While listening to the EOTO presentations of my classmates I was very intrigued to learn so much about awareness, mediasphere, theories, and policy. One that stood out to me was in the mediasphere the topic of online influencers. Online influencers have taken over the world of social media. Online Influencers are creators who use social media platforms to create a brand and image for themselves using their own creativity. They make regular posts about different topics to generate a large following of people. Online influencers can even make a living and get paid for uploading videos or pictures and just doing what they love.
Many positives come with being an online influencer. For example, they get brand deals, and brand ambassadors, make money, raise brand awareness and increase brand sales. These influencers also typically grow a big following and live a life similar to a celebrity by simply expressing themselves online. Influencers also help build trust and credibility as well as broaden a brand's audience when promoting their products. Social media has become a fun and interactive way for influencers to grow with an audience to inspire.
While there are many positives of online influencers but as there are positives, negatives typically seem to follow behind them. Some influencers unintentionally promote unhealthy habits, affect mental health, and could damage a brand's reputation. None of this is intentional but sometimes people watching their videos will start to think differently of themselves or try to live more like the influencers. There can also be a lot of competition between the influencers with what they post and how many likes they get. Unfortunately, most of the time influencers receive haters and hate comments in form of bullying. This can be hard for influences to take in and please everyone. Although influencers can experience hardships on social media, so many influencers have impacted our society today. Influencers have inspired young people to follow their passions and dreams and have role models to look up to. Influencers are gaining new marketing opportunities and impacting how they communicate and network. Influencers have become a huge part of our society today and I truly believe there are so many inspirational influencers out there that have changed someone's life for the better.
