What we can learn from changing trends in aesthetics on social media

Scrolling through social media lately, you may have noticed a shift in the look, feel, and tone of posts. Notably, we’re seeing a move away from the once popular clean girl aesthetic. Many who once touted the clean girl aesthetic have been taking to their social pages to align themselves in favor of maximalist fashion and colorful, bold spaces- and, claiming the clean girl aesthetic is no longer in-trend. So, what can we as marketers learn from this move away from the clean girl aesthetic and the implications that this may have in social media users' overall sentiment??

Clean Girl Aesthetic (n)

Applying to all genders. A beauty, lifestyle, and fashion trend based on content highlighting clean makeup, minimalist fashion, and an emphasis on “wellness”. Content is designed to give the impression of stress-free, “clean” living. #cleangirlaesthetic and related hashtags have 7M+ mentions across Instagram and TikTok.?

This shift in aesthetics can be observed beyond physical fashion and beauty preferences, as we see users across social media embrace individuality and honesty. The change we’re seeing is indicative of a larger societal shift in attitude, and an expectation of transparency. The dwindling of the clean girl aesthetic has coincided with a period where users are at-the-ready to call out organizations for disingenuous practices and communication. Specifically, we can see users across social media outsing organizations for wellness washing. Wellness washing, like greenwashing, is when a company focuses more on appearing to care about well being than they do actually taking care of their employees. So, what can we learn from the move away from the clean girl aesthetic and overall changing consumer attitudes, and how can we avoid wellness washing??

It's no secret that social media is, well… fake. Digital natives are well aware of the fact that social media shows idealized versions of our lives, and we continue to see a rise in users' desire for transparency and honesty in social interactions. In examining Gen Z’s behavior specifically, we can see that increased desire for transparency. According to The Pull Agency, “71% of Gen Zers would prefer to ‘always feel good’ rather than ‘always look good’”; compared to millennials, who would “prefer to ‘always look good’ than ‘always feel good’.” Looking at the pull away from the “clean girl” aesthetic and how this relates to larger changes in behavior on social media, we can focus on the representations of health. Part of attaining the clean girl aesthetic is leading a seemingly healthy lifestyle. In reality, the lifestyle we see presented in this “clean” content reinforces dangerous ideas of health being equated to strict diets and thinness. With the shift away from this aesthetic, we’re seeing content rising in popularity that is in line with Gen Z’s preference to “feel good” over “look good.”?

It's important to be aware of these changing themes on social media, as the inclination for the messy, lived-in, and individualistic content being shared and the pull away from the clean girl aesthetic can tell us where users and consumers' minds are. With understanding social media users and consumers behavior, we can see why it is important for the organizations they interact with to act with the transparency that is expected.?

Looking at how organizations communicate on social media, we’ve seen companies hop on mental health holidays by posting for awareness days like World Mental Health Day and Mental Health Awareness Week. It can be questioned whether or not most companies posting on awareness days are actively making space for wellness and wellbeing. A 2023 study from Claro Wellbeing found that more than an overwhelming majority of employees (89% of Gen Z, 85% of Millennials, and 65% of those 66 and older) value wellbeing in the organizations they work for- 38% of those surveyed think their employer wellness washes.?

So, how can organizations keep up with consumers and social media users' increasingly urgent expectation for openness and honesty, especially as it relates to wellness? While it is important to be attuned to consumer expectations and ready to shift approaches in wellbeing, it's not to say that all organizations need to immediately change their wellness strategies or they will lose customers or employees. Let consumers and employees in on the path and vision towards true support of wellbeing. As we can see with the favoring of a lived-in, honest content across platforms, the expectation is transparency, not perfection.