influencers
Mehreen Nazerali Versi (Arusha, Tanzania) is a published author, an avid reader, and a poet. She wrote her book; Spectrum of Happiness when she was 18 and published it a few years later. She writes articles covering several subject areas, and edits content both of academic and non-academic nature. She aims to build a community of critical readers who can read, question, and reason with content beyond what it says as plain text.
O
ver a decade ago, the people whom we took inspiration from or rather influenced our behaviour came from the big screen, which is movies and television. We would have to wait patiently until a movie would be released or just to see a glimpse of our favourite actor or even player. This, however, has drastically changed and keeps on changing at a rapid pace. Initially, we just had a handful of people posting YouTube videos, which have now become millions. Instagram was just a platform for photo sharing, but reels are oh-so entertaining! These are just a few common platforms, others include TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and the list goes on.
Now what I mean by this is that it has become very easy to watch what people do and with the increasing number of followers they get, they become even more popular. They now get invited to brand events, and some go on to become brand ambassadors. Imagine you have been following someone’s life constantly on everything that they do and when they vouch for a product, you are sure to get your hands on it as well. Do we remember those adverts of Lux and Dove done by famous movie celebrities? How many of us wanted them once we saw the ads? These were still considerably fewer due to the high charges of these celebrities and would sometimes only endorse a product or two. If we compare this culture now, YouTube influencers are often at brand events, getting PR Packages and doing unboxing showing us pure glamour and how we need a whole range of products in our lives.
There are a number of factors that do not sit well if we try to emulate everything we see even if they show themselves living normal and regular lives. It is a big financial burden. ‘Influencers’ are termed this name because they have the power to make a large number of people buy or do what they talk about. However, they have been gifted these items to talk about, no one is paying for them. Large companies put these costs towards their marketing campaigns, which makes it a win-win for both parties. On the contrary, we end up spending large amounts of money just to get our hands on this particular item.
On humanitarian grounds, there is a deeper meaning today. The majority of well-known brands are supporting the genocide and these brands are still reaching out and supporting influencers. They still put out content and we fall prey to these feelings that how can one small product help in the genocide? But it is not just about buying one product of $1. This influence may have a very large following of 1 Million followers. The Math adds up here. Each penny spent is being contributed to someone dying every day! It is up to us to make wise decisions and decide who actually influences our behaviour. We as a community are the ones who have made regular people on these platforms influencers by boosting and copying their behaviors and living style.
This article is in no way trying to stop anyone from following his or her favourite YouTuber, I sure have mine, but watch wisely. There are other influencers out there who also put out positive traits. Some have been giving alternatives to brands that do not support the genocide. It is entirely up to us to choose whom we allow into our lives and minds.
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