The online networks and social changes have become two indispensable parts of social operation and people’s daily life. Heidemann et al. (2012) indicate that online social networks expanded to became a worldwide phenomenon with significant social and economic implications in recent years. The influence of influencers and stars drives young people’s consumption through online media and social software, such as Instagram and TikTok. In addition, this is the positive impact brought by online media social software, then influencers, consumers, social media platforms and other participants can all benefit from it and improve social economic development. In this context, we will discuss the following examples: the internet celebrities use online social networks to enhance their popularity, gain economic benefits and promote the development of economic, the positive and negative impact of the growth of online social media platforms for people and the effect of online networks and social media have impacts on people’s mental health.

 

Internet celebrities and stars have a huge influence on online social media platforms. Gómez (2019) report that we are witnessing the spectacular rise of the new idols of this generation named social media influencers, to be more precise in today’s increasingly digital environment. The online social media can not only enhance influencers’ popularity and affect people’s daily life, but also drive the positive development of the overall economy of the society. Moreover, stars and influencers have a huge amount of follows on online social media platforms, and followers are attracted to them because influencers have characteristics that can attract them. Therefore, somethings that internet celebrities show on social media in their daily use, such as outfit and lifestyle, will become the objects of fans’ pursuit. Furthermore, internet celebrities also endorse advertisements, introduce and sell products, then they also attend events to enhance their own visibility and income, as well as drive the economic development of the whole society. The Kardashian family is the most famous, economically influential and topical family on online social media, every member of the family is famous, especially Kim Kardashian, Kylie Kardashian and Kendall Kardashian. Their popularity and economic influence in creating brand sales are particularly outstanding, and they have more than a billion followers on Instagram together. Moreover, Kim Kardashian’s clothing brand “skims” and Kylie’s cosmetics and clothing brand “khy” have both popular and then sold out and been praised for their design and quality. According to Kim Kardashian, she usually gets paid between three hundred thousand dollars and five hundred thousand dollars for sponsorships and sponsored posts on her Instagram account. She usually signs multimillion-dollar contracts for long-term endorsements, and she agreed to a six million dollars per year contract with a consumer wearable firm (Taylor, 2019).  Before they set up their own brand, they can already achieve wealth freedom through celebrity effect, so they use the concept of celebrity to continue to expand their business to earn income. Therefore, their influence not only brings them huge attention, but they attract follows to turn into more consumers, which brings them huge economic benefits, and they greatly influence young people’s dressing styles, aesthetical standard, chatting topics and the operating in the form of social media economy. In other side, Gómez (2019) argue that only a small number of social media influencers on social media, can have the ability to attract in paying followers and generate revenue from their following. In addition, influencers are self-created social media users who focus on a particular area of interest and inclination, are very knowledgeable or specialized in these subjects, and thus attract loyal and special followers. Also, influencers design their own digital image, content, and target audience, only in order to attract more follows to consume, so that brands value the promotion ability of Internet celebrities. Furthermore, internet celebrities use their words, images, and videos on social media to introduce themselves to follows and draw attention, who can leave comments and start discussions on these posts, thus narrowing the distance between internet celebrities and follows. For instance, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” is a reality show that the Kardashians have filming technique. It shows a series of extravagant, dramatic, and exaggerated daily events with the focus being on each member of the family revealing a side that viewers don’t usually witness. In addition to bringing the audience closer and encouraging them to watch continuously, this can also greatly benefit the Kardashian family because of their continuous advertising support and the well-known brand’s increased demand. It shows that video Logs or reality shows like series that give things a more narrative feel for audiences and draw viewers in, which promotes long-term economic growth for the internet influencers. Social media plays a major role in people’s daily take advantage as well as social and economic development in the age of widely used internet networks. However, people want to be online celebrities instead of just posting pictures, videos, and their minds on social media at present, because being a celebrity may bring in revenue in addition to receiving appreciation, feedback, and fan pursuits. Therefore, Influencers, promoters, and consumers are online social media’s core operational components since they advertise and sell goods, but common individuals can also actively discuss their lives on these platforms, and all the people can use online social media to achieve their goals.

 

