How TikTok Is Wiring Gen Z’s Money Brain


TikTok上无穷无尽的有关美国经济和消费主义的视频使得20几岁的美国年轻人产生了一种“金钱畸形症”。


今年27岁的Caitlyn Sprinkle表示跟上TikTok趋势的成本变得越来越高。

30岁以下的美国人知道的新闻很多是从TikTok上看到的。年轻人和经济学家说，他们在TikTok上也能听到有关金钱的消息，而这也影响着他们的储蓄、消费以及对自身财务前景的看法。 6park.com
Americans under 30 get much of their news on TikTok. They hear about money there, too, and that’s shaping the way they save, spend and view their financial prospects, young adults and economists say. 6park.com
 
今年27岁的Caitlyn Sprinkle形容自己TikTok账号的推送既有经济阴霾内容，也有疯狂消费主义内容。这里面有Dave Ramsey警告债务危害的TikTok视频 ，还有一些网红炫耀他们所购护肤品和手提包的视频。 6park.com
Caitlyn Sprinkle, 27 years old, describes her TikTok feed as a mix of economic gloom and consumerism gone wild. There are Dave Ramsey TikToks that warn of the evils of debt, followed by influencers showing off their shopping hauls of skin-care products and handbags. 6park.com
 
Sprinkle是田纳西州纳什维尔一家资产管理公司的财务分析师，为了节省开支，并买得起Lululemon紧身裤等她觉得自己得买的东西，她使用一款预算应用程序，而且最近一直在家做饭。“在TikTok和周围朋友的影响下，有种压力驱使你去买这些东西，因为你想融入他们，”她表示。“这种情况一直存在，但在TikTok的影响下，更加突出了。” 6park.com
Sprinkle, a financial analyst at an asset-management firm in Nashville, Tenn., uses a budgeting app and has been cooking at home lately to save money—and to be able to afford the things she feels she has to buy, like Lululemon leggings. “Between TikTok and having your friends around you, you’re pressured to buy the things because you want to fit in,” she says. “That’s always been the case, but with TikTok it’s more prominent.”


为了节省开支，Sprinkle在家做饭，但她发现自己很难抗拒购买TikTok上一些热门商品。

美国股市的上扬、工资上涨和紧俏的劳动市场表明，美国经济比过去几年更加强劲。但最年轻、收入最低的专职人员却不这么认为，一个原因是其中的很大一部分人背负着消费债务，另一个原因是他们在TikTok上看到的内容。 6park.com
Rallying stocks, rising wages and a tight labor market suggest the economy is stronger than it has been in years. The youngest, lowest-earning professionals don’t feel that way—partly because a large share are carrying consumer debt, and partly because of what they’re seeing on TikTok.  6park.com
 
尽管TikTok在美国面临一项潜在的禁令，但该平台仍然是一股巨大的文化力量，影响着年轻人的决定和观点。根据Pew Research Center的数据，在所有18至34岁的美国成年人中，有一半以上的人使用TikTok；在29岁及以下的人群中，约有三分之一的人表示他们经常在TikTok上获取新闻，而在2020年时，这一比例还不到10%。 6park.com
Even as the platform faces a potential ban in the U.S., it remains a massive cultural force that shapes young adults’ decisions and views. More than half of all U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 use it, according to Pew Research Center, while about a third of those 29 and under say they regularly get news on TikTok, up from less than 10% in 2020. 6park.com
   
那么，如果你的主要新闻来源告诉你，你们这一代人没人能买得起房，食品价格正在失控，信用卡债务不可避免——但同时也告诉你，2,500美元一只的路易威登(Louis Vuitton)包和70美元一瓶的保湿霜是许多视频中所说的“必备品”时，会发生什么情况呢？ 6park.com
So, what happens when your main source of news tells you that no one in your generation will be able to buy a house, food prices are spinning out of control and credit-card debt is unavoidable—but also that $2,500 Louis Vuitton bags and $70 moisturizers are, as many videos say, “a must”? 6park.com
 
对理财专家和超过十二位年轻人的采访表明，结果是困惑和悲观并存。30岁以下的美国年轻人正在借债，因为他们接受了一个旧观念：如果前景不好，为什么不享受当下呢？ 6park.com
Interviews with finance experts and more than a dozen young adults suggest that the result is confusion, with a side of gloom. Under-30s are taking on debt as they embrace an old idea: If the outlook is bad, why not enjoy life now?

