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The Impulse Purchase

and how social media lures us

By Amethyst ChampagnePublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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The Impulse Purchase
Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Shopping, it's something we all do. It used to be all in stores, so if you didn't leave the house, the odds of you buying anything was low to none. And if the store was out of a particular item, who knew when it'd be in stock again

Of course, there are those magazines, but I think they're a pain to buy from and might not have anything that calls to you.

Then online shopping started.

Suddenly, you could buy anything you wanted from home with the click of the mouse, or tap of your finger later on as smartphones and apps made headway.

Many companies either created websites, or, like Amazon, were solely created so you didn't have to drive to the store. people took a fancy.

Social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others began allowing companies to post ads and links, which we all know pop up in our news feeds and are tailored to what we like.

And when the pandemic hit, almost every store shut down for months, forcing us to resort to online shopping.

However, social media generally doesn't advertise practical items to buy. It's usually stuff we don't need, but it's cool or looks pretty, and being cooped up at home, we all want things to make our lives easier or make us feel good.

These are a few things I've paid for due to them being advertised on social media

Vocal+

Thanks to Instagram, I discovered Vocal/ Vocal+ in December of last year. Admittedly, any method to getting paid for writing stories drew me in and I initially had the free version.

I instantly liked how you could track how many people read your stories, how you can share them to Facebook, since I don't have a Twitter account.

But as I wrote more and started seeing the challenges I couldn't do because I had the free version, I decided to subscribe for Vocal+, something I don't regret.

Freelancer

I signed up for this a while back. For those who haven't heard of it, Freelancer is a site where freelance workers can find jobs.

Now I have no memory as to how I found this one, but as someone who's tryin to become a freelance editor, I thought it would be a good place to start.

like with Vocal, I opted for the free option at first. And for I didn't pay attention to it for some time, but have recently come back to it, and got the premium membership, knowing I need to get my name out there.

I haven't gotten a lot a bites on the line and I'm debating whether or not to downgrade, but if anyone is curious, I use the same profile picture and name(since it's my given name)

Pink Dragon

I saw the ad for this female oriented exercise program. It started off with a quiz for my metabolic type, then a video explaining things after I got my results.

The more I watched, the more I liked. It was for an insane discount with a bunch of bonuses, so I decided to snatch it up before the opportunity disappeared.

I have been doing the program for about a month now and I am loving it. The exercises are only about 15 minutes long and work you out good while having rest days built.

IPSY

Another thing I've bought from an email ad was a subscription for IPSY, which is an app for women to discover makeup, beauty products, and beauty tools.

Normally this isn't something I'd sign up for, but we all do things after breakups, and I wanted to treat myself without going extreme, so I figured why not.

I took a quiz, picked which subscription I wanted, and got my first package a week ago. It was filled with cool stuff I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.

I probably won't keep this one forever, but it's fun discovering new beauty products, finding out what I do and don't like.

Editing Masterfully

This is an online class of Udemy I think I saw of Facebook. it was an 80% discount and all classes, and wanting to be an editor, I figured learning more about the processes would be helpful.

And boy, I was right. I am getting so much out of learning about deep editing. Helping me become the best editor I can be.

Which possibly could lead to me taking other courses, but only time will tell.

Netflix/Hulu

I can't say these were specifically because of social media ads, but they pop of from time to time. And we all love watching shows that don't play on cable.

Other

Although I haven't gone overboard with this, I've impulse bought a few random items not on Amazon from time to time, sometimes due to social media

I have also signed up for various email subscriptions, but those are free and I like learning new things that interest me, a few relating to my subscriptions.

So for the most part, I try treating it like a long term investment for my future, with treats here and there.

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About the Creator

Amethyst Champagne

I create anything from fiction to personal stories, poetry, and more.

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