Influencers shouldn't be "partying like it's the end of the world"

mushmallows

Aug 17, 20205 min read

Who are these people? What are they doing? What do want them to do instead?

Let me preface this by saying that this might be our most polarizing piece yet.

The meaning of the term 'Influencer' has changed since its earliest recorded use in the mid-1600s. It used to broadly refer to someone, or something, that exerts influence. While its usage today may carry the same meaning, the common notion nowadays refers specifically to people who are able to generate interest in something (places, products, services, etc.) by posting about them on social media.

There have been far too many influencers in different niches, that it's become impossible to create a catch-all description of who "influencers" are. But by scrolling on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, there seem to be some common things that create influencer stereotypes.

Influencers are often conventionally good-looking and well-off. Their good looks afford them the self-confidence to post a massive visual collection of themselves. In these, they flex their purchasing power and display decadent lifestyles. Their online presence consists of the places they've been to, the food they consume, and the clothes they wear. They package themselves to look candid and authentic but their polished and pre-planned posts suggest otherwise. They live a kind of everyday life that is not accessible to everyday people.

It is this stereotype that has caused other influencers to dislike the term.

In an interview with NoliSoli, Kim Jones, who, by definition, is a fashion influencer herself, expressed her hatred for the term.

“It’s such a capitalist term, coined because your job is purely to promote, to manipulate, and even exploit someone’s purchasing decisions. I hate that.”

While Lauren O'Neill, having interviewed influencers for her article on vice writes:

"it seems that some influencers are uncomfortable with the total marketisation of something that, in the past, was about connecting with other people."

These, I welcome as someone who struggles to reconcile her detest for vapid Instagram and Tiktok Influencers with her love for the YouTubers and Bloggers of the previous decade.

Despite these challenges to the notion of what an influencer should be, the stereotype still prevails. In the 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and the political failures surrounding it, there are still those who post tone-deaf posts of product endorsements. Even worse are those who post their impractical quarantine fashion choices, like their absurdly priced masks and face shields. WORST OF ALL are those who ignore all public health guidelines to party like there's no tomorrow.

One of the notions that really hits hard and separates the influencer from the common man (which, to them, is "consumer" or "customer") is that they try so hard to separate socially-relevant material that doesn't seem to fall in their wheelhouse.

In 2017, fashion blogger David Guison tweeted a hashtag #PrayForVegas to express sympathy with the victims of the Las Vegas shooting.

He got a lot of flak for that because he tweeted about something that happened in the United States, but not events at home (the Marawi siege took place a few months before Vegas).

In his first blog of 2018, he briefly describes the experience as "cyberbullying":

"In the middle of the year, I got cyber bullied for tweeting about the shooting in Las Vegas but choosing to stay quiet about the situation in Marawi. People on social media can be really mean—which made me deactivate my Twitter account for a while."

As much as we wish to sympathize with David on the idea that "people on social media can be really mean", it just further alienates people who look up to him, and proving he doesn't wish to be educated or even participate on things that actually matter.

A more recent example is that of another Filipino influencer, vlogger Wil Dasovich, who said in a podcast by popular influencer Nas Daily, that his golden rule was to "try to limit politics":

"I kind of have a golden rule, [which] is I try to limit and not talk about politics because you’re always gonna upset a huge group of people."

Nas replied, saying he had done a political video before, on Taiwan's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19):

"How do I know that? Because we partnered together on the project. It’s the Taiwan project. That is politics, that is information."

This actually reveals how influencers can choose to ignore social relevance in favor of getting the likes, shares, and views, which translate to money. As much as we do not wish to assume, it seems that the only thing influencers do is to do things as a source of living and survival.

To this, we agree with Kim Jones' comment. Being an influencer has turned from a social duty to a money-making industry.

We understand that everyone should be allowed to do or post what they want on their personal channels because this is what the internet was made for. It has democratized public broadcasting so everyday people have the platform to perform to an audience. And we celebrate this freedom and the creativity fostered by the internet.

But the growth in audiences and popularity also brought forth the potential for profit. So the creative space of the internet also became a marketplace of clout-chasing personalities.

So, what do we want to happen here?

We are not calling for the end of every influencer nor do we lament their existence. We are not chastising their audience for enjoying the kind of content they put out either. Fun and lighthearted content are still much welcome.

We are not even calling on influencers to weigh in on every single political issue. Especially if they only have half-baked opinions and are only doing so for the sake of.

If influencers do influence their audiences, we hope that they use this to help incite positive social movements. They can use their popularity to lead their followers to organizations where good intentions can be amplified. And may they be more conscious of the things they post online.

Influencers have to understand that having a platform and while their traction is growing, they also have an added growing social responsibility to promote awareness about causes and events that are happening about the world. As much as they don't want to, their influence is beneficial to making the world a better place not just for themselves, but for everyone in it.

As one of our faves, Tracee Ellis Ross says on the show Black-ish:

It might be too much to ask for them to lead the revolution but it would be nice if they helped us wave the banners.

Sources:

Photos from:

Photo by Michael Discenza on Unsplash
Photo by Victor Cayke from Pexels
Photo by Yan from Pexels
Photo by John Arano on Unsplash
Gif of Tracee Ellis Ross on Blackish via Tenor

Influencers shouldn't be "partying like it's the end of the world"

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