New media and its applications, which create spaces of experience for its users through ‘content production’ constitute an illusory manifestation of people's drive to be visible, to be noticed, to create a desire-based identity, to expand their social circles by establishing superficial connections, to be recognized, to share, to be liked, and, consequently, to self-actualize.

Social media trends are a structure worthy of study because they activate functions such as having a good time, satisfying the desire for approval, and feeling a sense of belonging to a group or community, as well as mediating the presentation of conspicuous consumption in different forms.

In this study, the transformation of the concept of dowry—an element of our cultural traditions—into a commodity that fuels consumption is examined through the specific case of the “School Dowry Movement,” which drew significant attention on Instagram during the course registration period in September 2025 and became a topic of major news broadcasts and opinion columns. The relationship between this transformation and conspicuous consumption is analyzed through a hermeneutic perspective supported by a literature review, and posts related to the movement are interpreted using descriptive content analysis.