There's no shortage of reasons to despise online influencers. From those pushing the manosphere to the teens posting hare-brained copycat TikTok videos and the wellness numpties peddling risky peptides, they've hardly made the world a better place. In fact, they've put countless gullible followers in harm's way.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

Login or signup to continue reading

But over the past few weeks, in the supermarket, I've found another cause for contempt. There are no sardines, thanks to a viral online trend called sardinemaxxing. In their hundreds of thousands, the gullible have been conned into believing that wolfing down cans of the humble fish will clear their skin, give them lustrous hair, build their muscles and generally make them healthier. The silver fish recast as a silver bullet.

They're subjecting themselves to days long sardine fasts, risking sodium overload and elevated levels of uric acid by eating several cans a day. And, of course, they're forgoing the fibre essential for gut health. And they've turned what used to be an inexpensive and tasty source of protein into a beauty product, sought after around the world.

TikTok hosts 100,000 videos tagged #sardines. A video from wellness influencer Ally Renee, in which she said "If you say you want a glow-up this year but you're not eating sardines, what are you doing?", clocked up 2.7 million views.

I'm not interested in the promise of a "glow-up". That ship has long sailed. But what I would like is the option of sardines on toast on a chilly morning, with a twist of pepper and a squeeze of lemon. So how long will the TikTok-fuelled shortage last?

Given social media's short attention span, it shouldn't be too long before the TikTok brigade finds something else to maxx or obsess over.

Not too long ago, the platform convinced image obsessed youngsters that rubbing potatoes into their skin was a good idea. Mercifully, that trend faded, gone the way of the internal shower drink, which........

© Canberra Times