A typical Christmas consists of family, gift opening and slow mornings which make the holiday all the more special. Following all the festivities, many run to social media to watch or create hauls of the gifts they received.
These hauls are typically videos where the recipient of the gift shows each of their gifts and explains where they are from and who they got them from.
Inadvertently, these hauls then shape the wish lists of those who got them. Often times, teens will watch these hauls for ideas for their personal wish list, building off of things they did not receive for Christmas.
“I base my whole birthday list on my friends and influencers hauls after Christmas,” Andie Rubin (11) said. “I’m Jewish and I still look at Christmas hauls in September to build my entire wish list.”
Similar to Rubin, many other students at Plant base their wish lists off hauls, regardless of if they received everything they wished for or not. As she said, however, students watch both influencers and friend’s hauls alike.
“I prefer my friends hauls,” Izzy Ayers (11) said.
Ayers is not alone in this. Out of the ten students interviewed across many grades, 7 agreed that they preferred their friend’s hauls to those of influencers.
“My friend’s hauls are still fun to watch but are way more realistic than influencers,” Ayers said. “It is still all things I want but still are obtainable.”
Despite the overwhelming majority of those polled preferring friend’s hauls as opposed to others done by influencers, some remained persistent in their choice that influencers were better.
“I watch all kinds of hauls after Christmas, both my friends and influencers, but my favorite would have to be influencers,” Alex Brun (9) said. “Influencers always get the nicest things that seem so unrealistic but are so entertaining to watch.”
Brun acknowledged that how some hauls done by influencers are unrealistic but cites that as one of their benefits.
Another advocate of the influencer’s hauls was Grace Gordin (11).
“I watch hauls every Christmas and yes, they shape my wish list and my birthday list, and I look up previous years to shape it,” Gordin said. “When you really think about it, it is so obvious how influencers affect consumer trends with all of their hauls. It’s like they determine what cool and what isn’t.”
One who is not a fan of either is senior, Morgan Miller (12).
“I did not watch any hauls because I hate Christmas hauls because I only get a certain amount of gifts,” Miller said. “I used to watch hauls, now I just see them as bragging and unrealistic for both influencers and my friends because of where we live.”
Miller has a point. When asked about some of the most popular gifts this Christmas, many of the gifts were good quality items with a range of prices. Some of these gifts included Parke, Alo sweat sets, Ugg slippers, Love Shack Fancy perfume and more.
All of those items listed are considered primarily luxury items with the sweat sets ranging from $200 to $300 according to the Alo website, Ugg slippers ranging from $100 to $150 according to the Ugg website and Love Shack Fancy perfume costing $125 according to the official Love Shack Fancy website.
With all of this in mind, however, some students described how they pass judgement on those who post hauls.
Regardless of any criticisms, it is undeniable that Christmas hauls often shape the wish lists, and birthday lists, of many teens, boys and girls alike.
“Even though I watch all of the hauls, I see them as kind of unnecessary,” Evelyn Iverson (11) said. “I do watch hauls every Christmas and they are so entertaining, but if you’re doing a haul, you most likely got things that you’re happy with and others didn’t get creating this unrealistic standards for families who maybe can’t buy the most expensive or popular thing.”
Influencer vs Friend Hauls by Ella Reeves