It’s a late night, and you’re caught up in scrolling on TikTok like time is paralyzed. You don’t realize the chokehold that it has on your life. The influencer lifestyle is what determines who you are but it shouldn’t. Influencers tell you how to dress, how to act, or even how to live. The media is constantly tricking people into thinking their lifestyle is realistic. Their job is to tell you what you want to hear. Without the media, who are you?
Influencers are the ones to set the trends. What’s “in” this year probably won’t be “in” next year. Teens are the ones to keep changing their style for the trends. In reality, influencers stay relevant by engaging with the audience. They know what their viewers like most and bounce off of that. Currently, being a preppy girl or vanilla girl is all the rage. However, teens spend all their money to be trendy without realizing that it isn’t going to matter one day. Teens should wear what they want. Nonetheless, it’s easier for society to dress basic than to dress how you want. The influencer’s life is simple, they do it, and you follow. More than ever, it’s becoming more socially acceptable to be a follower than to be a leader.
A September issue of Rolling Stone explains, “It’s commonplace for influencers to do things that normal people don’t do, have things that normal people don’t have, and experience things normal people don’t experience…what makes influencers appealing is that they are a mechanism for the rest of us to dream about what our lives could look like had things played out differently.”
Nowadays, most influencers determine their follower’s personalities. Teens think it’s the way to be cool and likable. No one wants to branch out and be themselves because if you do that then you are just weird. For example, the “emo” style has gotten a lot of hate. Do people dislike the trend because it’s not what they’re used to? Nonetheless, most influencers promote going out and acting like teens in the movies. In reality, teens are supposed to be
corny and relatable to each other. Teens need to be doing their homework and focused on school. The influencer culture makes it so that teens compare themselves and therefore change themselves. This way of thinking can lead to eating disorders, mental health disorders, and personality disorders. which can cause more harm than good.
The influencer culture even has an impact on how teens live. Going shopping, getting nails done, and going to numerous events is not in the day-to-day schedule for most teens. Because of influencers, teens often feel like school wastes time when they can do social media and do these fun things. While making double the money they would at an everyday job. The sudden need to feel relatable makes teens want to spend their earnings on things these influencers have. But in reality, these standards are not attainable. People strive to be accepted in this world without realizing it won’t matter one day. Spending money to be popular now won’t last forever. Put it into a college fund and not into unrealistic standards.
According to The Forest Count, “Influencers portray an extravagant, enviable, and carefree lifestyle relying heavily on visual props to craft an image that is oftentimes based more on fantasy than reality.”
Some argue that influencers are just doing their jobs and promoting different things. Everyone has to earn a living somehow. However, when influencing takes hold of a person’s life, that’s when it goes too far. There are some positive impacts the influencer culture can make. An example of this: promoting unity, responsibility, and being a role model. I’m not saying it’s bad to follow trends either. However, follow them because you like them, not because it’s popular.
The influencer lifestyle has a bigger effect on teens than we realize. This lifestyle has told teens how to dress, act, and live. Teens will still have their social media but after reading this article, take into consideration the impact it has on your life. There’s too much space in the world for everyone to be a clone of everyone else.
(Is Influencer Culture Affecting the Way You Feel) https://theforestscout.com/39313/in-culture/is-influencer-culture-affecting-the-way-you-feel/
( Influencers Aren’t Winning: Analyzing the Creator Economy) https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/influencers-arent-winning-analyzing-creator
