Do we really need social media influencers in our society? The answer is...

Over the years, "influencers" have become such a terrible, dirty buzzword. Most influencers now brand themselves as a 'Digital Creator' or 'Content Strategist'. Although agencies still use key online leaders (KOLs) as part of their marketing strategy, no one openly shares their return on investment. I once received a private list of influencers with a high number of followers but had ZERO results (pageviews or actual purchase). Although this list circulated among some agencies, most brands and agencies are still oblivious to 'fake influencers'. Today, Josephine Teo made a visit to Titan Media, a company helmed by Jianhaotan with a team of over 80 influencers. A good old friend of mine asked, "What's the benefit of having influencers in our society?" This question kinda stumped me...

As someone who went through a 7-year diploma & degree in media and mass communications, I was taught the importance of upholding the values and principles of media. Content creators MUST uphold the media law. Traditional media go through a stringent set of criteria before the information gets released to the public. Isn't this critical to consider the potential ill effects of any content?

This is unfortunately not the case for YouTubers, TikTokers and Instagrammers — after all, their wages depend on 'what the audience wants to see'. In other words, use skimpy woman and lame jokes as a form of cheap tricks to make videos go viral.

This gives rise to a lot of influencers who 'fake it till they made it'. 

Influencers are not truthful about their REAL FOLLOWERS numbers. 

The first principle of journalism is truthfulness, but almost 50% of Singapore influencers use fake followers to boost up their profile (Source: HypeAuditor, 2019). Brands should be aware how it is easy to buy followers, buy likes and buy fake comments. Why aren't agencies asking their influencers to share the ROI of each post, the impressions and detailed report of each instagram story? After all, brands pay a good 4- to 5-digit figure for each campaign. I also don't get why brands are willing to work with sexy content creators who mostly have chee-ko-peks as their followers — are you actually targeting the right audience profile?

Influencers show an inaccurate impression of their daily life and may create a fake persona of themselves.

The second principle of journalism is accuracy. Content creators have such immense power to influence young minds yet there aren't any guiding laws in place! What's the point of these content? Does it add any value to society? Younger audiences simply binge on content passively— a step towards degradation of society. 

A number of instagram influencers shared they were friends with another instagrammer only because of their 'network' and 'connections'. What a facade — pretending to be close bros and sis when they, in fact, do not like each other. Because Instagram is such a curated profile, many people suffer mental health issues, wondering why reality seems less than perfect as compared to these influencers.

Social media is a curated album but we do not adequately educate people on the ill effects. I've met a number of influencers who have a table full of food, and pretended they ate all of it on their social media post. In fact, they ate none or barely at all! 

So what's the benefit of social media influencers?

Besides raising awareness and educating people, I think social media influencers should know and realise that the power lies in their hands. Yes, they are influential. Without chickengenius,  I wouldn't be interested in tesla stock ;) Without kelvinlearnsinvesting, i wouldn't be using some of his recommended brokers. I hope content creators will practise fair and responsible use of the platforms and carefully consider what they create.

What do you think of influencers? How do they benefit society?

Sharing some of my thoughts here but I'd love to hear from you!