SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS, A LIABILITY TO SOCIETY ?

ABSTRACT

This paper is about how online influencers are a liability to society. Online influencers are defined as the new celebrities and idols of society, they are admired, followed, loved by millions. In this case, we discuss who really are the influencers, how were they initiated and how they became marketing weapons used by the industry for one sole purpose the exposition of their products to the audience online. This paper also talks about the ideology of the beauty and the ‘perfect body’ portrayed by the heroes of gen z and to what extent they are willing to be relevant.

Keywords: #socialmedia, #influencer, #onlinecommunities, #badinfluence, #liabilitytosociety, #misleading, #unrealistic

INTRODUCTION

The introduction to the Web 2.0 era showed us the path to social media networks that facilitates human interaction remotely and the creation online content that can be shared anytime and anywhere around the globe. Today, social media is an instrument that is utilized on a daily basis by millions of individuals all over the world to exchange, if not consume, information that is vital for any community. (Kim & Hastak, 2018). However, there are a number of negative consequences that social networks have on our brains when we utilize them on a daily basis. The effects they are having on body image issues generating unhealthy attitude, resulting in sending many people down a path of eating disorders. The widespread usage and ease of access of picture editing tools, an unfeasible digital world has emerged, centered on prominent influencers.

This paper looks at how social media influencers have a negative impact on society, as they hold a great power to direct the mind of millions of people via their online presence and a large following. With such a massive following, Social media influncers became a brand themselves and use their fame as a marketing tool often leading to misinformation about different product from diet plan to beauty products.They also portray a ‘perfect body’ ideology, using extreme ways to stay relevant like editing their photos or the use of plastic surgery, unfortunately, people tend to fall in these traps, being influenced by the wrong people online without proper knowledge on the promotion of products or portraying of real life.

INFLUENCERS, WHO ARE THEY ?

The identities of online influencers range from anonymous internet users to well-known personalities and celebrities. “Subsequent to their inception in the early-2000s, influencers have advanced from hobbyist home-based webcamming and desktop publishing to enormously profitable full-time employment,” (Aggleton & Cover, 2020). Celebrities were considered as the first type of influencers due to their mass following composing of their fans following them from real life; going to movie premieres and on world tour concerts, with the hope to interact with their ‘idol’. Celebrities were not the only ones with influencing power anymore as the rise of influencers made traditional media move to digital, unlike previous marketing efforts, which included well-known celebrities, many influencers and opinion leaders began their careers as ordinary individuals. This advertising tactic was utilized to persuade a customer to buy a product by using their reputation and following (Driel & Dumitrica, 2020). Average unknown internet users started to explore the potential of social media networks and with over millions of users on social media, they were able to create their own fan base and a massive following, while posting different types of daily content, from lifestyle, beauty, fitness and much more resulting in online influencers.

With a mass amount of following, they became new marketing tools for brands to use to promote their products. Social media influncers use their identity to build a massive virtual community through which they can gather together, “hundreds, if not millions, making their reach comparable to traditional media”. (Edström, Kenyon & Svensson, 2016).

The influencer cultivates a distinctive public  persona or “self-brand” for “commercial gain and/or cultural capital,” (Khamis, Ang and Welling, 2016). They use mainly Instagram and Facebook as an essential weapon to promote products, brands and services that firms propose to them, they create content such as short videos or photos to post on their stories in a friendly in order to attain their followers.

Influencers are normal individuals that evaluate a product and publish their thoughts on the internet, which is an advertising strategy utilized by a variety of firm. ( Sokolova ,2020). They are described as “shapers of public opinion” who convince their followers via online and offline encounters in order to “maintain their closeness, credibility and accessibility.” (Edström, Kenyon & Svensson, 2016). A contrast between a celebrity who enjoys fame whilst use their influence to promote and an influencer marketer, is that the influencer has more reachability towards the audience even without the advertising professional celebrity stunt, even without mentioning the name of the brand. Base on their fame and amount of followers they have, business contact different influencers, to ensure the effectiveness of their marketing campaign, since this ensures a guaranteed viewability, depending on their chosen target audience. (Sokolova, 2020). Influencers are currently in high demand when it comes to raising the popularity of companies and anything else that has to be advertised, thanks to their power (Wielki, 2020).

