If you are online, then you know the term “influencer.” If we could define the term, we could say that in the context of social media, influencers are individuals who have built a significant following on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or others where they typically create content around a specific niche, such as fashion, beauty, travel, fitness, or technology. Their large following engages with their content with the ultimate goal of swaying the opinions and behaviors of their followers, impacting their purchasing decisions.

The Rise of Influencer Culture

Influencer culture has been at the forefront over the last few years, and it almost exploded in the last decade with the expansion of social media platforms. However, influencer marketing is not something new or unknown. Ever since the late 1970s, brands have used celebrities to endorse their products, something that we now call “brand ambassadors,” which is still relevant. A brand chooses a famous star to represent the brand and practically, advertise the brand’s products. In the 2000s, when the first blogs appeared, bloggers with a following started using their blogs to promote products and make a living.

However, in the last decade, Instagram and YouTube have emerged as the most popular platforms for influencer marketing. Undeniably, Instagram has become the go-to platform for brands looking to partner with influencers. Since Instagram is a highly visual platform, it is the perfect place for influencers to showcase products and services and help brands promote their products. And what’s next?

The allure of the influencer lifestyle is undeniable

Picture-perfect lives, exotic vacations, and designer closets are often presented as the norm. We spend hours online watching the so-called “everyday moms” spending their days in spas getting their nails done and sharing their morning and evening routines with their kids or travel influencers going around the world in places we couldn’t even afford to think of. Our social media home pages are flooded with perfect pictures, captivating videos, and happy faces that suggest different kinds of products and services, often offering discounts to their audience to tempt them to make purchases from which influencers gain their commission.

In addition to all this madness, influencer marketing agencies pop up daily, and companies are lining up to find influencers to represent their brands, making influencer marketing one of the most popular ways of advertising.

Wait, is that a job?

The most notable debate about influencers lies in the perception of whether being an influencer is a job. Influencers, or “content creators,” as they call themselves, argue that it is a regular job and provide their arguments based on that cause. On the other hand, everyday people like us probably think that posting on social media is not a job since it does not require any particular skill.

However, it’s very simplistic to reject influencers as professionals only with the argument we can post on social media ourselves.

If we take into account the definition of the word “job,” according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, it is “a regular remunerative position,” aka a position where you offer a service and you get money off it, then content creating is a job. A highly paid one, but still a job. Given that influencers earn their money on social media, either because the particular social media platform pays them or because they are paid via commissions of their partnerships with brands, they do the work, and they are paid for it. So, the argument that this is not a job is not valid. It’s a job, whether we like it or not.

Per the argument that being a content creator is not a job since everyone can post on social media, then sure, but can you do it at the pace and the way they do it? Working in marketing for several years, I know that building an audience and gaining a following is not a piece of cake. It needs consistency, creativity, and a lot of effort. And influencers are doing it —many of them successfully. And on top of this, they need to keep their audience engaged because if they don’t, they will lose it and lose the ability to make ends meet. The same happens in real life -you will probably get fired if you don’t do your job.

Influencer is a job title. Fine. So, what is the problem?

The dark side of influencer culture

The problem of influencers lies in more ethical than practical reasons, and the concerns raised relate to the influencer's impact on society and the economy. This idealized image that influencers show can be misleading, and behind the filtered photos and sponsored posts lies a carefully constructed facade.

The business of influence is a lucrative one. Brands are willing to pay hefty sums to partner with influencers and reach their target audience. This has led to a surge in influencer marketing, where sponsored content is often indistinguishable from organic posts. That means that influencers often don't disclose sponsored content, misleading their followers, or they promote products they haven't personally tried or don't genuinely believe in. For example, one day, they swear by a fantastic foundation that was a “game-changer” for their skin; the next day, we see them promoting another “amazing” foundation that helped her get rid of… whatever. So, what is the truth? Which is the fantastic foundation, after all? Have they even tried them?

Apart from misleading information, the rise of influencer marketing has also caused brands to inflate product prices as they pass on the cost of influencer partnerships to consumers. In general, influencers, especially the popular ones with a significant following, do not promote very affordable products, at least for the average person who is part of their following. Putting in the equation that several influencers amass significant wealth while the majority struggle to make a sustainable living, the economic impact is indisputable.

Another argument is that product integration and placement can sometimes feel forced and inauthentic, diluting the influencer's credibility and saturating the market with unnecessary content. Marketing is part of our lives, and everybody enjoys watching a good advertisement but when you open your Instagram and want to scroll for a while, when you end up watching products, products, products everywhere, what is authentic about that? And where is the quality of content? When everything turns into an ad, the content itself loses its power and its potential, and everything becomes a huge marketing platform.

Unrealistic beauty standards and body image issues

Influencers show flawless, carefree lives with no particular issues and no hardships, which encourages a “cult of perfection.” Those meticulously curated images and videos portray perfect lives, and busy people who manage it all daily with a smile may seem appealing and inspirational at the beginning, but they are more unrelatable than ever. If you work 10-12 hours daily to afford life, you physically can’t be so energetic and fun unless you are a robot. And, when you have to wake up, get dressed, and get out of the house ASAP, you don’t always have the time to spare on your make-up or the perfect outfit.

