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A specific brand of TikTok luxury is doing the rounds online, known as #RichTok. Wealthy creators are unashamedly flexing their expensive lifestyles for millions of followers, showing off homes, jets, meals and branded clothing. Unsurprisingly, Gen Z are using this content as a way to escape, though not everyone is pleased.
Ever heard of #RichTok?
If you’re an older Gen Zer or millennial, we wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t. Once a niche corner of TikTok and Instagram, this social media trend has steadily grown into a full-fledged movement, as influencers proudly display their wealth for content. This includes everything from mansions to sportscars, luxury branded clothing to pricey meals out.
Is it late-stage capitalism in all its unflinching horror? Perhaps, but it’s also racking up views.
According to TikTok’s internal data, #RichTok has amassed over 1.7 billion views globally, with the biggest figureheads such as Becca Bloom boasting over 5 million followers. There are 90,000 videos available to watch in this genre and plenty of creators are eager to earn their slice of the pie.
The most notable influencers in this niche include the previously mentioned Becca Bloom, as well as Skyelar Chase, Chloe Liem, Jaime Xie and Vivian Tu, to name a few.
Most of these creators blend a unique combination of obvious materialistic flexing with intimate, deliberately curated images that could easily be sent as private DMs or Snapchats. The idea is to sell a story rather than boast; audiences are meant to feel like they’re a part of an extravagant friend group, peeking behind the curtain of the uber wealthy instead of staring in from the outside.
What type of content is best at cultivating this parasocial dynamic?
Many post unboxings of high-end items, such as expensive watches, glamorous jewellery and designer bags. Some offer mansion tours, closet breakdowns, car reveals, and plenty document their trips to various restaurants that you or I could seldom afford. Several also offer financial advice and tips on how to become as affluent as they seemingly are, though it might be best to take their wisdom with a pinch of salt.
At first glance, it might seem bewildering that this trend has gathered so much momentum. In our cost-of-living age, where simply existing is becoming financially draining, why would any of us turn to those who are hoarding most of the cash? Surely Gen Z should be angry, if anything?
For many younger viewers, seeing the ultra-wealthy casually live their lives is a neat form of escapism. Amidst all of the chaos and uncertainty, watching influencers fly private jets to their undisclosed islands and generally act in ridiculous ways serves as a form of vicarious affluence, where we can imagine stepping into their shoes from our sofas. We can’t afford it, so we watch it. It also provides a wealth of knowledge on how the rich act and behave.
Speaking to BurdaLuxury, Zoe Cullen, a PhD student from the University of Michigan, said that #RichTok serves as ‘informal cultural education, offering crash courses in affluent social codes.’ Through TikTok, Gen Z are able to pick up on attitudes, styles, and perspectives of those they may aspire to be.
This fascination with social hierarchy fuels our appetite for big-budget reality shows too, such as Selling Sunset, Made in Chelsea and Keeping Up With the Kardashians. These people are posh, borderline nonsensical and out of touch; but that makes them fun to gawk at and watch as entertainment. We wish we had access to the resources they do, but it’s also fun to poke fun at the elite when given the chance. Eat the rich and all that, right?
Perhaps it speaks to Gen Z’s wider attitude to wealth.
In our modern era it feels harder than ever for the average person to attain money and move up the social ladder. Sure, there is a culture of hustling, side gigs, and ownership over our assets, but amassing more cash than our parents and bettering our life circumstances has become steadily more challenging over the past few decades. There’s a reason why nepo babies are now so heavily scrutinised, and why more of us are aware of higher society’s closed off borders.
It’s worth pointing out that criticism for #RichTok is fierce and rife. Not everyone is watching this content and feeling positive about it. Many point out the grim reality of wealth hoarding and how hard it is for most of us, describing this movement as ‘dystopian’ and ‘unfair.’ It glamorises inequality and is excessively performative, even by social media’s low standards. Yet, despite this backlash, these influencers have huge audiences and pull in massive amounts of views – somebody is watching.
Whichever side of the fence you sit, #RichTok gives us a fantastical version of the extravagant worlds we’ll never see for ourselves. It’s all entertainment at the end of the day, baby, and is a symptom of the struggles we’re experiencing as a generation, rather than the cause.
See also:
- How are publishers pushing Gen Z to read?
- Why Marty Supreme’s Gen Z marketing worked
- Millennial optimism? More like Gen Z cynicism
