Abstract:

 

This paper aims to out the false sense of trust created by a certain group of social media influencers. By manipulating an individual’s sense of self-identity and self-imagery and being idolised in every aspect of peoples’ lives. Using scholarly research and supportive evidence, this paper creates a different look at self-identity and self-imagery.

 

Social media influencers sometimes put on a character on every platform where they can share their lifestyle/entire branding is based on, to a wide audience, everyday social media users. According to an online global data report, currently “there are 4.76 billion social media users which equates just under 60% of the total global population” (Kemp, 2023). As technology has become more accessible to the ever-growing population, so do the number of users and influencers on social media and so will the number of platforms. Just like how TikTok managed to climb the ranks so will they. Online identity varies for those few who have created one, from faking a username to have a non-judgemental personal experience on social media, to just plain old anonymous browsing, it happens. Then there’s the lucky few who use social media as a full-time job. Influencers. They create an audience, they create a following, and it’s not all that bad. Sometimes it’s clear what’s fake online, sometimes it’s not, faking it is part of being a human being. But faking it can sometimes lead to dangerous consequences for audiences who follow influencers in the beauty and fitness industry. Creating a false identity online can be deemed as an unethical act, it threatens the authenticity and trust between the individuals and raises ethical issues as it can allow the rise of manipulation that can possibly lead to negative consequences for both the influencer and their audience.

 

Let’s look at what identity itself means. According to the dictionary means, “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual” (Merriam-Webster, 2023). If one’s uniqueness is one’s identity, why do some people base their identity off someone else’s. In an ever-changing world being successful is what all human beings thrive for, and some of the current successful people in the world are either full time social media influencers, using social media as their main source of income, or use it solely to spread messages, stories to help people succeed in life. This can again be either a good thing or a bad thing which the focus is on. This affects everyday life because, because kids to the people over the age of 70 have own devices with an internet connection, “the normalization of digital communication …mean[s] that the role of social media in everyday life continues to expand” (Leaver, 2015).

 

This creates an issue with online advocacy, advocacy mean, “the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal” (Merriam-Webster, 2023). With the tools of the internet readily available, they use the platforms to spread words. Influencers base their entire social media page based on a few categories, and this may seem bias, but the message that’s being spread tends to always be the same, ‘this is what you need to do to succeed in this world’ do what I’m doing if you want to look this good’, ‘follow this exact schedule’, ‘consume this consume that’, ‘buy, buy, buy’, do this, do that over and over again. Seeing how successful these influencers have become, that’s how people want to see themselves so it’s just as easy as to follow their messages and change our self-image accordingly. The lack of individuality doesn’t just stop there, kids and young teens buying products promoted by influencers just to fit in with a certain identity in school rather than buying products because they actually like the influencer and are actual fans. Consumerism plays a part in social media.

 

Social media platforms, do “tend to mitigate against complex subjectivity, that renders identity into two basic categories that represent how we perceive and how we are perceived” (Balick, 2023). For an individual, the identity expressed, “can activate powerful socio-cultural currents that are then expressed between individuals.” That’s how influencers build an audience. The main things that are at play here are, the individual themselves, the group of people they want to belong to and the social media platform that they use. Each platform would have a varying range of users, not every kid is on Facebook just like how not many adults use TikTok just two of the many existing apps where influencers play a part. As adults we have a better understanding of who we are as individuals, we can identify the truths from the lies, have a more moral and senseful judgement of individuals so for us it’s just a matter of choice. For kids on the other hand, they usual tend to be influenced by their friends, people who they find more fun, trustworthy etc. As they grow up, they always fall under a certain social stigma in their school. They’re both influenced by their friends and influenced by certain social media influencers.

 

The influencers who fall under the beauty, health and fitness categories are usually the most influential people. Everyone wants to look good, but not everyone knows how to. The collective individuals that do, influence others. In the United States alone, just using Instagram as a base platform to collect data, 12.5% people from generation Z (people born between 1995 and 2012) and 81.0% of millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996), have been influenced by fitness influencers to exercise (Tricás-Vidal et al., 2022). The statistics are great, the body imagery is the main issue that will be focused on. Anabolic steroids are synthetic drugs that are also known as performance enhancing drugs, that plus other boosters can help a person get stronger and improve their body image. Taking ‘boosters’ is common knowledge in the fitness industry. So, what happens when a fitness influencer takes boosters but tells their audience that they’re natural (not taking any performance enhancing drugs), it was all just strict dieting and sticking to a very straightforward workout routine.

 

The birth of negative self-imagery. Individuals who aren’t looking exactly like the influencer even though they followed everything to the tiniest detail would end up with the conclusion that something is wrong with themselves. Negative self-imagery promotes the formation of a “negative will…the basis of personality dysfunction” and the relationship between an individual and the collective has subjected variation that corresponded to an individual’s “mood and affect states” (Hamm, 2009). Individuals will feel bad about themselves, question themselves and would most likely start taking boosters to see the difference. They’ll notice small changes first then a big change, they’ll feel good and positive as more dopamine is released from the brain. Then they’ll have to start relying on the boosters to maintain that physique and positive self-imagery.

