Social Media’s Capitalist Capture of Tissue Boxes and Emotional Wellness
Promoting emotional wellness has become a source of capital on social media.
We Are Not Really Strangers recently unveiled their 30 dollar ‘Cry Proudly’ Tissue Box cover. I have not slept peacefully since.
The tissue box cover that started it all (via We Are Not Really Strangers website)
I’m joking….kind of. I definitely was able to sleep the night of my discovery after some profound difficulty. As I tossed and turned in my bed, I found myself uttering “There is no possible way on planet Earth that tissue box covers are that expensive.” One quick Google search proved me incredibly wrong.
Other tissue box covers. Why are they so expensive? (via Bing)
I think there is so much to unpack here. First, why are tissue box covers so expensive? Tissues already come in boxes. They really don’t need to be put in another box. My brain short circuits when I try to figure out why two boxes are necessary. But, I mean, that’s capitalism right. Everything is commodifiable.
And, that thought got me thinking even more and staying up even later. Capitalism has commodified pretty much everything. They have commodified the sniffles by merely selling tissues and their pre-assigned boxes. And now, capitalists saw an opportunity to make even more money by separating the tissue and its box. We Are Not Really Strangers came in, saw the opportunity and ran with it. Honestly, kudos.
This is by no means a hit piece on We Are Not Really Strangers. In fact, I love their products. I have their popular card game game and their self reflection kit. In addition, I’m on their text notification list, so I know when all of their products are coming before anyone else. I also follow them on Instagram and Tik Tok. Safe to say, I’m a happy customer.
A photo of my We Are Not Really Strangers products featuring a reflection of my phone and my Pikachu post-it note
You’re probably wondering why I’m complaining about their tissue box cover. Mainly, I’m doing this for two reasons. One, this is just what I do. You subscribed for this🤷♀️. Two, I often find myself incredibly interested in viral brands, or brands/corporations that grew from being social media viral. I just like to see their trajectory post-sensation, and WRNS has been able to stick around. I think the continued popularity of We Are Not Really Strangers is incredibly unique and speaks to a larger arc of emotional wellness becoming more popular.
Emotional wellness has become a social media craze. As mental health became more important to Gen Z, access to wellness advice, tips and graphics have made their own niche spot on the Internet. The surge in popularity of brands like We Are Not Really Strangers is a manifestation of this rapidly growing community; in places from which an idea springs, capitalism is always in the shadows, trying to figure out how to make a quick buck.
I think it’s important to further examine how social media is affecting emotional wellness. With everything, there are pros and cons.
We Are Not Really Strangers attacking me via text (via my phone)
THE PROS
I think now would be a good time to give some insight on why I like the concept of We Are Not Really Strangers.
WRNS is a brand all about emotions. Heartbreak, loneliness and nostalgia are some of the many concepts discussed throughout their social media platforms and products. They also have a grasp on the role of self-reflection in healing. I think the ability to allow so many emotions to exist in one space is a beneficial thing to someone who is struggling.
This idea speaks to the copious benefits of the ubiquity of emotional wellness content on social media.
Broadly, it allows for a cultural acceptance of emotional and mental wellness to take its equal section of holistic health. There is growing research to support the claim that a positive outlook on self-perception and life events has a strong positive correlation with physical health and resilience. It is an undeniably good thing to see social media users have places for advice and resources on how to live an emotionally satisfying life. The same is true for mental health advocacy as well.
It’s important to note that discussion of mental health has not moved out of the “palatable” arena. A lot of discussion centers around anxiety and depression, which are more common and “easier” to discuss, rather than incorporating discussion of autism, schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder, etc. Mental health advocacy on social media has a long way to go.
I also think the prevalence of social media content on emotional wellness reflects the strength of the social media community. Some comment sections and Twitter threads have allowed normal people to converse freely about their struggles and provide some joy in the midst of trauma. This is especially important during this COVID era where suicide rates are predicted to skyrocket.
Finally, some of this content is so genuinely heartwarming. I don’t say that lightly. Content creators have utilized amazing graphics and incredibly personal and poignant stories to bring light to the ugliness and confusing parts of life. I think this is a breath of fresh air.
THE CONS
Despite the listed pros, social media falls short on a few aspects in providing emotional wellness content.
Teen looking at therapists on Tik Tok (via The New York Times)
Primarily, I think the attention economy makes the approach of dissecting emotional wellness shallow in any attempt. The key to emotional wellness is so much more than a step-by-step manual for getting out of toxic relationships. Even if followed to a tee, these suggested methods are hardly universally applicable. Nor does it mean that the end of a complicated relationship will be presumably neat enough to fit in one- to two-sentence steps in a linear fashion.
Healing and growing as a person is more than what social media makes it seem. It is messy. It is maddening. And, it certainly is not “postable.”
Also, there is an intricate boundary between de-stigmatizing and normalizing anxiety that is consistently being crossed. I don’t think the idea of having a mental disorder should be as accessible as it is. I’m not saying that resources to mental health professionals and advice shouldn’t be accessible; the terms “anxiety,” “depression,” and “PTSD” are almost used as garnishes in the emotional wellness world. It gives you a story and/or a problem for these posts to help you solve. And, with that, it creates a culture in which people think trauma makes them “interesting” or “quirky.” That thought leads to people desiring trauma, labeling it as something that includes them in the “big, fun” club of being mentally ill. In this sense, I think mental disorders deserve some extent of gatekeeping.
With this comment, I’m not saying people are not allowed to talk about their lived experiences with mental disorders online. More so, I want to emphasize how the intricacies that come with having a mental disorder may not have a home online. The line between having a symptom of a mental disorder and a product of lived experience is already so blurred; social media does not have a good relationship with nuance. Therefore, I think mental health advocates need to be more assertive with boundaries.
There is also a disturbing commoditization of managing emotional intensity that’s important to note. I think We Are Not Really Strangers is the least extreme but an example nonetheless of how capitalism has grossly come into the space of our most private and intimate sphere. Take their race card expansion pack as an example. I think it is an incredibly genius and gross idea. This business, that is not Black owned, is utilizing the emotional intensity of white consciousness of systemic racism to create a product to stimulate progressive conservation about race. Although this pack is free, this doesn’t exempt them from the idea of utilizing the emotional strength arisen from the Black Lives Matter movement as social capital and a way to strategically place themselves as “socially conscious.” The utilization of Black trauma to push boundaries on white liberalism is one of the most incredible but exploitive concepts I’ve ever seen. But, that’s capitalism for you.
Yes, this is a thing. (via We Are Not Really Strangers website)
There is an uncomfortable popularity of therapists entering the social media scene, giving advice to impressionable teens without enough financial capital to get professional, private help. The New York Times piece does a great job at presenting the nuance of this trend, which you can read more here.
Simply put, social media unintentionally accelerates emotional wellness to an incomprehensible and disingenuous way. Emotional wellness is not meant to be treated in that manner.
WHAT NOW?
At the end of the day, my opinion on this growing topic isn’t going to change the momentum. But, I hope this conversation arms you with some points of critical analysis.
Again, I don’t think the popularization of emotional wellness is a bad thing. Allowing the mundanity and complexity of life onto our social media feeds helps us feel like we’re not isolated in our experience. It is empowering. But, I don’t think it’s the best thing in the world. Social media is a business, and our emotional vulnerability is fodder for the capitalist machine. All of that plus the fact that tissue box covers can be 30 or more dollars. I mean, come on.
Let me know what you think about emotional wellness content in the comments below!
Be sure to check out Eleni’s piece on Gen Z’s emotional reaction to the election on Popcorn Ceiling. Read here.
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