Today’s digital world has reframed the fame of the celebrity culture into a new phrase influencer culture. With the rapid improvement of internet connectivity, every person can access the internet and can become an influencer through social media. However, the question arises, is the influencer culture empowering social media or diluting its authenticity?
What is influencer culture?
A simple definition of influencer culture can be the growing trend of individuals using social media and creating content to influence other people. Social media influencers are generally ordinary people who create content to reach a wider audience to become digital celebrities.
The origin of the influencer culture can be traced back to the emergence of social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and more. Individual people started to share their personal lives or share their ideas through social media from where they got fame and became influencers.
Traditional celebrities mostly gained fame from their movies and music. But the influencers created their own space to become famous and then got a chance to perform in movies, web series, music videos and more. In the initial stage, influencers attract an audience and build a community where they share authentic relationships.
Nowadays, brands approach influencers to promote their products or services. From this approach, the initiation of influencer marketing started. Influencers started to create sponsored content to promote other brand products. Even some of the influencers created their own brands and made a profitable company from their fame and popularity.
There are different types of influencers found in the influencer culture. The types of influencers include mega influencers with millions of subscribers, macro influencers with 100,000 to 1 million subscribers, micro influencers with 1000 to 100,000 subscribers and nano influencers who have less than 1000 subscribers.
The evaluation of social media and influencer culture
The origin of social networking sites was initiated after the appearance of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and Bulletin Board System (BBS) during the 1970s and 1980s. These platforms allow to share files and exchange messages in real-time to specific communities.
However, in the early 1970s, email and chat programs were introduced to support online interactions. After that in 1979, the creation of USENET allowed users to interact with people within specific subject areas like newsgroups etc. Through this people can post messages and replies to other people.
This traditional online communication system evolved in 1993 with the launch of the Mosaic web browser. This browser had a user-friendly graphical interface through which users could access information through seamless navigation with just a click.
In the early 2000s, the online connection became more fascinating with the launch of the Friendster. Through this platform, users can connect with their friends, share photos and even make new friends. Even, MySpace also gained popularity in the mid-2000s for its enhanced social networking experience through music discovery and customisable profile settings.
The revolution of social media came with the advent of Facebook in 2004. Mark Zuckerberg and his college friend launched Facebook from the dorm room of Harvard University. Facebook gained popularity because of its feature of News Feed. Although it was restricted to college students, people can engage with each other by creating real-time posts.
Then the revolution of microblogging rose with the launch of Twitter in 2006. This platform allowed people to share their real opinions, take part in online discussions and more. Twitter completely reshaped the public discourse and connected communities around shared interests.
Then proceeding to 2010, visual narrative evaluation rose from the launch of Instagram and Snapchat. People became introduced to the concept of short time stories that disappeared within 24 hours from Snapchat. Instagram, on the other hand, became famous for sharing photos and visual storytelling. These two platforms transformed the traditional social interaction type.
The influencer culture was introduced in social media with the launch of TikTok and YouTube. YouTube brought the concept of video content creation. YouTubers started to influence their audience by creating long videos. Whereas, TikTok bring the concept of short videos where people are paid for their short content.
However, the influencer culture became popular during the pandemic. People got locked into their rooms due to the worldwide lockdown. Throughout this period, the influencer culture boomed. Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Instagram started to dominate the influencer culture.
The erosion of authenticity
The rise of the influencer market is reshaping our perception of choosing a brand or making an investment. However, we need to remember that what we consume from social media and follow an influencer is scripted. Although there are exceptions exist. But most of them are scripted.
The influencer culture often dilutes the authenticity of social media by prioritizing polished and edited content over genuine experiences. We need to understand that most of the influencers create an illusion of perfection. They only showcased the best moments and exciting aspects of their lives. No one shows their actual suffering, as people love to watch their luxury and happy moments to become happy over their smartphones.
The influencer culture has created a bubble of unrealistic expectations among followers. This bubble creates pressure on the followers to live life from the perspectives of the influencers they follow. It creates a psychological impact among followers for which they start to compare themselves with the influencers they follow leading to depression.
The influencer who became a celebrity from an organic person gained the trust of their followers. Gamers, vloggers and more portray a picture of a normal person’s life to win the trust of people. However, some influencers promote gambling apps and even illegal brands for the sake of money.
In India, approximately 75% of children between the age group of 13-17 engage with the social media platform and follow several influencers. What do you think, about how the gambling apps’ promotion impacts their brain?
Because of our hectic world, parents used to give their children phones at the average age of 10-12. The children became addicted to smartphones, their screen time increased and they even got access to age-inappropriate content. It directly impacts their brain development and mental health.
Now, does the gambling app promotion impact children’s brains? Well, you might feel you are just only giving access to some limited and harmless games and some good YouTube videos, but that’s not the full picture. If children love anyone they assume them as their idle and start to follow them without thinking of the consequences.
By getting influence from their favourite influencer, they installed gambling games and started to play. Henceforth, impulsivity increases and they lose their parent’s money in gambling or betting apps. For example, a 13-year-old boy from Hyderabad, India spent around 36 lakh rupees of their parent’s savings on online betting apps like Rummy and Teen Patti.
The constant pressure of being active on social media also leads to misinformation. Several influencers spread misinformation to get engagement in their videos and to stay in the limelight. The line between factual content and appealing misinformation got blurred to drive more clicks, likes and shares.
