The World and Social Media Are Evolving–But Maybe Too Much For Influencers

Photo Credit | Hello I’m Nik from UNSPLASH

By Emiree Campbell

Slowly but surely, the world will be too cynical for social media influencers– allow me to explain why. We often find
ourselves spending a great deal of time scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, just to find an influencer we deem interesting enough to us. Then, we begin to believe what they say and next thing you know we find ourselves purchasing or partaking in something we really don’t need. Most people in the present world believe in the greater good– we like to think that someone is looking out for us, that social media influencers base their platforms on honesty and transparency, and that they’re ethical people. And, for the most part, a majority of social media influencers are just that.

However, some act only for themselves and you’re bound to cross paths with them. These
are the influencers that tarnish the reputation of the rest of the community. This leaves us questioning every influencer and everything they do. Questions will start to rise like: Who is this person? What do they stand for? Are they being honest? Can I trust them? Technology is the best thing known to man. We have cellphones now that allow us to explore social media. And thanks to social media anyone with a working phone, opinions, and initiatives can become famous, even bad people. I mean think about it, there are millions of influencers with millions of followers. Social media allows anyone to become a celebrity– even those who don’t deserve it and use their platforms for all the wrong reasons. This is becoming widely known, leaving a strong sense of cynicism among everyone else.

When anyone and everyone can become famous, a negative correlation forms between our society and its culture. Many start to question why it’s so easy for people to become so widely known for having an opinion. As much as we like to think of ourselves as leaders, we hop on the bandwagon and follow, sometimes even obsessed over these influencers who do not deserve it. It won’t be long before people start making it hard for influencers to reach a certain level of fame. At some point, many will face heavy scrutiny, and I believe this is rightfully so. Influencers should be held to a high standard. A certain skill of some sort should be required, although this doesn’t exclude or cancel out the bad influencers that may rise. It at most gives them a level of credibility, as this person won’t be a complete fraud. Not
that it will take them a long way.

Eventually, people will catch on that this person is fake and only cares about their own self-interests. Influencers are gradually becoming too numerous and quite frankly ineffective. They worked wonders for companies years ago but now they’re slowly falling short. Most people follow to see their content or for inspiration but their ability to generate sales is fading. People are beginning to not trust influencers’ recommendations enough to purchase. Influencers are becoming equivalent to generated company robots, that will all eventually lack personality, tone, and authenticity. This is because we understand how influencers work now more than ever. Influencers make money to influence. This is
how they make a living. It is not farfetched to say that influencers care more about their money than their audience.

The world will begin to care more about authenticity above all, weeding out the same cookie-cutter influencers. Once this happens, that will be the day that influencers go out the window. Believe it or not, people want to be an influencer rather than follow them. And, can you guess why? Well, the money and lifestyle it promises. You don’t ever
hear someone wanting to be an influencer to help or better people’s lives. It just doesn’t happen. They’re usually in it to better themselves or to fulfill their own personal desires. Although influencers should care about their
fans, some don’t. Young people are catching on to this rather quickly and over time the idea of an influencer
will eventually fade out completely. People will no longer believe them, Leaving brands figuring out a new way to reach
the masses, but until then, influencers today will continue doing what they do best–influence– and do it while they’re still able to.