Ads used to be easy to decipher on social media, but in today’s social media climate, almost anything can be an ad.

You will see Instagram influencers posting about a certain brand of clothes and you may not realize it, but they are partnered with that brand and the video is a subliminal ad.

A subliminal ad is defined as “the use by advertisers of images and sounds to influence consumers’ responses without their being conscious of it,” according to Oxford Languages.

I find TikTok to be the worst for these subliminal ads.

You can be watching a self-care video where everything they use is linked in their Amazon storefront, but little do you know the influencer is actually making a commission off of the purchases made from their Amazon.

TikTok and Instagram are used by young people, who are definitely not aware of these ads.

When I think about an ad, I think about commercials on TV, radio stations, and even YouTube videos. These new ads are completely different and come off as a fun video rather than the ad that it is.

I think these subliminal ads can mean status for people watching them. You can watch a video about someone you see as a role model, where they are using a certain water bottle, and it can make it seem like you need the water bottle to live the life they are living.

We see trends go viral on TikTok every single week, which are more so ads than anything else. We saw it with Stanley Cups, UGGs, face fillers, face ice rollers, makeup headbands, LANEIGE lip masks, any e.l.f. makeup products, and even books.

BookTok has become an empire in itself, with books like It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover getting a movie adaptation after the uproar the book caused online. We saw books that are normally niche skyrocket like Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton. These videos we are seeing where people are just talking about books they like are all really an ad influencing you to buy more books you may not need, like, or, even read.

I think with how big social media has gotten in everybody’s day-to-day life, it’s important to be aware of how you are being influenced.

I recently finished reading the entire A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas, which I was heavily influenced to read from the amount of TikToks and Instagrams I was seeing about it.

It was a very interesting experience. I had to stop going on Instagram and TikTok because I was seeing so many videos regarding the series that had spoilers. I will say that after I finished the series, it does feel like I am now part of a community where all these videos are things I can now relate to now that I’ve read the series.

I think this sort of mentality is what is getting people to buy in the first place. That feeling of being a part of the community has made me want to continue reading viral BookTok books so I can continue to be a part of the conversation.

I think overall, these ads are making overconsumption of products normalized and are aiding in the massive debt issues people are facing.