In contemporary society, the world’s information is being absorbed faster and more comprehensively for people. Particularly, young people compose the majority of Internet users in this period of online network development because they are naturally curious and have a good capacity for learning new things. On one hand, Notley (2009) point out that in a bid to reduce potential online risks and provide young people a safe and healthy digital environment, the Australian government’s current education and social policies aim to both promote and limit young people’s integration into society and limit their use of online networks.  It means that the Australian government wants young people to improve themselves in a positive online network environment.   Young people are using social networking, for example email, chat, and virtual reality games for research purposes more and more. Although the methods in which older teenagers use the Internet differ most of their time is spent on the online network that they choose to watch. However, due to the prevalence of online risks and opportunities, young people’s use of online networks may be risky and dangerous, so their Internet use needs to be supervised, monitored, and even restricted, because both quantitative and qualitative studies have found that young people need to strike a balance between complete online freedom and some adult control (Notley, 2009). This example shows that young people are going to seek up the information they want at all ages, and the accessibility of the Internet not only makes life easier for young people, but it also demonstrates them to opinions that are unhealthy, violent, bloody, immoral, illegal, and incorrect when they lack the cognitive ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Therefore, young people find it simple to injure themselves, disobey the law, violate morality, and take revenge on society. Consequently, even if youth have access to the Internet, it should also be controlled to prevent them from doing wrong things.  On the other hand, Thackeray and Hunter (2010) have research about states and societies require some resources about information, people, and tools, as well as technology, including social media and mobile phones, they are in order to effect social change. Approximately sixty percentage of teenagers in the United States own a mobile phone, and texting is the most popular way for them to communicate. In addition, three out of five teenagers report texting at least once a day, and over half of American teens use social networks, and nearly ninety percentage of college students use social media platforms. Furthermore, over ninety percent of teenagers use social media to keep in contact with friends they observe on frequently, and nearly half of teenagers use social media to meet new people, and more than seventy percentage use it to schedule meetings with friends they already have, and they use social media to make new friends, but their main purpose is to solidify their current friendships and use them as effective propaganda tools. According to these statistics, young people use online networks mobile phones with great frequency. They also no longer rely only on online networks for information searches; instead, they prefer to use the online communication features to make new friendships or strengthen existing relationships. So that, this is the advantage of technological advancement and the growth of internet networks, which allows young people to communicate using advanced equipment. In general, the majority of the effects of online networks and social changes on young people’s daily lives are positive. The governments of many nations, including Australia and the United State, support young people’s right to use the Internet as they see appropriate, as a result of advancements in science and technology, young people are able to quickly search for information online and use mobile phones to text message and strengthen relationships with others. However, both governments and young people should also be aware that not all content on the Internet is positive to show, because online content can also contain harmful and unlawful content, which might affect young people’s decisions and ways of thinking in order to prevent negative outcomes.

 

One of the factors contributing to the frequent occurrence of mental health in modern society is also caused by the rapid development of online network and social change, for example, family members reduce communication and exchange their minds in daily life, due to making some people unable to express their own thoughts. As a result, mental health is particularly crucial for modern society. Pachucki et al. (2015) research that there is a correlation between students’ online peers and mental health issues. However, there was no proof that students’ online connections led to a higher level of similarity in mental health, because the subjects were too young possibly. From this point of view, conclusions cannot be drawn from a small number of research data and a small range of samples, because it is incomplete and has no scientific basis. Panti (2014) report that many research investigations have connected computer-mediated communication to depressive symptoms, and there are a variety of possible explanations for why Facebook users are more likely to suffer depression and begin using the social network. Research conducted on high school students revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between depressive symptoms and social media usage. Additionally, an investigation from 2013 analyzing the association between Facebook use and young people’s subjective well-being revealed that users’ life satisfaction and subjective well-being may be impacted. Furthermore, the perceptions of other users’ physical and personality qualities can be influenced by computer-mediated communication, which is another reason why spending time on social networks may be associated with depressed symptoms. Furthermore, the usage of Facebook was linked to participants’ perceptions that other users were satisfied and a feeling that “life is not fair,” but sadness was not always a direct result of believing that other people were happier and more successful. However, this can worsen mental health in people who are already susceptible to depression and other psychiatric comorbidities. A theory has been placing into that some aspects of online behavior, such as the probability that a user will use Facebook features that provide facts and reminders about depression and the potential that they will have fewer friends and close family, may be predictors of depression identification and assessment, since Facebook is thought to be one of the factors influencing the development of depressive symptoms. In general, people who use the Internet will experience negative effects on their mental health, including depression, but data on the Internet can also reveal whether or not a person truly depressed. Therefore, it is hoped that reasonable use of online media can reduce mental health issues.

 

Above all, this essay illustrates with the development of technology and the impact of online networks and social changes for people and society. The influencers on the web social media to increase their popularity to earn more income to drive the social and themselves economic growth, the advantages and disadvantages of the rapid development of electronic equipment and online text to people, and the negative effect of online networks and social media have impacts on people’s mental health of depression problems.

 

 

Reference

 

Gómez, A., R. (2019). Digital Fame and Fortune in the age of Social-Media: A Classification of social media influencers. Dialnet, 19(9), 10-27. https://doi.org/10.7263/adresic-019-01

 

Heidemann, J., Klier, M., & Probst, F. (2012). Online social networks: A survey of a global phenomenon. Computer Networks, 56(18),3866-3878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2012.08.009

 

Notley, T. (2009). Young People, Online Networks, and Social Inclusion. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(4), 1208–1227, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01487.x

 

Pachucki, M. C., Mzer, M. J., Barrat, A., Cattuto, C. (2015). Mental health and social networks in early adolescence: A dynamic study of objectively-measured social interaction behaviors. Social Science & Medicine, 125(1),40-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.04.015

 

Panti, I. (2014). Online Social Networking and Mental Health. National Library of Medicine, 17(10), 652-657.

DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0070

 

Taylor, K. (2019). Kim Kardashian revealed in a lawsuit that she demands up to half a million dollars for a single Instagram post and other details about how much she charges for endorsement deals. BUSINESS INSIDER. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-kim-kardashian-charges-for-instagram-endorsement-deals-2019-5

 

Thackeray, R., & Hunter, M. (2010). Empowering Youth: Use of Technology in Advocacy to Affect Social Change. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 15(4), 575–591.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01503.x