Amani Khanna-Week 11: Social Influences
Growing up, I thought I would become a famous toy review youtuber or a vlogger. I took videos of everything I did in the day and took pictures of almost all my food. However, after a content amount of research and basically just growing up, I realized that the subject is more complicated than it seems. I genuinely do not think that I could ever become a social media influencer because of the difficulties that these people go through.
For one, I am already on the brink of madness trying to balance school, extracurriculars, and my hobbies. I never have enough time in the day to accomplish everything I want to. My parents work all day and we run on quite opposite agendas, so it is difficult to get in any family time as well. Then again, that may just be because of the odd way that our school schedule is timed, but even then, how are influencers able to get an education while making the time to post and edit videos every week. Some of them are understandable. For example, Larry posts once every few weeks, which gives him time to edit and do everything else he needs to. Though, it does not stop at just videos. From this fame stems millions of other opportunities such as performing on stage and getting invited to interviews. I have not done much outside research regarding influencer lifestyle, but I am assuming that if it is their full-time job, then they would resort to homeschooling to avoid any issues. This brings a whole new range of difficulties as homeschooling is not an ideal location for children. When do they get to spend time with their school friends?
Time management is one thing but dealing with hate on a daily basis is another thing. We are all human and deserve to be treated as such. Sometimes, fans tend to take their comments and opinions too far. I remember in grade six a new anonymous app trend had evolved. It was called something along the lines of “sarero” and there were multiple different versions of it too. People had the ability to send you anonymous messages that you would essentially post on an Instagram or snapchat story to publicly reply to them. However, many of the comments that I received talked about my body and were actually pretty harsh. They did a great deal on my self-esteem, especially because I was only eleven or twelve at the time. This continued on until ninth grade where the app eventually died out. This situation does not even remotely measure up to the circumstances of an influencer. They have the whole world telling them what they can and cannot do, and continually criticizing their every move. I would have probably ended up in a rehab center by the end of it.
Stalking is an extremely real and prevalent phenomena, and when you are an influencer with millions of followers, there are people out there who will try to take everything away from you. I love to post my travel experiences on my Instagram story, let people know about what I am doing, and enjoy my time in various parts of the world. The difference being, I do not have to fear people following me or taking pictures of what I am doing at any given moment. I hate being caught off guard, but to have it done to you by complete strangers is extremely frightening. These stalkers will go as far as to leak personal account information or even house addresses. A situation in which a famous person could get hurt.
This being said, being a full-time influencer is an extremely risky job. Considering all these factors and many more, it takes tremendous amounts of power to be able to protect yourself from the dangers of the online world. All social media influencers hold this power.
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Hi Amani, I read your blog, and I agree with many of your opinions on the power of social media. As we live in the digital age, communication is more efficient, but there are also new dangers to this side of technology. Anonymous texts, malicious comments, and stalking are just a few of the many downsides of social media. As a large amount of people have access to social media, we are exposed to more unknown people. Social media, therefore, has its dangers, which makes it all the more powerful in the wrong hands.
ReplyDeleteHi Amani, I think your blog brought up a really interesting point which hasn't been mentioned before! Unfortunately, social media could possess a lot of power over our lives, but that doesn't mean we can't also have more power against it as well. I know personally that ignoring hate comments or bullying can be tough, and they can exercise tons of power on us; but, simple things than help that to go away, besides ignoring it. Putting our phones down, talking to loved ones, taking a break off social media and staying kind to yourself can all help.
ReplyDeleteHi Amani,
ReplyDeleteThe power of social media definitely is a double edged sword, and your post is a testament to that fact. Just like you mentioned in your post, influencers enjoy the benefits of the fame and connections they obtain from their position, but they must also deal with the very real threat of jealousy and stalking. In my opinion, social media is an amplifier; it intensifies the highest of highs of what we enjoy, as well as the worst excesses of the human experience. It is clear that the job of conscientious influencers is not easy.
I remember when everyone wanted to be a famous YouTuber! It seems like such a glamorous lifestyle but, as you discussed, it is actually exhausting and often requires sacrificing normalcy. Anonymous commenting apps like Tellonmyn are often unbelievably toxic. I have heard far too many stories like yours and I wish they would be banned. Another concern with social media involves child celebrities, who have to endure all of the struggles you described but at a concerningly young age.
ReplyDeleteHi Amani, you brought up many interesting and important points on influencers and social media in your blog. Even though social media is helpful to communicate with your friends, it is also a dangerous and unhealthy place. Many of these influencers are still young people and have to deal with many people telling them that they are not good enough or giving out random hate comments. It is clear to see that their job is not easy as they have many things to deal with on top of their regular lives.
ReplyDeleteHi Amani, influencers have a hard life. their entire livelihood is built on people liking them. Let's face it, humanity is cruel. Influencers spend their entire life in fear of the public turning on them. Fame honestly overrated. What is the point in so many people liking you if your entire life will crumble when they leave? Personally I think it would be better to have one person who you know would stand by you through anything, then to have millions who would leave you for the next new thing.
ReplyDeleteHey Amani, this was a really good argument on the struggles that influencer have to go through on a daily basis. I love how it goes over the struggles that they go thorough because these are real struggles and problems they deal with. This is disheartening because things like stalking are hard for them to deal with because it has external cause and they cannot put a stop to it themselves.
ReplyDelete