Influence no more

Influencing is not a real job. The simplicity of taking a photo, editing it, and posting it is not difficult. If she really tried, my grandma could figure it out. Influencers get all-expensespaid vacations, free products, and exorbitant amounts of money for doing the bare minimum. The hype people like Charli D’Amelio and Alix Earle receive for taking pictures and videos of themselves is undeserved. There are millions of people in the world who work a million times harder than them and don’t even get paid half as much. So, how do they get there? How do they reach the coveted status of “influencer”? For some it’s dumb luck because the algorithm worked in their favor. For others, it’s strategy, posting everyday at the right time, and using the right hashtags. Either way, treating social media stars like talented, hard-working individuals is a waste of time.

Earlier this year, popular TikTok creator and makeup artist Mikayla Nogueria received some well-deserved backlash after complaining about the difficulty of being an influencer. A clip of her saying “try being an influencer for a day” started to trend on TikTok followed by people calling her out for being insensitive and out of touch with reality. Nurses, teachers, and even construction workers took to the internet to share their frustrations with influencer culture. Some influencers tried to stand up for Nogueria, claiming that being a “content creator” is equally as important and challenging as more generic occupations. However, these attempts at saving Nogueria’s reputation were quickly shut down when people began comparing their schedules to those of influencers. The bottom line is, reviewing products that are sent to you for free and treating sick people at a hospital are not remotely comparable. Even if a job in social media does require a little bit of effort, the actual influencers are not the ones giving it. It’s the manager and the publicists that make it possible for the users to be as successful as they are. They are the ones organizing events, establishing relationships with brands, and making sure that influencers avoid scandals. Despite this, most influencers still find themselves caught up in a scandal that leads to them getting canceled. When you’re making so much money and not doing anything to actually earn it, how hard is it to not be a jerk? And the large number of influencers that are racist, homophobic, transphobic, and sexist that often get to keep their platform further shows that influencer culture is unnecessary and problematic.

My personal favorite solution to this smear on the pop culture of this decade is to get rid of social media altogether; however, I know that is unrealistic. Social media services and their users need to be more diligent when it comes to canceling people and banning people from their sites. Or maybe they should just stop giving influencers platforms in the first place.