It’s not exactly anything new for teenagers to discover that they’re living in a capitalist society and attempt to rebel against the major corporations in their life – I remember the first time I saw ‘Fight Club’ or listened to Propagandhi etc – but what is new is the fact that they can now record it on TikTok and share it with all their friends/followers.

Featured Image VIA

The movement is referred to as ‘borrowing’ on the social media platform and has an incredible amount of views with 30 million on #borrowingTikTok alone. Crucially, it seems that people who partake in ‘borrowing’ only target major chain stores and are supportive of small local businesses to adhere to this anticapitalist mantra.

The videos that are shared vary with some people actually shoplifting, others sharing their tips on how to shoplift and their ‘borrowing hauls from the day’ and also their views on how the system is broken. Here are a few of the best ones I’ve found to give you an idea:

@ok_neyaIf I see you “borrowing”, no I didn’t ❤️ ##greenscreen ##fyp ##borrowingtiktok♬ Notice. – Reuben Wanjala Jr

@borrowing___tiktokComment things you want to see ##fyp ##foryoupage ##foryou ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowingtips ##lifttok ##borrowing ##lifting♬ 50505050505 – maria like mario

@borrowing.tik.tokInteract to stay in borrowing tik tok ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowing ##borrowingtips ##borrow ##lift♬ why are people using my sound – Tik Toker

@borrowingtricksborrowing with a scrunchie ‍♀️ ##fyp ##TimeforTENET ##DogPerson ##foryou ##foryoupage ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowingtips ##borrowing ##borrowingscrunchie♬ N o w h e r e T o R u n –

@thatpunkkidPart two bby. Enjoy. ##fyp##fypシ##borrow##borrowingtips##eattherich##5fingerdiscount##borrowingtiktok##borrowinghaul♬ original sound –

@borrowinghacks69420@.borrow.639 &lt3 interact to stay on borrowing tiktok ##borrowing ##borrowingtips ##borrowinghaul ##borrowinghacks ##borrowingtiktok♬ original sound – T in Techno

@weborrowlotsFor legal reasons I bought these ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowing ##borrowingtips♬ ppcocaine unreleased song – rizzy

@chlorinetearsPause to read ##borrowing ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowingtips ##borrowing101 ##borrowinghacks♬ original sound – Cupcake_Music17

@weborrowlotsToday was fun ! ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowing ##timefortenet ##borrowinghaul ##borrowinghacks ##borrowingtips ##fyp♬ 4 morant – lovdfilmz

@borrowingbussiesgood luck y’all ##borrowing ##borrower ##borrowinghacks ##borrowingtips ##borrowingtiktok ##ImmuneUpVapeDown ##BaseballSzn ##fyp ##borrowingbuddies ##borrow

♬ No Wind Resistance! – Kinneret

@coochee_gangThis is all hypothetical, of course. Hehe. ##borrowing ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowingtips ##borrowingtricks ##borrowing101 ##borrowinghacks

♬ Renee – Sales

@borrowingtrickstoday’s børrøwing haul ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage ##borrowing ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowingtips ##borrowingtricks ##borrowing101 ##borrowingbros stay safe!

♬ Nelly Furtado – Promiscuous – mel

@borrowing___tiktok

##fyp ##foryoupage ##foryou ##borrowingtips ##borrowingtiktok ##borrowing ##lifting ##lifttok

♬ original sound – The_real_muchoflow_

@blueborrows

personally a fave bc it's so inconspicuous!! ##borrow ##borrowingtips ##borrowtok ##borrowing ##borrowingtiktok

♬ May I – Flo Milli

A lot to process there:

– it seems really inadvisable for the mall security guard to post on her TikTok that she’s going to ignore teenagers ‘borrowing’ stuff from her store? It might have got her a lot of views but surely it’s just going to lead to her losing her job?
– who knew Target was the hardest place to steal, sorry borrow from?
– Good tips with the scrunchy and backpack tips
– That one girl is kinda scary though
– Quite cool seeing the ‘borrowing hauls’ of certain people
– Good to see that this isn’t just a US trend, but is also happening over here in the UK. Or is it?
– Cup method seems a bit silly.

Anyway, you get the idea. Basically I can’t believe that kids are straight up using social media to spread information about stealing from chain stores and brag about how much they’ve stolen from them, but I guess that is just what it’s like to be a teenager now and I’m the equivalent of a boomer. Gotta say I kinda rate it – especially how it’s grounded in anti capitalism and not stealing from small businesses – although I would be slightly worried that it would be easy for the cyber police or whoever to track me down because of it. I guess that makes me even more of a boomer though doesn’t it?

For more of the same, check out this woman who just made the cringiest TikTok in history. Seriously.