Abby Mills (aka @abbyontheinternet) on the de-influencing *trend* & questioning whether this movement can help us combat overconsumption

<p>In episode 291, Kestrel welcomes Abby Mills, aka @abbyontheinternet, to the show. A product designer working in tech in the San Francisco Bay Area, <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/abbyontheinternet/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener">Abby</a> is a style enthusiast, thrifter, beginner sewist, and a slow fashion + sustainability advocate.</p> <p><strong>“If we’re talking about the original definition of de-influencing, I think it’s great that more people are talking about this. There’s a wider conversation that’s happening now, and it’s this newer idea to a more mainstream audience. And I think that a lot of people are craving this conversation. I think there’s a strong response because people are pretty sick of being advertised to — they’re craving the substance, they’re craving this authenticity, they’re craving people with a unique point of view.” -Abby</strong></p> <p class="" data-pm-slice="1 2 []">You have most likely heard about this week’s topic – <strong>DE-INFLUENCING</strong>. </p> <p class="">It’s something that started trending over on TikTok earlier this year, and has taken on many forms since then. In its origins, it was about becoming more critical about the things that we buy – and it started when a lot of so-called influencers started telling folks what NOT to buy, instead of their typical MO which is to focus on selling us things from their brand partners – things we more often than not, don’t need.</p> <p class="">This is a refreshing idea – I mean, our feeds are flooded with sponcon these days. Apparently traditional influencer marketing was a <a href= "https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$16.4 billion industry last year</a>, and we are becoming increasingly aware of how much we are being marketed to on a constant basis.</p> <p class="">But while the initial concept of de-influencing is refreshing, it’s definitely not new. There are several *influencers* or *content creators* who have been talking about issues around overconsu