and "loud budgeting," a term popularized by TikTok creator Lukas Battle in early 2024 to describe being open about saying no to spending.

What gets deinfluenced

Deinfluencing videos usually focus on categories where hype runs far ahead of the actual difference a product makes. Common targets:

• Viral skincare and makeup. Expensive serums, cult lip products, and multi-step routines where a cheaper basic would do the same job for most people.
• Premium tech accessories. High-end headphones, hair tools, and gadgets that are great for some people but overkill for everyday use.
• Trendy fashion items. Specific shoes, bags, or styles that are everywhere for one season and then look dated.
• Viral tumblers and other "collectible" basics. When a water bottle becomes a status item with limited colors and drops, people buy several of something they only need one of.
• Home and organizing products. Matching containers, label makers, and aesthetic storage that look great in a video but don't solve a real problem.

The point is rarely that a product is bad. It's that hype makes a normal product seem essential, and the price tag reflects the hype more than the item.

The catch: deinfluencing can still be selling

As the trend grew, it got its own problems. Some "deinfluencing" videos turned into "don't buy X, buy Y instead," with Y being the creator's affiliate link. That isn't deinfluencing. It's influencing with a different opener.

Some brands also caught on and started using deinfluencing-style videos as marketing. And because creators get paid when their content gets views, negative takes can be just as performative as positive ones.

So the best way to think about deinfluencing isn't as a new list of creators to trust. It's as a skill: learning to ask the same skeptical questions about anything that shows up in your feed.

How to deinfluence yourself

You don't need someone else to tell you what not to buy. These habits do most of the work.

Check whether you already own something that does the job

Before buying any viral product, look at what you already have. A new cleanser, a new water bottle, or a new tote is often a slightly different version of something sitting in your bathroom, kitchen, or closet.

Separate the product from the person

A lot of what you want when you see a viral video isn't the product. It's the person's skin, apartment, lifestyle, or confidence. Ask yourself: if a stranger handed me this product in a plain box, would I want it?

Look for the money trail

Check whether the creator is using an affiliate link, a discount code, a "#ad" tag, or a TikTok Shop link. That doesn't mean they're lying, but it means they get paid when you buy, and you should weigh their opinion with that in mind.

Wait out the hype cycle

Viral products follow a pattern: everywhere for a few weeks, then gone. Put the item on a list with the date and price, and look again in a week or two. If you still want it once the videos stop, that's a much better signal. The guide on waiting periods before buying has a simple system for this.

Read the boring reviews

Look past the short videos and read longer written reviews, especially the three-star ones. They tend to be the most balanced and will tell you what the product is really like after a month of use.

Curate your feed

Your feed shapes your wants more than almost anything else. Unfollow accounts that make you feel like you need to buy something every time you watch. Use "Not interested" on haul and shopping videos. Follow creators who talk about using, repairing, and rewearing what they have.

Track what you skipped

It's motivating to see what deinfluencing yourself actually saves. Some people keep a simple note of every viral item they didn't buy and its price. Cake, an iOS app in development, turns that into something visual: you put a want on a cake sized at $5 per slice, and skipped purchases and good habits fill the slices while the money adds up in a virtual jar. When the cake is full, you decide whether the thing is still worth it.

Deinfluencing is not anti-buying

Deinfluencing doesn't mean you can never buy anything trendy. If you've wanted something for months, you've done your research, and it fits your budget, buy it and enjoy it. The goal is to make choices that are yours, not ones a 30-second video made for you.

If you find you keep buying viral products even when you know better, it's worth reading how to stop impulse buying for a broader approach.

Common questions

What does deinfluencing mean?

Deinfluencing means encouraging people not to buy certain products, usually because they're overhyped, overpriced, or unnecessary. It started as a TikTok trend in late 2022 and early 2023, when creators began posting videos explaining which viral products they thought weren't worth the money.

Is deinfluencing still a trend?

The hashtag peaked in 2023, but the idea stuck around and shaped later trends like underconsumption core and loud budgeting. Many creators still post "things I'd never buy again" or "don't buy this" content, which is deinfluencing under a different name.

Is deinfluencing just another form of marketing?

Sometimes. Some deinfluencing videos steer viewers toward a cheaper alternative that the creator earns a commission on, and some brands have used the format in their own marketing. Real deinfluencing should leave you buying less overall, not just switching brands.

How do I stop buying things I see on TikTok?

Start by adding a delay: save the product to a list with the price and date instead of buying it, and check back in a week. Curate your feed by unfollowing haul-heavy accounts and tapping "Not interested" on shopping content. Removing saved payment methods from shopping apps also adds friction that helps a lot.