Christmas is seen as a very magical time and has changed from being seen solely as a religious holiday but rather as a time to spoil your loved ones.

People fill their living rooms with presents and often go into debt to spoil their kids and loved ones.

Don’t get me wrong, at the ripe age of 25, I still get excited on Christmas Eve with the anticipation of opening presents, but I think many people are going a little crazy and I think with social media usage increasing, Christmas has almost become a competition.

A quick search on TikTok shows more than 150,000 videos under the “Christmas haul” hashtag, and let me tell you, it just comes across as gloating.

With videos showing people receiving thousands of dollars worth of electronics, brand name clothes like Lululemon and Aritzia, shoes, perfumes, and more, I get that Christmas is mainly about consumerism, but I think there is a humble way to go about it.

Many people do not have the money to spend thousands of dollars on Christmas presents and these videos can make kids wonder why they didn’t get spoiled the way the people in the videos did.

One Christmas haul TikTok video posted by @whos.autty for example, has over 800,000 views.

There is nothing humble about opening presents and then immediately making a video to show off how you were spoiled.

These haul videos will pop up on my For You Page and I think they can be fun, but they are just such a weird trend.

The main goal is to be the person who got the most expensive gifts and the biggest quantity, which I think is just insane.

I’m not saying these people aren’t grateful for their gifts, it’s just such a weird look at me thing to do when Christmas is supposed to be about spending time with your family.

Canada has a poverty rate of 9.9 per cent for people under the age of 18, according to Statistics Canada. People who may not have been gifted the same amount get to go onto social media and basically have it rubbed in their face that they didn’t receive as much as another person.

Especially when saying, “Santa spoiled me,” it may leave these kids wondering why Santa didn’t spoil them the same way.

I am not at all saying you can’t spoil your loved ones if you have the means to do it. But why does it have to become a video?

To be completely honest, I hate this culture. I think this is what is wrong with social media. When I was 13, I got my gifts and then spent the day with my family, not filming a TikTok about how rich my parents are.

To me it gives “pick me” energy and just leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Enjoy your presents, be grateful for being spoiled, but maybe think about the less fortunate before gloating online and potentially making other kids feel less worthy due to their parents’ tax bracket.