Social media inf luencers must be role models people can trust

UAE’s National Media Council mandates that social media influencers conducting online activities of commercial nature must have a license and must adhere to advertising guidelines such as disclosure of paid content.

Social media influencers are the digital age celebrities. They are the Instagram and Youtube stars and starlets. Some attain stardom even before they know how to spell it. Asahd Tuck Khaled, son of hip-hop music producer DJ Khaled, was not even two before he had millions of followers.

Ever since Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok became household names, social media influencers have exploded in public life. They are buoyed by AI recommender systems that dictate what content we see. Instagram’s recommender system determines the stream of content by considering your interest, recency of the post, and your relationship with the person who posted or shared the content. Social media influencers have essentially mastered the art of working this system.

That influencers monetise their influence through the products they promote is a known secret. Millennials are not naive. They are fine with it because they prefer an endorsement from a third party than the product company itself. Ads from product companies and celebrities simply bore them; they seem too obvious. Social media influencers find creative ways to weave the products into their lives, and so are more relatable than A-list celebrities.

Many have a cult like following that can easily pay to meet up with their role model in the real world. Even the 78-year-old billionaire and former New York City mayor, Mike Bloomberg, cannot not ignore them. His presidential campaign has enlisted the support of social media influencers to connect with his youth electorate.

Influencers are constantly striving to outdo themselves and their competitors because it takes little to be replaced by yet another rising influencer. They will increasingly share their followers and ad spend with AI influencers. The CGI (computer-generated imagery) influencers with flawless skin and dreamy eyes are already being used by highend beauty brands. The fleeting fame is accompanied by adulating fans, PR managers, and meet & greet events. Powering all this are the millions who are stricken by ‘scrollitis’ or the senseless scrolling disorder that we see in restaurants and at dinner tables.

Before his 8th birthday, Ryan of Ryan Toysreview fame made $22 million by just unboxing toys. Why would millions of children vicariously watch him rather than just play with their own toys? It seems watching him unbox and play with the toys they cannot afford is the closest thing to actually playing with them.

Part of the allure of the influencers is the seemingly charmed life they live on social media much like reality TV. Some followers possess a robust belief that if it is on the Internet, it must be true. Yet, influencers have to walk the fine line between dream and reality, like making a perfectly canned outing entirely designed for an Instagram photoshoot seem like they really cared about the place they visited.

Inside many of us is an influencer wannabe waiting for our viral moment. Often fame is the only thing that influencers go after. Yet this has opened up the possibility of fame for a much larger cross-section of people than ever before. Entertainment industries like Bollywood was rife with nepotism, making it hard for outsiders to make it big. On social media, a boy from the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai or Kibera in Nairobi can become an influencer, even if momentarily. They become role models for other ordinary folks to go after social ascent that would otherwise take them a lifetime to achieve.

One wonders if influencers through their rose-tinted experiences and endless streams of well-crafted spontaneity, are positive role models. Many influencers have started ‘getting real’ campaigns to focus on health and wellbeing. They share their personal challenges and anxieties, without the filtered imagery. Many brands prefer to tap influencers who share their values and have a niche audience. They prefer to work with micro influencers who have between 2000-50,000 followers. Often, because of the nuisance of bots, a high number of followers produces low levels of engagement.

We need tougher regulations and enforcement across various countries because a few influencers could wreck the industry for everyone else. Social media influencer Kayla Massa was recently arrested for allegedly swindling $1.5 million from her unsuspecting followers. Shockingly, she was running the racket for good 1.5 years before she was finally caught. She isn’t the first social influencer to have cheated her followers, nor will she be the last.

UAE’s National Media Council mandates that social media influencers conducting online activities of commercial nature must have a license and must adhere to advertising guidelines such as disclosure of paid content. In the US and UK, influencers are mandated to reveal their relationship with the brand. Even products given to them as gift or for trial purpose must be revealed.

Not all that social media influencers post is true; not all that they post is fake. Posts that seem aspirational can also evoke low self-worth and insecurity. Influencers have a huge responsibility, given their sphere of influence, especially on impressionable children. We must encourage our youth to filter out pointless posts, and follow influencers who share purposeful achievements in the real world.