And this is where influencers lose the battle. Their constant show of the perfect image leads to unrealistic beauty (and life) standards, body image issues, and low self-esteem, particularly among young people. It puts unrealistic expectations on people at work, mothers who can barely find 5 minutes to have a shower, or teens who struggle with body issues. They create needs that do not exist, leading people to over-consumerism because influencers have persuaded them that it is inconceivable not to have ten different kinds of lipsticks. They talk about body positivity while editing their photos non-stop, and so extensively you can barely recognize them, leading people to potentially dangerous practices to look like them.

This social comparison that is triggered by the online life influencers present to their audience has contributed to the rise of mental health struggles and can lead to mental drain, not only for their audience but for themselves as well. The constant pressure to maintain a perfect online image can contribute to anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges, and we have seen a few influencers having to deal with mental health breakdowns. According to a survey by Awin and ShareASale, 4 out of 5 content creators and online influencers experience burnout and struggle with mental health. Influencers face many personal challenges, including a backlash for their career choice, feeling constrained about what they can post, and experiencing detrimental effects from social comparisons.

Well, to be fair, people who have a job can have burnout or anxiety issues, so considering that influencing is a job, then yes, everybody can struggle at work. But the percentages show that it’s extremely common in that particular field.

Where did the privacy go?

Another critical issue that has emerged with the rise of influencers is that they may often share personal information or sensitive data, putting themselves and their families at risk. Many influencers don’t hesitate to share their personal lives and their kids' lives and find every possible way to create content out of their families' lives—whether their kids like it or not. While watching funny videos with happy families and kids running around carefree is alright, this puts extra pressure on people who didn’t ask for it and could potentially increase the chance of threats or hazards for the kids. It’s ok to share a couple of pictures of your family; many non-influencers do it on social media, but it’s another thing to share your kids' bedrooms and what they wear at school or film them while they are relaxing. It’s unimaginable how overwhelming this can be for a minor.

New role models?

Influencing people is not bad; on the contrary, it can be good and wholesome, and there are numerous influencers out there who help make a difference and create awareness about important issues. Influencers can motivate their followers to pursue their passions and dreams, and they can use their platforms to bring about positive change. There are influencers/activists who use social media to raise awareness about important issues, either about the environment, society, or mental health issues, and they use the power of social media to do good.

However, that is not always the case

Considering that being an influencer can become a lucrative job, a lot of young people drop out of school in order to follow this path, but without having any knowledge as to what this is. And while many believe that getting online and obtaining more followers is enough, the reality is that being able to influence needs more than having a social media account with a great following and monetizing your content. It requires skills like psychology, marketing, and business management. And mainly a cause. The “why” someone wants to follow a specific professional path. For instance, people want to study Medicine because they want to help people. Others become psychologists because they want to fight mental health issues. Others believe that copywriting is their way to express their thoughts and are dedicated to keeping people interested in reading.

It's almost impossible to succeed when you don’t have the skills and the cause

Or, if you do succeed, it won’t be for long. And that raises concerns about how influencers can have a positive impact on their audience without having the basic skills to do it.

Constantly promoting products and luxury lifestyles is barely influencing with a cause, and it can encourage materialism and excessive spending, which is the exact opposite of the essence of influencing.

Are we done with influencers?

According to many statistics, influencers are here to stay for a while. However, things in the digital world are incredibly fluid and constantly changing, which means that we may see a shift towards more genuine and authentic content that actually represents them more truthfully. Brands still recognize the value of influencer partnerships in reaching specific target audiences, and despite the rise of skepticism, many consumers still trust recommendations from influencers they follow.

What is going to and should change is the audience’s perception of influencers. We are already in an era when consumers are more savvy and are increasingly demanding genuine content and transparency from influencers. Most consumers nowadays are aware of the tactics used to persuade them, and they usually make informed decisions.

This shift is caused mainly by the “cancel culture” that has become a big deal on social media and is affecting pretty much everyone who is online and has their voice. Cancel culture is when people stop supporting a popular person or brand because of something offensive they did or said. Influencers have not escaped from that. A simple Google search can reveal many influencers that lost all their status, influence, and partnerships within a couple of days because of something they did or said. People do not tolerate faux pas anymore, and they know that they contribute to the influencers’ income, so they demand to get what they paid for.

Also, brands understand this shift towards a healthier influence and adjust their marketing strategies accordingly by partnering with influencers who resonate with their products or services, and this can help them raise brand awareness and build trust with consumers.

And this shift will be refreshing because the field will be better regulated and will require more skills and effort than a tripod in order for people to run a profitable influencer marketing business that follows specific guidelines, is appropriately taxed, and uses ethical and not misleading practices.