In the age of influencers, social media stars are frequently used to promote new products and encourage their followers to open their wallets and follow their example.
However, a strange and specific new trend on TikTok seems to be taking shape, in which mothers and young women show off their lives in a new composite “city” in Saudi Arabia: Neom.
Neom, which has its own futuristic-style website, is a new city being built in the northwest of the country, pushed by Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The total cost of the project is still unknown, but reports suggest that by its expected completion date in 2039, it will amount to around $500 billion.
The project has also come under scrutiny after reports earlier this year that Saudi forces had been “ordered to kill” to make way for the project, which is also designed to be a green project. The Saudi government has not commented on these allegations.
But the average TikTok viewer would have no idea of the controversy surrounding Neom from the glowing vlogs posted by “mommy influencers” who are among the first people to move to the new town with their husbands, who appear to be working for the development.
Saudi Arabia’s controversial “eco-city” Neom is the backdrop for glossy “day in the life” videos on TikTok, where “mumfluencers” show off their seemingly perfect lives in the resort
TikTok stars project utopian ideals about development, where children can play safely on playgrounds and have plenty of peers to befriend at school, there is virtually no traffic, and non-working mothers can enjoy coffee mornings with their friends.
Families visit a food hall in the center of the complex where they enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner in a buffet-style setting. There also appears to be a Starbucks in the center of town.
In a clip, which has apparently been deleted, South African-born Jessica Herman reveals “a day in the life” in Neom after she and her husband moved there with their two children in recent months.
Images of Neom in its early days, now just a camp for development staff and their families, show the purpose-built homes, cafes and parks.
Neom (pictured) will cost $500 million and is financed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as domestic and foreign investors.
In particular, it focuses on the night she is getting the kids ready to go out to dinner, where she runs into her husband, who has just finished work.
He is shown walking through what appears to be largely empty streets as he heads to the food hall.
After meeting her husband, Jessica reveals how well-lit the dining room looks as she looks at the wide selection of food on offer and boasts, “We have the best fruit here.”
When the family finishes dinner, Jessica shows her oldest son running and says, ‘Now it’s time for him to run around and go crazy until he’s completely exhausted.’
The “day in the life” clips, many of which have since been deleted after going viral, show the mothers spending their time shopping and eating lunch at the food hall.
Elsewhere, a vlogger named Aida McPhersonWho describes herself as an “expat” living in Saudi Arabia, has revealed her daily life in Neom, which includes going to Starbucks in the morning for an iced coffee, before sitting down with “the girls” to catch up.
He also visits the community dining room for breakfast, which operates for a certain period in the morning.
In a video, he describes his visit to Tabuk Park shopping centre, one of his “favourite places”, via a bus.
Aida films herself folding her stroller to place it on the bus, where she sits with her friends as they travel to the mall.
One influencer, Aida McPherson, has posted several clips of her day-to-day life at Neom, but some have since been deleted.
Once there, he visits a supermarket called Lulus, where he buys nuts. A look inside the mall reveals that some well-known brands, such as Timberland and H&M, have stores there.
She visits McDonald’s for lunch before doing some shopping for her children. As she heads home, the bus passes a sign that says, “I (heart) Neom.”
In a comment below her video, Aida explains that the city is currently a “construction camp for employees only.”
She explains: ‘You have to work for Neom to be able to stay in the camp.’
Elsewhere she adds that her husband was offered a job in Neom, so she and her family decided to move there.
In another clip, Aida is shown visiting the supermarket after feeling “bored”, before later going to a friend’s apartment building for a visit.
She appears to be travelling to her friend’s house on the back of a motorcycle-style taxi service, which drives through virtually empty streets.
Sara Sid, who appears to be friends with other mothers living in Neom, has also posted vlogs about life in the Saudi city.
Another expat, who uses the TikTok username GNEOM-GNEOMShe posts clips of herself living in the Saudi resort while also asking her friends what they like about living there.
In one clip, he asks people to complete the sentence: “If you live in Neom…” and shows different people’s answers to the question.
One woman says: ‘You have a lot of support for self-healing’, while another says: ‘You really enjoy sport’.
One of the women who was asked the question is Aida, who answers: ‘You will have the best community and lots of food.’
In another place another mother Sara Sidwho appears to be friends with some of the other mom influencers, showed her followers what her normal day looks like, including two visits to Starbucks.
According to Neom’s website, the eco-city’s “vision” is to become a “global business hub” by “building a future-oriented and sustainable economy.”
It promises to be “respectful of nature” and claims that “protection, preservation and regeneration are the basis” of its model.
It suggests the city’s development is being driven by $500 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and “local and international investors.”
The city is projected to stretch 170km and feature five regions, including The Line, which will be home to 9 million people and promises to provide all residents with “every daily essential within a five-minute walk.”
Accompanied by a bold vision and futuristic artistic impressions, the Neom project is sold as a utopian ideal that solves the climate crisis and presents a new way of life.
Commenting on the project, Mohammed bin Salman said: “We cannot ignore the environmental and liveability crises facing our world’s cities, and NEOM is at the forefront of delivering new and imaginative solutions to address these issues.”
However, behind Neom’s shiny facade – promoted by the project itself and TikTok expats promoting it online – there are some distressing allegations, after a former CIA agent claimed construction companies at the site were given the green light to demolish entire indigenous communities to build it.
Colonel Rabih Alenezi told the BBC He was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe to make way for The Line, the central part of the project.
According to him, one of the villagers who protested against the eviction was shot dead. The Saudi government has refused to comment on the allegations.
The colonel, now living in exile in the UK, said the villagers were from the Huwaitat tribe, which has lived in the region for generations.
Meanwhile, many of the vloggers’ videos about life in Neom are not being particularly well received by viewers, who are not convinced by the way of life there.
After Jessica Herman’s TikTok clip was reposted on X/Twitter, people suggested the clips were a “marketing ploy.”
It is unclear whether the vloggers are part of an official marketing strategy to promote Neom; however, in 2019, the influencers ran into trouble after partnering with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to help it repair its image following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Names such as Australian Gab Scanu and Tara Whiteman visited the Arab nation on sponsored trips where they posted glowing, upbeat videos of their tours of the country, failing to mention its human rights abuses, including the beheadings of its citizens.
Australian National University professor Dr Raihan Ismail said: Guardian“The Saudi government is investing heavily in trying to rebuild its image.”
As the city of Neom is still in the early stages of its development, viewers don’t seem to be convinced by what some call a “wasteland.”
One person said: ‘Imagine living in a place called ‘Neom Community One’ and not thinking you’re at the beginning of a horror!’
Another joked: “Wow, this looks cool. I’ve always dreamed of living in an industrial estate on the surface of the sun.”
“Walking across a hot, empty parking lot with my young children to eat at a space mining colony mess hall,” another joked.
Jessica Herman appears to have deleted her TikTok account. Meanwhile, Aida McPherson also appears to have deleted one of her “day in the life” vlogs from her TikTok account.