Being an influencer is not just about the number of followers, but the impact they make on other. The social media has given us many influencer. The concept of monetization in the social media world has given us many influencers especially to the youth community of our society. But are these influencer really care about their followers the so called audience? Or the followers has just become part of the toxic fan culture prevailing among the youth. Last night, I was scrolling through the #youtube channels when I saw an account with many followers and their video garner heavy traffic from the followers. It made me to wonder how the account holder is actually influencing the community or the masses ??
The account was set up for a body building guy. He is a body builder by profession and a gym owner. He has many videos on #youtube. I also comes to know he has million followers on his #instagram account. There are many short videos published under his account, it has clips of his lavish lifestyle. He is body builder who feel proud to flaunt his lifestyle and expensive possession. From expensive clothes to watches to his cavalry of SUV's. Most of the #short videos are for the high-end-life he has been living. Looking at his profile and the followers number, I guess he was quite suited for monetization which allow him to get some additional source of income to lead a lavish lifestyle. But I was wondering what made the followers to follow such account and how could he be called an "influencer"?
An influencer, you have the power to inspire, motivate, and uplift others
In my understanding, an "influencer is one who influences other, through some good deeds or by bring positive changes in the society. The "real" influencers shape future generations by influencing policymakers, artists, and others who can change the world. But I am amazed to find that in social media world, an influencers are individuals with a large number of followers on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. I appreciate the person niche on the #youtube. He is body builder and the craze among the youth to build strong body surely made him as an idol. But the account holder instead of sharing body building tip to help and influence other, he is more interested in flaunting his lavish lifestyle. How could he be influencing others with such content? Such content can make youth dream of spending such life and in process gets them into some bad acts. Mere teasing with the shorts video is not be called as influencer. Instead, of flaunting his wealth he should be more focus on making video sharing body building tips to young generation for a healthy life and a good strong body.
Living the influencer dream
I am feeling pity for the youth who are following that account. I don't find a single video in the account that could influence other. The videos are an indirect way of spoiling the audience / followers. Watching his videos may turn up youth for unscrupulous activity to make money. This may harm many individual life. The way he becomes so popular does not gurantee that others too can succeed like him. Not everyone is lucky to get so much followers in the social media account. In my observation, the account is spoiling the youth mind. There is no word of motivation and neither any inspiring content. He made short clips to get maximum like and this made him successful. He is young, but not an influencer in any aspect.
Be mindful
This is another case of toxic fan culture. The followers are completely brainwashed and neither have sense to differentiate the good an bad in life. People are crazy to follow such people without bothering what they are getting back in return. Somewhere, I also feel that the social media should censor these video that may spoil people's mind.
It is crucial to be mindful before following an influencer on the social media platform. Not everyone can bring changes in the society. A true influencer promote positive messages, provide valuable information, and offer authentic recommendations. Cultivating critical thinking skills and media literacy is essential for a healthy and productive engagement with influencer content.
In good faith - Peace!!