It has been found that most of the time to become a part of the influencer culture, people started to overshare. A daily vlogger might reveal their home address, their personal relationships, their bank balance and more. This can lead to the disruption of their privacy and security and ultimately lead to depression and anxiety.
Social media platforms weapon: negativity
Have you ever seen, rather than positive content, that negative content gets higher engagement in most of the social media platforms? Outrage, controversy etc. attract users because of their psychological provocation. The influencer culture is also used to promote controversies, outrage and the like.
However, social media platforms are using such algorithms to get more engagement from people. Human brains are wired to respond to the negative aspects more intensely than the positive ones. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms use this formula in their earning model.
A May 2023 survey exposed that 37% of worldwide users believe that social media platforms are allowing harmful content. Harmful content might be available in any form like images, videos or words that cause offences, distress or harm. The young people and children who are getting exposed to it get mentally disturbed.
Do you know that, the Instagram algorithm is designed to suggest adult content to teen accounts? Reports have shown that a completely new Instagram account feed, especially teen accounts, is full of adult content. If you turn off the “Sensitive Content Control” setting in your Instagram account, it can restrict the appearance of adult content.
However, it is not easier for new users of Instagram to turn off the setting on the first hand because they do not have that knowledge. Even teenagers do not have the maturity to avoid these contents and turn off the setting.
From a survey, it has been found that approximately 27% of influencers created or promoted adult content through Instagram. In that case, both the influencer culture and the social media platforms are responsible for disrupting the mindset of young people from the age group of 18 to 24.
The term “troll” also came into the spotlight from the rise of influencer culture. Trolls often thrive on negativity, and most of the troller’s motives are to troll someone from the unhappiness or desire to be relevant by bringing others down. Trolls oftentimes lead to mental health issues.
Is there a balance?
After understanding all the aspects of the influencer culture and social media platforms’ role in them, now the question arises, is there a balance? Well, it needs to be remembered that not all influencers are bad and blur the line between factual data and promotional content.
In the influencer culture, ethical influencers have also been found. The ethical influencers who created dedicated content to influence people with the right information. There are a lot of influencers who promote a sustainable way of living and consuming. They share tips to reduce waste, select sustainable products and adopt eco-friendly habits that helped them to build a sustainable lifestyle.
Some beauty influencers like to share their personal experience with the brands they collaborate with and let their followers decide their opinions on beauty products. For example, “Nikkie Tutorials”, “Zoella” etc have been known for their genuine promotion of beauty products and by doing this they are gaining the trust of their followers.
Some influencers use motivation as their weapon and grow their business in multilevel marketing (MLM). Motivational influencers frequently share success stories, personal development advice and inspirational quotes to create false promises. Research revealed that approximately 99% of people who are involved in MLMs lose money and most of the motivational influencers don’t highlight that.
Where these kinds of influencers have been found in social media, some ethical influencers don’t take money from their sessions. For example, the Indian motivational influencer can be considered “Sandeep Maheshwari” who does not monetize his channel and doesn’t take fees for his sessions. This kind of influencer maintains transparent and trustworthy relationships with their followers to promote a sustainable lifestyle.
Diversity of content is maintaining the balance. If there is adult content, manipulated content and misleading information available on social media platforms, there are also some other ethical contents that provide sustainable routes to people. Several influencers share their expertise in their lives and empower their followers to make informed decisions.
By considering different aspects of social media influencers it can be found that there is still a balance in the influencer landscape. Where there is negative content present in social media, some of the influencers also promote positive content. It is ultimately your decision what you choose to consume.
Many countries have taken steps to increase the accountability of social media platforms. In the US, the government has brought the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by considering the influencer culture. According to FTC, every influencer labels sponsored posts by using hashtags like #ad or #sponcored. The motive of this step is to make the followers clear regarding what is promotional content and what is genuine content.
FAQ
What is influencer culture?
A simple definition of influencer culture can be the growing trend of individuals using social media and creating content to influence other people. Social media influencers are generally ordinary people who create content to reach a wider audience to become digital celebrities.
How does influencer culture dilute the accountability of social media?
The influencer culture often dilutes the authenticity of social media by prioritising polished and edited content over genuine experiences.
Is there a balance in the influencer landscape?
By considering different aspects of social media influencers it can be found that there is still a balance in the influencer landscape. Where there is negative content present in social media, some of the influencers also promote positive content. It is ultimately your decision what you choose to consume.
How do influencers affect the audience’s mental health?
The influencer culture has created a bubble of unrealistic expectations among followers. This bubble creates pressure on the followers to live life from the perspectives of the influencers they follow. It creates a psychological impact among followers for which they start to compare themselves with the influencers they follow leading to depression.
How do influencers impact young audiences?
Reports have shown that a completely new Instagram account feed, especially teen accounts, is full of adult content. However, it is not easier for new users of Instagram to turn off the setting on the first hand because they do not have that knowledge. Even teenagers do not have the maturity to avoid these contents and turn off the setting.
How has influencer culture changed social media?
The influencer’s culture changed social media as the influencers created their own space to become famous and then got a chance to perform in movies, web series, music videos and more. In the initial stage, influencers attract an audience and build a community where they share authentic relationships.
