Every year, the internet collectively decides that certain things are “in” and other things are “out.” In 2025, it was quiet luxury and girl dinner. In 2024, it was mob wife aesthetic and demure. In 2026, the trends are somehow even more unhinged, and I’m here for it.
I’ve been tracking what’s actually gaining traction this year across social media, fashion, food, and lifestyle. Not the forced “trends” that brands are trying to make happen, but the ones people are genuinely adopting. Some are brilliant. Some are baffling. One involves fermenting things in your living room on purpose.
1. “Underconsumption Core” Goes Mainstream
What started as a TikTok rebellion against haul culture has become a full-blown lifestyle movement. People are actively bragging about NOT buying things. “Look at this phone case I’ve had for 3 years.” “This is my one pair of jeans.” “I didn’t buy anything from the Amazon sale.”
The irony? Underconsumption core has spawned its own consumer products. You can now buy “anti-haul” journals and “intentional living” planners. We really can’t help ourselves.
But underneath the aesthetic, there’s something real happening. Gen Z and younger millennials in India are genuinely questioning whether they need 47 t-shirts. The answer, for most of us, is no. We need like 12. And a couple of them can have holes.
2. AI Fatigue Is the New AI Hype
Remember when every second LinkedIn post was about how AI would change everything? That was 2024. In 2026, the vibe has shifted to “please stop adding AI to things that didn’t need it.”
AI-generated content is everywhere, and people are getting good at spotting it. The telltale signs: perfect grammar that sounds like nobody talks, lists that are suspiciously well-organized, and paragraphs that start with “In today’s rapidly evolving landscape.” If you’ve ever read something and thought “a human didn’t write this,” you’re probably right.
The counter-trend? Deliberately imperfect, obviously human content. Newsletters with typos that don’t get corrected. Blog posts that go on tangents. YouTube videos where the creator clearly forgot what they were saying mid-sentence. Imperfection is the new authenticity.
3. Micro-Hobbies Are Replacing Side Hustles
The side hustle era is dying, and micro-hobbies are taking its place. Instead of trying to monetize every interest, people are picking up hobbies that are deliberately, aggressively unprofitable.
Mushroom foraging. Bookbinding. Ham radio. Competitive jigsaw puzzling (this is real, and there are tournaments). The whole point is that it’s useless. You can’t put “expert at pressing flowers” on your LinkedIn, and that’s exactly why people love it.
In India specifically, there’s been a surge in pottery classes, analog photography (buying film cameras from 2005 and pretending it’s artistic), and birdwatching. The birdwatching community on Indian Twitter is unhinged in the best way. People getting into heated debates about whether they spotted a Verditer Flycatcher or a Blue-capped Rock Thrush.
4. The “Third Place” Revival
Sociologists have been talking about “third places” for decades. Not home, not work, somewhere else. Cafes, libraries, parks, community centers. The places where you just exist around other humans without a specific agenda.
In 2026, there’s a deliberate effort to find and protect these spaces. Book cafes are booming in Indian cities. Co-reading spaces (where you sit in a room with strangers and everyone reads silently) are a thing in Bangalore and Mumbai. Community gardens are popping up in Delhi neighborhoods.
The driving force is simple: remote work made people lonely, and scrolling Instagram in bed isn’t actually socializing, no matter what your brain tells you.
5. Fermentation Nation
Kombucha was just the beginning. In 2026, home fermentation has gone full mainstream in India. People are fermenting everything: kimchi, kefir, sourdough (still), hot sauce, and vegetables I didn’t know could be fermented.
My colleague has a “fermentation station” in her kitchen that takes up an entire counter. There are jars bubbling at different stages. It looks like a science experiment gone right. Or maybe wrong. The line is thin.
The health claims are sometimes exaggerated (“this probiotic will cure your anxiety”), but the basic premise is sound: fermented foods are good for gut health, they taste interesting, and making them at home is cheaper than buying that Rs 500 bottle of kombucha from the organic store.
6. Digital Minimalism, Phone Edition
Dumbphone discourse hit different in 2026. People aren’t actually switching to dumbphones (let’s be realistic, you need UPI), but they’re aggressively decluttering their smartphones. Home screens with 4 apps. Greyscale mode after 8 PM. Deleting Instagram for 30 days and writing a reflective essay about it.
The more practical version: people are using app timers, turning off all notifications except calls, and keeping their phones in a different room while sleeping. Revolutionary behavior that our grandparents would describe as “normal.”
7. “Loud Budgeting” Stays Loud
Started in late 2024, loud budgeting has only gotten louder. Instead of making up excuses for why you can’t go to that Rs 3,000 brunch, people are just saying “I can’t afford that” or “that’s not in my budget this month.” No shame, no elaborate stories about being busy.
This is genuinely one of the healthiest trends I’ve seen. Indian culture has a complicated relationship with money conversations. Talking openly about what you can and can’t afford is still uncomfortable for many people, but it’s getting less uncomfortable, and that’s progress.
What These Trends Have in Common
If you zoom out, there’s a pattern: slower, cheaper, more intentional, less performative. People are tired of optimizing everything. They want to read a book without tracking it on Goodreads. Cook a meal without posting it. Have a hobby that isn’t a side hustle. Save money without feeling guilty about it.
Whether this lasts or gets replaced by the next aesthetic is anyone’s guess. But for now, it’s a nice change from the “hustle harder, spend more, document everything” energy of the last few years.
Are these trends only popular with Gen Z?
Mostly started by Gen Z on social media, but adopted across age groups. Loud budgeting and digital minimalism are arguably more popular with millennials in their 30s who’ve already been through the overconsumption phase and are ready for something different.
Will underconsumption core actually reduce consumerism?
Probably not at scale. But it’s shifting conversations. When “I didn’t buy anything this month” gets more social approval than a shopping haul, that’s a meaningful cultural shift, even if it’s happening slowly.
Is the anti-AI sentiment going to hurt tech companies?
Not the useful AI. People still love AI that summarizes meetings or generates code. They’re tired of AI that writes their friend’s wedding speech or generates fake product reviews. The backlash is against unnecessary AI, not all AI.