As TikTok becomes more and more ingrained into daily life—as a source of entertainment, an inspiration, and even a search engine—we can see the ways TikTok trends change how we understand the things we love. TikTok can encourage a global enthusiasm for styles and hobbies. We have seen the rise of “-core” styles that highlight niche fashions as well as increased accessibility to communities and tutorials for crafts like crochet or knitting and outlets for discussion like BookTok. Despite this, for every TikTok trend, there is as much pressure to perform and participate as there is encouragement to enjoy the activity.
If you look at content for any hobby on TikTok, you are sure to find videos where people share collections of various items and recommend products for participating. These videos can help people get started, but as the collection and haul videos get more extreme—like ColorTok videos that show off coloring book collections in the dozens or BookTok videos where people explore “physical TBRs” that include hundred of purchased but unread books, owning the tools of a hobby becomes more important than the hobby itself.
Many of these videos are not outright encouragement to build monster collections of markers, books, yarn, gaming accessories, or makeup products, but seeing creators and influencers share their curated hobbies can make everyday viewers feel like they’re not doing enough. Videos that play up the excitement of overpurchasing craft supplies or laugh about the ridiculous size of someone’s to-be-read pile normalize excess, and make it harder to enjoy being messy or “casual” about the things we enjoy.
The two dangers of the TikTokification of hobbies are overconsumption and burnout.
Hobbies add excitement to our lives. The things we create and discuss let us exercise our minds and connect with others. When the activities and conversations shift toward what you use to participate in a hobby or how frequently you participate, the door opens for comparison. Instead of sharing experiences and creations, we share purchases, “hauls,” and reviews. As a result, we get dozens of themed shopping hobbies rather than crafts, skills, and communities. There is an unrealistic expectation to gather more of a thing than you could ever use, and you might even start accumulating things you don’t even like or want.
When we spend more time talking about a thing we love or comparing our processes to others than actually participating, the joy that comes from an interest or a hobby slowly deteriorates. The pressure to perform the way everyone else does is overwhelming. The more overwhelmed you are to “keep up” or match an aesthetic, the more likely you are to procrastinate doing that thing. Instead of enjoying your favorite hobby, you watch videos of other people enjoying it for you because it feels like they are doing better.
The result of both buying too much and trying (and often failing) to live up to social media expectations is that your hobby dies. Both are unsustainable approaches to things that should be based on personal interest and joy. If you realize you have collected hobbies that you saw online, accumulated projects and products that you watch others use but never touch, you might have let TikTok crush those activities—or maybe you weren’t that interested in them in the first place.
Platforms like TikTok open up the world in many ways, but it’s important to pay attention to how and where they direct our attention. If you spend less time doing the things you love than watching others do them, or if you pine over new materials more than celebrate the things you create or enjoy the process, you might be letting your algorithm consume your hobbies. Post what you love, and find creators who resonate with you, but don’t forget that your life and your joy come from the things you do. Your hobbies do not need to fit a mold, aesthetic, or shopping list.
