Call me crazy but the way people blindly follow influencers is really worrying for me. In Social Media is ruining all of our experiences, we talk about how influencers who are ‘doing it for the gram’ are ruining it for the rest of us.
Why are we idolising them? It’s like we’re losing our grip on reality for what’s considered admirable and valuable within our society. Let’s talk about 4 reasons why we shouldn’t blindly follow influencers.
“Remember The Good Old Days”?
Remember the good old days, when you had to do something to be someone? When the people we looked up to publicly were people who had worked hard, persevered against all odds, and achieved something great?
I’m talking about actors, musicians, and sportspeople. People with talent. And not only are they talented people, they have also figured out how to use that talent to elevate themselves to a better life. I think that deserves recognition.
However in 2022, it’s like influencers are taking over. But why? What talents do they have? And what traits do they possess that we should admire?
The Dark Side Of Social Media
Social influencers are just like the rest of us. They’ve just realised that they can sell something to their audience for a profit. That’s just business.
And there is a place for it, believe it or not, the influencer marketing industry is set to hit $13.8bn. But we need to remember that social influencers are businesses, not friends.
We know that brands and companies exist to make money. Yet we forget the same is true for influencers and we start to trust them. Research even suggests that 70% of teens trust influencers more than celebrities.
All of us are becoming more and more comfortable buying into things that are not only downright ridiculous but also dangerous to our society.
So much so that there is early research on the subject now. I highly recommend checking out – The Dark Side Of Social Media. Let’s chat about the reasons we need to stop idolising influencers.
1. Creates Unrealistic Expectations
Influencers are curating the life they want you to think they have. Not the life they actually have. It’s not real. But it feels real. And it looks real.
And that is a very dangerous thing for us to expose ourselves to. When we see our idol influencers showing off their amazing lives, we compare ourselves and we end up disappointed. It is an impossible reality. And creates unrealistic expectations.
We feel as though we are somehow less than or failing because we don’t have the life they seem to have. Although we may not realise it in the moment, this starts to weigh on us.
We find it harder to feel happy and content with the lives that we have. All because it seems like someone else has more than us when in reality, that is not the case.
2. Confuses Success with Validation From Others
For some reason we view social influencers as ‘successful’. Success should be defined by more than wealth and validation from others. It should be about purpose and fulfilment. You can find purpose and fulfilment, in many paths in life.
Doctors, Nurses, Nannies, grocers and many more. And we need all of those paths to make the world go around. Idolising influencers ignores this and confuses success with validation from others.
Up and coming influencers are driven by two things; validation from total strangers and the opportunity to profit from said strangers. And I can’t really condemn them for that, greed and ego have been alive and kicking for as long as humans have existed.
They need an audience and we all know the more followers you have the better. So they are motivated to say and do whatever they have to, to get more likes and more followers and eventually more sales.
3. Disregards the Importance of Authenticity & Connection
Almost all social influencers are young, attractive and seemingly extroverted. By idolising social influencers we are encouraging young people to emulate this and actively disregarding the importance of authenticity.
“Being true to yourself” aka being authentic has long been linked with living a happy and successful life. It is hard enough to ‘be yourself’ and now with the rise of social influencers it is even more difficult as there is no value placed on doing so.
There is also no value placed on developing truly authentic personal connections. And yes, I know, social influencers are all about followers and they make videos saying things like ‘love you guys!’.
Spoiler alert, they don’t love us. We do not know these people or anyone else from that online community. By idolising influencers we are reiterating the narrative that online communities count as real friends. They don’t. And as human beings we need real authentic human connections to survive. Yes, to survive.
4. Impressionable Young People Are Watching
I am very thankful that I was born early enough to witness the rise of Social Influencers. Because of this, I can enjoy the jovial content whilst being aware deep down that I am only seeing what they want me to see.
I have lived a life free of social media for long enough to realise that there are things more important than validation from strangers and online ‘friends’. Therefore, I can take the fun and enjoyment from influencers without idolising them.
I can acknowledge funny, relatable and entertaining content but still recognise what really matters. But young people are watching. There are children who are being born into a world where we idolise influencers and value validation over everything.
If we are all sucked into this bizzare world then who is going to tell these children that there are more important things in life, than how many likes you can get on your instagram post?
Final thoughts
The power we are giving to influencers by idolising them is giving them a responsibility that they are not equipped to handle. I accept that there is a place for influencers, like there is for most things in this world but I firmly believe there is no place for mass idolisation of Social Influencers.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, I cannot be the only one who feels this way. And if you think I am wrong, please challenge me because I’d love to see the other side.
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