Blog 13- The Power of Influencers

What are influencers? How does one become an influencer? Most of the influencers we see today aren't very good role models, but don't we as a society give them their power and status? These are all questions I have thought about as a child of the twenty first century. We have been raised in a world overflowing with influencers telling us what to buy, what to wear, and even what to eat. The word influencer is defined as one who exerts influence, a person who inspires or guides the actions of others or a person who is able to generate an interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media. It makes sense that singers and movie stars would be influencers on social media, but what I find interesting are the influencers that gain their popularity from the social media platforms themselves. 

Charli (pictured on the left) and her sister Dixie (pictured on the right) D'Amelio gained their popularity solely from the platform of TikTok. The two girls have an estimated net worth of 4 million and 3 million dollars respectively. It all started in 2019 when Charli posted a video of her dancing that then went viral. She then got sponsorships, acting roles, and has even been on talk shows such as The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The world was soon introduced to her entire family as they now have their own TV show and her sister has released a few popular songs. Of course there is nothing wrong with gaining fame and they are certainly not the only ones that have done it, but how did we as a society give so much power to a pretty normal family from Connecticut for example?

About 10 to 15 years ago, the term "social media influencer" wasn't even around. As we as a society have grown more dependent or, some could argue, even addicted to technology, we have grown more fixated on these people always popping up within the platforms. They have made social media their personal brand. It can be somewhat worrying that we allow influencers to gain so much status and power in such little time. It is mainly psychological as studies have shown that the "credibility of a peer endorser depends on the factors of trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, and similarity." I have nothing against influencers, but I feel as though sometimes my generation and even those younger than us loses sight of the fact that these influencers are like everyone else: just people.