 

An individual is required to have a certain number of followers, certain number of views to become verified and get paid to make content. So, the larger the audience, the better opportunity to make money. Fitness influencers create a perfect character and lie about not taking any boosters because if being an influencer is their full-time job then they need the money which correlates to needing to reach a wider range of audience to promote themselves and create a brand based on it. A little white lie to share with people on the internet, but it’s never just a little white lie. As an influencer’s audience grows, so does their status on the internet, more people will be interested in the influencer’s views. Their privacy bubble pops. Apart from the site itself the social media user plays a part in the current era security and privacy issue (Kumar et al., 2022). Internet sleuths arise and if they have to try everything in their power and using the power of the worldwide web to find out the truth about someone or something.

 

If an influencer is outed out for lying to their audiences, all their support goes away. There is broken trust between the parties. It doesn’t just stop there; influencers have to face the idea of being cancelled. Cancel culture has become more mainstream, and now has become a “conversation about how to hold public figures accountable” (Romano, 2020). It’s not just making sure a public figure loses their status, it also involves establishing, “new ethical and social norms” and individuals figuring out how to responds as a team to when those set norms are broken. Influencers and celebrities get cancelled for a lot of small reasons, but being cancelled for creating a false character and lying is the hard. Trust between not just one or three people need to be regained. Influencers must gain trust from thousands sometimes even millions of people to become relevant again. Creating an apology video is what follows after being cancelled. Being made fun of never stops. Not only for the influencer but for audience as well. Idolising a phony can lead to many negative impacts on an individual, from internet trolls, being cyberbullied, escaping them just for them to get made fun of in an outside environment. This can create barriers and changes an individual’s self-identity once again. This can most likely lead to being a victim of bullying and can lead to longer term impacts, two main being, “poor social functioning, poor performance, etc.” (Faillace, 2021).

 

Social media influencers should stay true to the individual they are and present their true identity rather than falsifying themselves because they can then focus their whole branding on a very specific audience group. Influencers can stop lying about themselves and don’t have to fear the wrath of being cancelled from their own audience. The influencer pool will diversify more and give audience a more user specific social media experience. But again, another issue rises, the impact that truthful words carry also has a influence in individuals.

 

As mentioned before the use of taking boosters to increase muscle and promote positive self-image is common. The possibility of that being idealised in someone’s mind becomes the quick and easy solution. Individuals have to learn that everyone’s body is different, just because it works for someone it doesn’t mean that it’s going to work the same for someone else. If common sense doesn’t play a part, then the only possible solution would be for a disclaimer before every post and that can’t always be the long-term solution.

 

In conclusion, it is a common practice for individuals to shape and create an online persona that’s different from their true selves. As a need of escapism and finding a sense of comfort from their everyday lives. However, this is different for social media influencers, with a significant social media following, they are responsible for not only their brand but for any potential impacts that can affect their audience. The image they project to the world, is the same identity that people see and follow, most possibly risking the audience sense of self identity and adopting traits of a false self. While honesty has its drawbacks, it can possibly save an individual from harming their health as wanting a short cut. The middle ground here is making sure a person knows who they are as an individual and following a sense of common sense. But even with all those boxes ticked, there is always that one influencer we relate to in a personal level that can diminish those ticks.

 

 

References:

 

Balick, A. (2023). Social Media, Identity, and Careful Culture: How Online Social Networks Limit Identity, Amplify Difference, and Diminish Social Cohesion. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 43(1), 24-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2023.2160190

 

Faillace, L.A. (2021). The impact of bullying on mental health. UTHealth Huston McGovern Medical School. https://med.uth.edu/psychiatry/2021/03/12/the-impact-of-bullying-on-mental-health/

 

Hamm, R. (2009). NEGATIVE WILL, SELF-IMAGE, AND PERSONALITY DYSFUNCTION. Psychoanalytic Review, 96(1), 55-82. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/negative-will-self-image-personality-dysfunction/docview/195048711/se-2

 

Kumar, R., Kumar, P., & Kumar, V. (2022). Network Security Issue and Privacy on Online Social Media Platform: Case Study. AAYAM: AKGIM Journal of Management, 12(2), 96-103. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2780464710/B156F71D43464FEAPQ/14?accountid=10382

 

Kemp, S. (2023). Digital 2023: Global Overview Report. Datareportal. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2023-global-overview-report

 

Leaver, T. (2015). Researching the Ends of Identity: Birth and Death on Social Media. Social Media + Society, 1(1).https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305115578877

 

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Advocacy. Retrieved April 4th, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/advocacy

 

Merriam-Wenster. (n.d.). Identity. Retrieved April 4th, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity

 

Tricás-Vidal, H. J., Vidal-Peracho, M., Lucha-López, M. O., Hidalgo-García, C., Monti-Ballano, S., Márquez-Gonzalvo, S., & José Miguel Tricás-Moreno. (2022). Impact of Fitness Influencers on the Level of Physical Activity Performed by Instagram Users in the United States of America: Analytical Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 14258. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192114258