他们自己的金钱行为

根据经济学家和20多岁年轻人自己的说法，TikTok正在使年轻人的实际经济状况与他们所认为的自身经济状况脱节。这种脱节催生了一个术语，理财顾问用该术语来形容年轻人对自己财务状况的扭曲看法： “金钱畸形症”。 6park.com
TikTok is creating a disconnect between how well off young adults actually are and how they think they’re doing, according to economists and 20-somethings themselves. That disconnect has given rise to a term financial advisers use to describe young adults’ distorted view of their financial well-being: “money dysmorphia.” 6park.com
 
29岁的Evelyn Hidalgo大约一年前从社交策略师的工作岗位上被解雇，之后她开始以全职内容创作者的身份谋生。Hidalgo在TikTok上发布的内容都是关于如何在预算有限的情况下做好母亲的角色，但TikTok推送给她的内容却经常展示她希望拥有的时尚物品，或者与她眼下处境相去甚远的生活，比如拥有一个宽敞漂亮的家。 6park.com
Evelyn Hidalgo, 29, makes her living as a full-time content creator after being laid off from a social-strategist job about a year ago. While she posts about being a mom on a budget, her TikTok feed often shows her trendy items she wishes she had, or a life that seems impossibly far from her own, such as owning a large, beautiful home.  6park.com
 
“那种常态感觉不像是你的正常生活，”与丈夫和20个月大的儿子一起住在纳什维尔的Hidalgo说。当她在TikTok和其他社交媒体上查看经济状况时，推送给她的内容感觉被撕裂成两个世界，有人过着令人羡慕的生活，也有人在艰难谋生。 6park.com
“It doesn’t feel like the norm is your normal,” says Hidalgo, who lives in Nashville with her husband and 20-month-old son. As she looks at the economy on TikTok and other social media, her feed feels “split in half,” between those living an enviable life and those who are struggling.


Sprinkle步行去健身房，这样她就不用付停车费了。

经济学家称，Z世代对经济状况的感受好坏参半，这可能会对今年秋天的选举结果产生影响，但更大的影响或许是他们长期的财务健康情况。在线借贷平台LendingTree的高级经济学家Jacob Channel表示，感受到财务状况不稳定会导致人们作出不当选择，比如信用卡债务会侵蚀退休基金以及食品和住房等必需品消费。 6park.com
Gen Z’s mixed economic feelings could have an effect on the outcome of the elections this fall, but the greater impact could be on their long-term financial health, economists say. Feeling financially uncertain can lead to poor choices, such as credit-card debt that eats into retirement funds and necessities such as food and housing, says Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree, an online lending marketplace. 6park.com
 
根据LendingTree的数据，过去的两年里，Z世代的非住房抵押贷款债务实际上增加了一倍，平均额外承担了约1.1万美元债务。Z世代一般指1997年至2012年间出生的人。 6park.com
Over the past two years, members of Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—effectively doubled their nonmortgage debt, taking on roughly an additional $11,000 on average, according to LendingTree.  6park.com
 
尽管如此，据圣路易斯联储的数据显示，在2019年至2022年间，出生在20世纪90年代的更年轻的美国人的财富中值增长了三倍多，达到4万多美元。圣路易斯联储的数据科学家Lowell Ricketts说，这已经超过了前几代人在类似年龄段的财富增速。 6park.com
Still, younger American adults—those born in the 1990s—saw their median wealth more than quadruple to more than $40,000 between 2019 and 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That has outpaced the growth rates for previous generations at a similar age, says Lowell Ricketts, a data scientist there. 6park.com
 
非营利性经济研究和政策机构Economic Policy Institute的高级经济学家Monique Morrissey表示，虽然拥有住房等许多成年标志让人感觉遥不可及，但年轻人正在受益于当前的经济环境。 6park.com
While many markers of adulthood such as homeownership feel out of reach, young adults are reaping the benefits from the current economic climate, says Monique Morrissey, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit economic-research and policy organization. 6park.com
  
