The Influencers

By: Anneliese Curry

We chose to focus on the Influencer prompt for our project. We felt that this prompt was something that we could benefit from learning about since influencer culture has become extremely prevalent in our society. We wanted to be able to know why people could trust or distrust influencers based on their platforms. From the outside, it can look like there is no pattern to which influencers gain popularity and which ones do not. However, we realized there were key components to seeing the success and failures of influencers. To convey this, we thought the most strategic way to accomplish it was to create an infographic of the pros and cons of influencers and what makes people lean one way or the other.

We found some of the reasons that people are skeptical of influencers is in part to marketing, oversaturation, authenticity, and generational differences. While marketing is great for brands, when influencers become involved in this marketing process, it can jeopardize the trust between the influencer and audience if they see that the influencer has changed focus from making content for their audience and focusing on brand deals. The amount of influencers can also be overwhelming. Since anyone has the opportunity to become one, social media pages are filled with them and the audience does not know who to follow. With the increase in popularity and new marketing tactics, trust between influencers and the public has decreased and they tend to be viewed as less authentic with their content. Influencers are targeted towards Millennials and Gen Z, the appeal seems to be lost to other generations, and if that pattern continues, in time, influencers could be phased out.

On the other hand, some of the reasons that people trust influencers is because they can be positive role models. Influencers promote social causes and provide platforms for people from all backgrounds. Since anyone can be an influencer, it provides equal access to everyone to share their lifestyles and cultures with the world, bringing recognition to their culture, and making others with the same background feel represented. They provide entertainment and help people get an escape day to day life. Sometimes all people need is a break, and being able to watch the content of your favorite influencers can be the trick to making you feel better. Influencers help to create communities and connections between like minded people. They provide a space where people can interact with one another and feel safe doing so because they are all bonded through their passion for the influencer/content. Influencers can also be educational, helping people learn and develop new skill sets. There can be very niche influencers for certain things and that can help people become exposed to things they were not aware of before.

Researching was a bit of a struggle. Lots of results found were focused on the effects and views of social media, not influencers. It took refining search phrases time and time again to find the information needed. And even after finding better search phrases certain articles did not capture the information that we were looking for. Most articles we found worked to break down exactly what influencers do and how their actions create positives or negatives viewed by their audience.

Creating the infographic was something that we were excited to do because of the creative liberty it provided. We were able to design the infographic in any way that we decided, from color scheme, to fonts, to the format. However, as much as we loved that creative liberty, it also posed a challenge with so many decisions. Getting started on the infographic might have been the hardest part. The other options for the presentation gave an outline for how to format the work. The infographic had so many directions that it was hard to choose which way to go. It wasn’t until we were able to find a template that fit our theme that we were able to come to a conclusion of how we wanted to present our information. We especially enjoyed being able to find graphics to enhance our information and make it look more appealing.

The collaborative process went very well. We were able to easily decide what we wanted to do and how to present it. We also found that we were easily able to divide up the work that needed to be done. We were able to match our styles on the infographic very well and were ultimately able to create a successful infographic.

Sources:

Kemp, Audrey. “Nearly 90% of Consumers No Longer Trust Influencers, New Study Finds.” The Drum, The Drum, 6 June 2023, www.thedrum.com/news/2023/06/06/nearly-90-consumers-no-longer-trust-influencers-new-study-finds.

Suciu, Peter. “Can We Trust Social Media Influencers?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2019/12/20/can-we-trust-social-media-influencers/.

Liu, Xiao, and Xiaoyong Zheng. “The Persuasive Power of Social Media Influencers in Brand Credibility and Purchase Intention.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 2 Jan. 2024, www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02512-1.

Petkovska, Maria. “Why Influencer Marketing Is Tough to Trust.” Employee Advocacy Blog, GaggleAMP Inc., 29 Nov. 2023, blog.gaggleamp.com/why-influencer-marketing-is-tough-to-trust.

Chugh, S. (2023, 10–27). What is Social Media Influencers’ Impact on Society? Do They Matter? https://emeritus.org/blog/social-media-influencers-impact-on-society/

Lee, S. S. (2022, January 11,). Three Research Articles Examine Effects of Social Media Influencer Authenticity. https://www.jou.ufl.edu/insights/three-research-articles-examine-effects-of-social-media-influencer-authenticity/

Positive and Negative Impacts of Social Media Influencers » Hubvela. (2023, December 4,). hubvela. Retrieved Mar 8, 2024, from https://hubvela.com/hub/technology/positive-negative-social-media/influencers/

The Life of Stuff. (2022, 10/12/). Under The Influence — The Positive Impacts Of Influencers. https://www.thelifeofstuff.com/the-positive-impacts-of-influencers/

Zapal, H. (2022, November 2,). Social Media Influencers’ Impact on Youth Today. Bark. Retrieved Mar 8, 2024, from https://www.bark.us/blog/social-media-influencers/