If you’ve been on social media the past few months, chances are you’ve seen a TikTok or Instagram Reel of an influencer describing a mundane task or activity as “kinda chic.” From repeating outfits to taking baths at hotels to getting free parking at USC Village, it seems like anything can be “kinda chic.”

Although participating in popular trends is expected of influencers and companies with a social media presence, it’s important to reflect on what these trends reveal about society. Where USC is known as a hub and launchpad for influencers, trends can also reflect our University environment.

In a society that encourages and reinforces perfectionism, it makes sense that social media trends seek to turn even the most boring and unaesthetic tasks and traits into postable moments. 

This need for perfection can feel heightened at USC because of the high social media standards we’re surrounded by in Los Angeles. But it’s important to remember that not everything needs to be made palatable or chic for social media –– it can actually be good to keep some things to ourselves.

This conversation about chicness has been going on for a while, but it peaked when Helen Humphrey-Taylor posted a TikTok video that claimed plain toast is “kinda chic.” In the now-deleted original video, commenters had a lot to say about her glamorization of something as boring and simple as butter-toasted bread, with some calling her “the girl who cried chic.” 

While day-in-my-life-type content has been popular on social media for years, it’s a completely different practice to treat boring, everyday things as novel and trendy. The viral toast video spawned dozens of parody videos that make fun of influencers’ desire to follow trends while also acting like doing common things is somehow revolutionary.

The problem with this trend isn’t its romanticization of life. In fact, glamorization can be beautiful and healing when you do it for yourself. The issue is that people are now romanticizing their lives solely to appear worthy enough to gain attention.

This idea reminds me of the common social media phrase people use before taking pictures of their food: “The phone eats first.” Although the phrase is funny and seemingly harmless, it reveals how performative so many aspects of our lives have become due to social media. We aren’t allowed to appreciate our simple joys until we frame them in just the right way, capture them on our phones and post them for other people to enjoy — often before we can. 

As students, we already face pressure to look impressive in this prestigious environment by securing internships, being involved in clubs, maintaining an active social life, looking put together and building a career that makes us feel worthy of the Trojan Family. For our influencer crowd, there is an added pressure to document it all and make the college experience marketable.

There is a difference between posting something because you find it flattering, significant or funny and posting everything to build a brand and follow trends. Social media is meant for building connections or creating a portfolio of your life’s joys and accomplishments, not for keeping current on trends or posting every second of the day. 

Making yourself seem palatable for social media all of the time is disingenuous. You don’t need to be constantly performing when you are alone, tired or doing something completely unremarkable. It’s okay to be mundane at times, even when the normalization of performativity makes us feel otherwise.

This trend’s popularity may stem from people recognizing this exhaustion. The parody videos are generally widely well-received because they expose the absurdity of treating toast and basic parts of being alive as aspirational and revolutionary. They push back against the idea that we have to follow every trend and that everything we do has to be curated, aesthetically pleasing and profitable.

Sometimes toast is just toast. Sometimes free parking is just a nice perk. Sometimes life is just life. We do not need to make every part of our lives look interesting or enviable for it to have value. 

As USC students, we should be aware of the pressure to perform and post, and be conscious of balancing our social media image with the need to stay grounded and being aware of how trends unnecessarily complicate everyday life. Don’t live your life for the validation of your followers; live it for your private, individual definition of chic.