“Z世代和更年轻的千禧一代正经历着诸多有利因素，他们可能没有意识到自己正受益于劳动力市场的吃紧，这种情况导致年轻人和低薪员工的实际工资非常快速地上涨，”她说。 6park.com
“Gen Z and younger millennials are experiencing tailwinds and may not realize that they’re benefiting from a tight labor market that has led to an unusually rapid increase in real wages for younger and lower-wage workers,” she says. 6park.com
美国经济本身也让人更加困惑。在一系列数据显示劳动力市场强劲之后，增长开始放缓。美国劳工部的数据显示，经季节性因素调整后，4月份美国雇主新增就业岗位17.5万个，低于3月份水平，也低于经济学家预期的24万个，4月失业率上升至3.9%。 6park.com
Adding to the confusion is the economy itself. After a string of data showed strength in the labor market, growth is beginning to slow. U.S. employers added a seasonally adjusted 175,000 jobs in April, less than March and below the 240,000 economists anticipated, and unemployment rose to 3.9%, according to the Labor Department.

赶时髦

许多TikTok用户说，他们获得的推送中反复出现鼓励他们从TikTok虚拟商店购物的和“我一起做准备”帖子、广告、网红合作内容和视频。据Citizens旗下先买后付服务Citizens Pay的一项调查，约91%的Z世代受访者说自己买过在社交媒体上看到的东西。 6park.com
Many TikTok users say their feeds have become a loop of get-ready-with-me posts, ads, influencer partnerships and videos that encourage them to buy stuff from TikTok’s virtual shop. Some 91% of Gen Zers say they have purchased something they saw on social media, according to a survey from Citizens Pay, a buy-now-pay-later service from Citizens.


BreAunna Rodriguez表示，TikTok影响了她大大小小的经济决策，包括职业选择和购买行为。

现年23岁、居于休斯顿的BreAunna Rodriguez是两个孩子的母亲，她喜欢买TikTok上流行的婴儿服装和其他一些她自己用得到的小东西，包括睫毛延长产品、椰子油漱口水和一种据网红称可以减少妊娠纹的浮石。 6park.com
BreAunna Rodriguez, a 23-year-old mom of two in Houston, likes to buy TikTok-popular baby clothes and other small things for herself, including eyelash extensions, coconut-oil mouthwash and a pumice stone that influencers said reduces stretch marks.  6park.com
  
Rodriguez说：“如果他们说什么东西对我有好处，我会禁不住想要去买。” 6park.com
“It’s hard not to buy things if they say it’s good for me,” she says. 6park.com
 
她说，TikTok对更大的决定也有影响。她的For You页面上有很多对朝九晚五式工作嗤之以鼻的年轻创业者。这激励原本是一名助理物业经理的她于2022年底辞职，在一家互联网和有线公司找了一份远程的佣金制工作。 6park.com
TikTok has influenced bigger decisions, too, she says. Her For You page is filled with young entrepreneurs who snub the idea of a 9-to-5 job. This inspired her to quit her job as an assistant property manager in late 2022 and take a remote, commission-based job for an internet-and-cable company.  6park.com
 
“你在TikTok上看到一个19岁的交易商每天只需工作两个小时，我就想，‘我能怎么做到？’” 6park.com
“You see a 19-year-old trader on TikTok who only has to work two hours a day, and I was like, ‘How do I do that?’” 6park.com
  
Rodriguez说她现在能赚更多的钱，为401(k)账户供款，每月还清信用卡账单，并把年度退税款存入一个储蓄账户，以帮助支付全年的开销。她每月最大的开支是为两个孩子支付2,000美元的日托费。 6park.com
Rodriguez says she makes more money now, contributes to a 401(k), pays off her credit card bills each month and puts her annual tax refund into a savings account to help with expenses throughout the year. Her biggest monthly expense is the $2,000 she pays for daycare for her two kids. 6park.com
  
无论是Stanley杯子、Jellycat毛绒玩具还是化妆品，源源不断的消费视频让人难以抗拒。TikTok去年推出了自己的电商服务TikTok Shop，与在线零售商们展开竞争。 6park.com
The constant videos of consumption—whether it’s a Stanley cup, a Jellycat plush or makeup—are hard to resist. TikTok last year created its own e-commerce engine, TikTok Shop, to compete with online retailers.  6park.com
  
大约六个月前，Sprinkle买了一个Stanley平底直边无柄杯。她说“我忍了尽量长的时间”，并表示她还买了其他几个在TikTok上流行的水瓶。 6park.com
About six months ago, Sprinkle bought a Stanley tumbler. “I held out as long as I could,” she says, adding that she had bought several other water bottles that were trending on TikTok.


