Please notice the title “Social Media Influencers”, so I am specifically talking about people who got their fame because of their social media fame. Not because of their critical thinking or writing or amazing photography or video making skills, but those kind-of-influencers. You know what I am talking about.
The world we live in is crazy and unfair. Well, it was never a fair world to begin with. We got people working from 9–5, 5 days a week, all year around. We also got people taking photos of some random stuff and post it on social media and earn sooooo much money from one post, more than our 9–5 people earn in a month.
This is the world of social media influencers. The world where many kids are dreaming to “become famous youtuber” or “have a million followers on instagram”. In many cases, this is not about talent or hardwork, it is about willingness to act certain way, having a pretty face, exposing a sufficient amount of skin to your followers, and a little bit of luck and opportunity. I don’t have any objections to these people. Everyone is entitled to live their own way and make a living their own way. It becomes my problem when I realize these influencers are becoming the trend-magnet and crowd-magnet of many events.
It is not happening if the influencers (or professionally known as Key Opinion Leaders) say no. What a bummer. Let me tell you some reasons to free yourself from their grasp.
1. I am too lazy to follow all these new trends
You know what is the number one rule for trend? There will always a new trend. It is a never ending chase. Many times my friend would ask me to hang out in this new trendy place to hang out.
I would say, “You said that as well for that cafe last month.”
“Yes, but (put some name of new bar/restaurant/cafe here) is new and (put influencer’s name here) went there last week and it looks very cool!”
“I have no idea where that is or who that is.”
I am the type of person who hangs out at the same places for years. The goal of trying some new cafe for me is to assess whether this place is good enough to be my long-term hangout places. I don’t need to go to new places every month, besides many cafes now have the exact same interior or looks and even sometimes same vibes. Even the food and drinks taste similar (not to mention their ridiculous price). And no, I don’t need to visit these new cafes just for photos and contents for my followers. I am simply looking for some quality time with my friends and families. I am not looking to be trending on social media. I only try new places if my wife said so (of course I have to say yes) or I got a solid recommendations (which mean they have to visit the cafe before) from my friends who have similar taste with me. Other than that, I rather hang out in the comfort of my home, it’s free, it’s comfortable and it’s have far less people.
Don’t even start with me on fashion trends.
2. They are practically advertisements
Influencers make money from endorsement given to them. They basically post photos or videos of them using that product and usually it stays on their feed for a certain amount of time agreed on the payment. So this makes them an advertisement. And sometimes the products are just so ridiculous that I’m pretty sure the influencer won’t even use in real life. These products are also over priced and most of the time it is not just that good. When you have an influencers telling you to buy stuffs, these people will be happily oblige, even when it cost them several months of their allowances or salaries, for a product that is not that good.
I have seen influencer’s feeds that filled with endorsements. 1 in 3 photos she posted is endorsement. We always try to skip advertisement on youtube or websites, why bother following people who post advertisement routinely? I’m pretty sure the content they post is not worthy enough for me to tolerate with all those endorsements. In addition, it adds bias in products/places they visit since they are getting paid. I know some influencers are very objective on these reviews, they refuse payment and review stuffs they way it is, but majority are looking for that extra dough from their influence.
Plus, with all of the new instagram features, I already seen advertisement account popping up in every 5–6 images I scroll involuntarily. I don’t need another one that I follow voluntarily.
3. We know you don’t live this way
Influencers are basically lifestyle porn. And like all porn, it is very unrealistic, it doesn’t reflect their actual lifestyle and we secretly kinda want our life to be like that.
One of the most common property for these photo is fairy lights. I can already imagine they bring fairy lights everywhere and have a special team to assemble it in a certain way before each shoot. Well, in real life, (most) real people don’t live their daily life carrying around fairy light everywhere.
That cute little spots on the corner of a cafe, that fusion experimental food, that minimalist guest house with unreal lighting, that surprisingly empty famous tourist spot and many more. They basically push us to live like that. When we are certain they don’t really live their life that way. Their posts are mainly… illusion set up in 15–20 minutes (or sometimes more) to show the perfect lifestyle. I am not intending to spend my life following these ridiculous lifestyle. Not worth my time and my money.
It is very unlikely this trends will decline anytime soon. Unfortunately this is the world that we have to live in now. Their influence will still influence people. I find that the less we talk about them, they will fade eventually (I know this article is basically talking about them, but I avoid mentioning examples to prevent you to find out more about them). I condemn main stream media that sometimes put them on main news so people basically find out more about them and basically increase their engagements and views. Even though we only search them to despise them but still, they are trending because of people’s curiosity.
I find it that ignoring them is the best cure. I also find it funny so many people read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson and yet they still give a f*ck. Just ignore them people. Don’t let them even get your recognition and avoiding these people and trends will always make you happier.
I guarantee it.
