Getting a pulse on what’s happening in the economy through social media channels can tell us a lot. Even though unemployment has been below 4% for a while now, we can find out a deeper insight into how effective the current employment is through people quitting online or quietly quitting and giving back the power to the employee through this liberation.
The new normal and how people feel versus the government information provided gives us a better insight. A quick example of when people were ready to spend again and get out there happened with this new cocktail launch. New terms such as vibe shift come up to represent the overall mood and economic mood at the same time.
Let’s take a deeper look below at some of the biggest moments on TikTok in 2022.
Sharing your resignation and quitting
While companies quickly adapted to the new normal, there were still mass firings, burnout from always working from wherever, and now a request to come back to the office, with marginal reason to do so. By 2022, the American workers will have gotten tired, and that’s how the Great Resignation started. This would have people quitting with Beyonce’s hit “Break My Soul”, which had lyrics talking about quitting their job.
For those that didn’t quit, we had those quietly quitting or simply working no more than they needed to. This was combined with career cushioning (having a backup job ready to go), and even employers would do something known as worker hoarding. All of this helped to show challenges and imbalances in the job market.
Memes related to rate hikes
The original memes related to Jerome Powell, who kept money cheap and was referenced as “money printer go brrr’’. Yet then, after two years of this cheap money, reversing the strategy and raising rates at an alarming rate. Now they’re referencing him as a Shrek character, being utilitarian. Many believed these actions tanked the cryptocurrency market, with the stock market decreasing and rates most likely going up. That means more sad memes.
The rise of boards made from butter
One of the major trends was butter boards. These were a play on charcuterie boards, but the base was butter and topped with everything from high-end salts to sweet condiments to really anything. Maybe people were sick of killing butter from their diet and said enough is enough. Either way, it ended up being an expensive endeavor. As food prices jumped past 11%, items such as butter jumped by over a third by November (versus the price 12 months ago.)
This showed us even with tighter budgets; less was cut back for food. Spending has held steadfast, even with those in the low-income bracket retargeting their budgets towards necessities. Inflation is also showing signs of weakening but still well above the 2% it needs to be, currently hovering just above 7%.
A shift in spending habits.
Consumerism remained strong in America in 2022. Yet where those funds were being spent has shifted. The trend has gone from material items and moving back towards purchases of services. While we’ll always get forward-thinking fashion trends such as Barbiecore, in anticipation for the Barbie Movie, or fashion styles such as Avant Apocalypse, it led to an actual push towards thrifting. As a result, #thrifted has become popular, and clothing stores also report a decrease in sales.
The return to restaurants and bars
Americans started heading back out and eating out, and reservations made online increased by almost 25%. This actually led to making it very hard to actually get a table to sit down and eat. You can also see how hard it was here. It essentially brought back the reservation culture.
People were also eating earlier and missed their corporate happy hours, which came back strong with new drinks as well, even with companies getting in on the action with their own videos.
A surge in travel
After dining out came back in fashion, so did traveling, which has been deemed ‘revenge travel.’
People went on holiday so much that air travel almost came back to its 2019 levels. Hotels revealed their increase in guests. However, with this also came issues with staffing. Employment is at just over 80% from before the pandemic wreaked havoc on the industry.
There are issues with those that serve the skies, with some increases across the board and shortages in critical areas such as air traffic control.
This reversal in the industry led to price increases, as everything was at full occupancy. Guest Rooms and airline prices increased, combined with disruptions based on just how many people were traveling. Of course, people complained, nearly 400% more than 2019 levels, based on DoT information. The demand for #vacationmode has caused massive issues in an industry that has been struggling for the past couple of years.
Weddings are back in full swing
2022 could have been the biggest year for weddings in a long period. The previous time it was this high was back in 1997. Instagram was awash this year with wedding photos. This comes from a dormant couple of years with delayed ceremonies combined with more people coming of age to get married. This also was in-person weddings meaning many venues were booked up fast. This could improve other economic aspects such as birth rates and spending habits.
Housing demands increase
We see the younger demographics also starting to grow families and buy more houses as well. This has also led to a new trend in how these homes are being designed, bringing a more retro feel to them known as grand millennial.
This makes sense as the millennial generation has gotten to the point that they are in their prime when it comes to buying homes. Yet that may have also been cut short due to the fed raising rates, making those mortgages prohibitively expensive. In addition, there have already been some reports of home sales that are now going on the decline and continuing to do so if rates continue. This makes the millennial generation still one of the hardest towards homeownership.