Sprinkle花了很多钱购买了一些在TikTok上流行的商品，包括Lululemon的衣服、Stanley随行杯、路易威登的包包，和一些化妆品。

28岁的纽约律师Evan Naar会在TikTok上发帖谈论自己观看的百老汇演出和参加的泰勒·斯威夫特(Taylor Swift)演唱会。他说：“我这个年龄段的人群中有一种不断获得这些体验并加以分享的内在压力。” 6park.com
“There’s an internal pressure among my age range to constantly have these experiences and share them,” says Evan Naar, a 28-year-old lawyer in New York who posts TikToks about Broadway shows he’s seen and a Taylor Swift concert he attended. 6park.com
   
背负着数以千计美元学生债务的Naar说，有时候他想要存更多的钱，买一所房子。“我很大一部分工资都用于维持日常生活、旅行和观看百老汇演出，”他说。 6park.com
Naar, who has several thousand dollars in student debt, says at some point he wants to save more money and buy a house. “A lot of my paycheck goes toward living expenses, travel and Broadway shows,” he says.


Evan Naar表示，他这个年龄段的人中有一种不断获得旅行和娱乐体验并加以分享的内在压力。

好吧，颓丧青年

看到一篇又一篇关于经济下行的帖子，会让人产生“颓废主义”(Doomerism)——一种压倒性的绝望感。这让一些年轻人变得节俭起来。 6park.com
Encountering post after post about the downsides of the economy contributes to “doomerism”—an overwhelming feeling of despair. This has made some young adults thrifty. 6park.com
 
“我不会为了赶时髦去花光最后一块钱，”住在纽约州斯塔滕岛的23岁服装设计师兼持证财务顾问Tanayah Thomas说。“我们必须为未来做准备。” 6park.com
“I’m not going to spend my last dollar to keep up with the Joneses,” says Tanayah Thomas, a 23-year-old clothing designer and licensed financial adviser in Staten Island, N.Y. “We have to prepare for what’s to come.” 6park.com
 
为了省钱，她目前和妈妈住在一起。 6park.com
She’s currently living with her mom to save money.


Tommy Chanthavong搬回与父母同住，部分原因是对经济的担忧。

27岁的Tommy Chanthavong住在休斯顿，为当地的小企业管理社交媒体账户，他也搬回了家里。他说，很难分析TikTok上的信息：前一秒他还看到视频说美国正处于经济衰退的边缘，下一秒就看到有视频说美国的通货膨胀正在缓和。 6park.com
Tommy Chanthavong, a 27-year-old in Houston who manages social-media accounts for small, local businesses, also moved back home. He says it’s hard to parse the information shown on TikTok: One minute he sees videos saying the U.S. is on the brink of a recession and the next he sees that inflation is easing.  6park.com
  
《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)对商界和学术界经济学家的最新季度调查显示，受访者们认为未来一年内美国经济陷入衰退的可能性为29%，较1月份调查显示的39%有所下降，创下2022年4月以来的最低水平。 6park.com
In The Wall Street Journal’s latest quarterly survey of business and academic economists, respondents lowered the chances of a recession within the next year to 29% from 39% in January—the lowest probability since April 2022.  6park.com
  
与室友合租一套公寓的Sprinkle说，她很希望有朝一日能拥有自己的房子，但觉得这就像一个梦，遥不可及。 6park.com
Sprinkle, who shares an apartment with a roommate, says she’d love to own a house one day, but it feels like a distant dream. 6park.com
“你必须有一定程度的幸福感，能做你想做的事、买你想买的东西是幸福感的一部分，”她说。“我要把所有的钱都存起来以备将来之需吗？不，我试着更多地活在当下。” 6park.com
“You have to have a level of happiness, and being able to do the things you want and buy the things you want is part of it,” she says. “Do I save all of my money for the future? No. I try to live more in the moment.”