By Jazmine Gipson

Social media influencers have made an enormous rise in popularity with the blow-up of social media apps. Sites like TikTok and Instagram have become massive platforms for influencers to grow and form online communities. They have changed the landscape of our society since they have gained more “influence” over public opinion on anything from politics to people's view of their bodies. In a study done by Scott Langdon from the website Higher Visibility, “Over 1 in 4 (26%) Gen Z trust influencer reviews more than product page reviews”. Being an influencer can also be very lucrative for the average person or a small business since more prominent brands pay for sponsorships. For example, Instagram pays about $5,000 - $10,000 per post, and TikTok has the Creator Fund that pays a sum of money depending on the views a post gets. In addition, the influencer market is a popular job choice for many Gen Zers. “Nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z told us that they would quit their job to become a social media influencer, with just under 15% believing that it would be the only career choice for them”. 

Being an influencer is a trendy field with the attention of many different people, but does the average person think of the influencer? Everyone has strong opinions on being an influencer. Some influencers encourage anyone to become an influencer since “It’s easy.” However, many other influencers, News media, and older generations express many concerns about influencers and their effects on the world. 

I interviewed two people to get their views about influencers. The first was a student that goes to Ben Franklin High School named Issac. When asked about his opinions on influencers, he expressed that he doesn’t follow many influencers himself but isn’t bothered by Influencers' existence altogether. I also asked him whether he thought being an influencer is a career, and he responded, “ If people are willing to give you money for [posting content], then it is a real career”. However, later in the interview, he expressed his concerns about the effect influencers have on people, specifically young kids. “Oh yeah, like most definitely. The things that they promote to teenagers who follow them and shape their worldview, it’s like preying on young girls' visions of themselves or young boys' insecurities.” A criticism many have about influencers is that they often promote unrealistic beauty standards that can significantly impact young kids' views of themselves. This effect has led to several dangerous social media trends in an attempt to achieve the look influencers promote.

The issues with influencer culture also extend to racism. Another person I interviewed was Mr. Henderson, an African American Studies teacher at Ben Franklin. While he doesn’t follow many influencers closely, he uses many different forms of media like music, interviews, and TV episodes in his classroom. When I interviewed him, he brought up a point about how influencers often get paid differently based on their race. “ I also think of influencers along the intersection of race, and I am somewhat aware that  White influencers are paid an exorbitant amount vs. content [made] by people of color”. Between BIPOC and white influencers, there is a pay gap of up to 20%, as stated by a study done by NBC news, and the gap increases to 35% when looking specifically at Black and White influencers. BIPOC influencers are also often suppressed in social media algorithms, so their content isn’t pushed to as many people as white influencers' content is. This same effect has also been shown for “attractive” vs. “nonattractive” influencers, queer vs. straight influencers, and even able-bodied vs. disabled influencers. This problem has been especially rampant on TikTok, and the platform has been called out many times for those problems.

People have many concerns about what influencers do, which is fair. Influencers, especially in recent years, have seemingly only had bad press.. From racism to promoting impossible beauty standards and sometimes encouraging kids to do dangerous things to themselves, influencers have led to many significant problems faced by my generation. However, influencers have also been responsible for bringing a lot of good into the world. Many influencers use their platforms to prompt various community service projects and charities. They have even led various charity events, raising more than $1 million for various charities. Influencers have also been leaders in social justice reform and protests. In 2020 when George Floyd was killed, many influencers encouraged their followers to protest and spread awareness about the hate crime that occurred. This wide scale pressure eventually led to the officers that killed George Floyd being put in prison. While the harmful effects influencers have had on our generation cannot be ignored and should be recognized so we can fight them, we also can’t ignore that responsible influencers have often led to social progress being made in many ways. Engaging with the culture Influencers have created involves seeing both the good and bad sides of the community and forming an individual opinion, and not blindly believing one side or the other.