Day dumping is a TikTok trend from the spring of 2023 in which users post short videos of everyday activities on the platform. Whether it’s watering flowers, cooking food, drinking tea or snuggling up in bed, the tasks are all banal or unspectacular and are distributed in the form of many snapshots. (Dump = a pile). The trend teaches to discover the beauty of everyday life and to enjoy the little things in life. In the course of the day dumping trend, users post a high number of short videos that put the events of a day in order. This creates a catalog-like digital diary.
Day Dumping Advantages
Day Dumping can be seen as a counter-trend to uncritical consumerism. It is meant to encourage people to show their own everyday life and themselves in an unadorned way and to feel good about it. In this sense, day dumping is a thoroughly useful counter-trend to the ideals spread on social media. After all, things are rarely as beautiful as they look in the edited photos in reality. The vast majority of videos and photos have been so distorted and idealized that one can speak of fake images with a clear conscience.
The Internet community is now increasingly revolting against such manipulations. Young women in particular are tired of being permanently presented with unattainable ideals and forced to compare. Day Dumping is not about fascinating locations or carefully selected outfits to become „Instagram-ready.“ Day Dumping shows everyday life as it is, thereby relieving not only the people who post short videos of themselves on the web, but also the viewers:inside of considerable pressure. By documenting the day, it is possible to gain a new, healthier perspective on one’s life. Moreover, when watching the simple but positive events, positive emotions from the past are linked, which is very helpful in case of imminent overload.
Other positive effects of Day Dumping
Stress and self-doubt decrease
Especially because everything is filled with negativity in a time that is beset by crises, it can be very supportive to focus one’s attention on a small section of one’s life, namely one’s own four walls. If the world you’re looking at becomes smaller, it’s easier to see positivity. Posting numerous videos leads to an increased presence on the web, which can benefit shy people or those struggling with self-doubt. This makes it easier for them to overcome fears and build more self-worth. It can even reduce stress. The more positive rituals are created, the more positive the inner thought world becomes. The positive establishes itself and gradually displaces the negative, psychologist Dr. Rina Bajaj is certain.
The ease in the everyday life increases
Day Dumping Day can positively influence mental health. It’s a chance to reappreciate everyday things that otherwise get little attention. It’s about being more content, even if you haven’t accomplished anything supposedly great. If you document things and activities that you take for granted, you also benefit from the „pay-it-forward“ aspect. Not only one recognizes the value, through the videos shown others are encouraged to imitate. Even in things that seem strenuous and difficult, there is usually something good to be found. Those who are able to focus on this and develop gratitude can sustainably strengthen their mental health and resilience.
Day Dumping Disadvantages
Permanently portraying oneself in the context of one’s everyday life can have the same negative effects as documenting an exaggerated, wholesome Instagram world. Everyday documentation can also lead to an addictive effect. The protagonists are the main actors in their lives, in which there is always the risk of escaping into an illusory world – even if it is not embellished.
Furthermore, it can easily happen that one loses sight of the essentials during day dumping. It therefore makes sense to leave one’s cocoon regularly and to face everyday challenges outside the home as well. As with everything else, users should find a healthy balance when it comes to day dumping.