In exchange for their influence, they are well compensated, and as a result, some of them advertise the products they are unfamiliar with, which can lead to issues impacting society.

MISLEADING INFORMATION

In today’s world, social media has evolved into a virtual community. As a result of their large followings, these social media influencers are able to affect how people perceive various products, including nutritional supplements, make-up products and even on various betting services. Influencers now play a vital role in pushing consumers to utilize certain products, their job is to evaluate merchandise provided to them by a brand. They give a review of the product on their social media platforms, portraying the perfect image of the product which raises doubts about the product’s credibility. However, this establishes a link with their audience implying that they are of top quality and well informed of the product, brainwashing and instilling in the consumer the habit of purchasing products from a company that the person they idolise use and displayed on their social media (Schouten, et al, 2019)

Freedom of expression has become so widespread in today’s society that everyone may readily express their feelings, which is a wonderful thing. When you combine this with the incredible ability of social media to reach millions around the world in seconds, misinformation can be spread swiftly. With such power comes tremendous responsibility, which means influencers should be particularly cautious about the information they give.

For instance, some of the material posted by social media influencers on dietary supplements is deceptive since it is presented as facts rather than views. (Lofft, 2020), due to their influential power on millions of people, implying that they are only giving their own opinions and not facts about the product, as it will definitely have less effect on their reachability. As the audience is based on pure opinions, they end up wasting their money on unnecessary products that don’t have much wished effect on themselves. Individuals are increasingly inclined to buy products online, younger people suffering from poor self-esteem put their trust in influencers and fall in the trap of marketing tyrants by purchasing merchandise without investigating its legitimacy. (Gefen, 2000).

Influencers are not professionals, the advice and recommendations they share with their fans are based on their own experience. For instance, a fitness influencer love to live a healthy and active life, the products they promote might not be appropriate to their users as everyone is different in terms of athletic abilities. It’s worst when non fitness influencers promote workout or diet plan and even tips. Some examples the Kardashians, they advertise harmful items to their enormous audience, such as detox drinks and a variety of unethical diet plan which can lead to eating disorder.

UNREALISTIC BODY IMAGE

Body dissatisfaction and self-objectification have been proven to be the most common mental health and body concerns, according to research, these issues existed for centuries, but with social media they are easily accessible and exposed more frequently. (Tiggemann & Anderberg, 2019). Online influencers must continuously guarantee that they are at the top of their game so that their audience believes that they are more appealing, and that altering one’s body type to make it seem slimmer is what makes a person good looking. Due to social media popularity, influencers preach about being perfect rather than being realistic. Instagram and YouTube contribute to the increase of anxieties in the community by providing filter choices that alter the face.(Swami, 2009). These influencers rely largely on top-notch photography and the art of photo editing to create the best photo to share. There is always pressure to touch up photos so that the final image presented to the public matches societal standards. (Jennings, 2019).

To have the ultimate power to influence, some people use the easy path to achieve a career as influencer they achieved the ‘perfect body’ through cosmetic surgery. Individuals are fascinated with the desire to appear a certain way, the cosmetic business, particularly surgery, is rising on a yearly basis (Meeson, 2020). Finally, there’s the knowledge of how to take good photos in terms of lighting, stance, and positioning, professional photographers who are well-versed in these details are also used. Influencers might misinform their audience by uploading photographs of their bodies in the finest postures. Due to programs like Photoshop and Facetune, ordinary people may now change their own images, whereas in the past, only models in magazines could be modified.(Kleemans,2016). The audience becomes obsessed with achieving a perfect body image that can only be achieved through technology and does not exist in real life.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, there are many issues attached to influencers that people need to be aware of. Being in 2022, living in a Web 2.0 environment where most of the time users are online virtually, there should not be people who abuse the trust of other individuals who suffer from low self-esteem, by making them believe in the impossible. Influencers as a job; having one or a million followers, is a gift from the development of technology and internet, we should make the best of it, there should not be spread of misinformation or the showcase of unrealistic body image and lifestyle, but rather use it to be really influential to help everyone.

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