Any daily doom scroll of a social media platform will unveil the curtain of marketing’s conceptions of femininity and glamor. This is typically found within shopping hauls, “get ready with me” videos and other vlog-like content touting various products. Since 68% of American preteens have access to social media, there’s no doubt that Gen Alpha has been exposed to such content. They are learning what it takes to become the ideals that our society in the age of social media predicates itself on.
Since influencer content has proved to be an instrumental contribution to the beauty industry, and it’s implausible to presume that preteens will stop consuming this content altogether, we must reframe our mindset of young girls in the social media influencer sphere.
This becomes even less of a question when considering the state of content consumption and creation today. Many young girls have started to make their own TikTok and Instagram reels, often providing their interpretations of the lifestyle videos found on the social media platforms of older influencers.
And just like any other user on the internet, these young girls often fall victim to a plethora of hateful comments left beneath their innocuous posts. Rather than villainizing the impressionable girls themselves, we must turn to those who have control of the situation — their parents and the nature of social media marketing as a whole.
We have lost the compassion needed for young girls on the internet. Just as your younger sister or little cousin would steal your clothes and interests to fit in, these young girls merely imitate the behaviors of those they look up to; the only difference is that they are influenced by their parasocial relationships to do such. We must consider the factors beyond these young girls’ control that may lead them to such actions before spewing criticisms.
It’s important to note that defense for Gen Alpha’s ability to replicate what they’re seeing on social media doesn’t extend to content encouraging them to sexualize themselves or engage in damaging behaviors. While it can be argued that the content they are replicating can be a gateway to more extreme content, this is a more complex issue beyond the scope of this article.
Tweens’ access to the internet is constantly broadening their interpretation of what is cool and trendy, thus encouraging them to experiment with new modes of digital and physical self-expression. Recently, numerous videos and testimonies from workers at Sephora attest to preteen girls ravaging through displays of viral beauty products, leaving an awful mess of the store in their wake.
The most obvious question upon seeing this is: “Where are their parents?” However, a more nuanced, equally valid one is: “Why are makeup and skincare companies marketing themselves toward tweens?”
Take, for instance, the skin and body care product brand Sol de Janeiro. CEO Heela Yang admits their notorious sweet scents in neon, aesthetic bottles appeal to tweens’ interests in collectibles. This leads one to consider just how much of the brand’s triple-digit sales growth from social media in the first half of 2023 can be attributed to Gen Alpha. Additionally, skincare brands such as Drunk Elephant and Glow Recipe are well-known within tweens’ digital communities and have begun making posts educating consumers and parents on which products are compatible for children.
How are Gen Alpha girls supposed to reject a system that’s intentionally designed to pull them in? Many internet users of age don’t have enough digital literacy to do so in their own daily encounters.
This isn’t anything new — the beauty and fashion industry has always capitalized on young girls’ desire to play dress-up. It isn’t even specific to girls or Gen Alpha; this is simply the world of social media marketing today. Though a tale as old as time, the only reason tweens’ shortcomings are broadcasted for all to see is through the use of widespread technology.
Despite social media’s influence, it would be narrow-minded to pin the blame on that sole factor. Parents, influences in school and marketing schemes are just a few forces beyond the control of targeted Gen Alpha users. These factors are helpful to remain aware of and to keep our biases in check when coming across harmless content created by younger users.
It’s also important to cut some slack for these parents. While their rules do directly impact children’s access to social media, they are ultimately still navigating how to teach their children digital literacy when it’s something that is constantly evolving. Gen Alpha is the second generation of “digital natives” since birth and is even more entrenched in the digital world than the first. With such a steep learning curve there are bound to be bumps along the way.
The internet has become the older sister for a whole generation of young girls. Understanding this isn’t meant to excuse the fact, rather, create a new way of understanding Gen Alpha’s role in the digital world and their interpretation of it. This helps us recognize the true source of this rising issue and decrease villainizing those who are merely swept by the current of these digital times.
Trista Lara is the 2024-25 Opinion Editor. She can be reached at tlara@uci.edu or opinion@newuniversity.org.
Edited by Zahira Vasquez.
