When writing an academic paper that permits students to choose any topic of interest, reporting on social media becomes too cliche of a topic for many. It is a popular discussion across all generations, eliciting many perspectives in attempts to grasp the influence it has on particularly Generation-Z and Generation-Alpha. Social media conflicts get reported frequently due to a variety of factors. People fail to use independent divergent thinking, fail to interact with others frequently enough, and online users have an over-reliance on external sources. Most importantly, teen influencers aren’t expected to take any accountability for their behaviors.
The current reports circulating throughout the internet can serve as a foundation for analyzing further into the impacts social media can subject its consumers to. However, a gap exists within addressing influencers, who are Gen-Z content creators, and their impact on other Gen-Z users. Online influencers like Haley LeBlanc, Gavin Magnus, Piper Rochelle, the Glow house, and Ashley Barnes are influencers who have garnered a significant fan base. Observers who pay attention to these influencers will see a wide range of possible outcomes they have on their audiences.
1: Lack of independent thinking and over-reliance on external sources
The human biological framework is not designed to process thousands of opinions every second. Online users who consume massive amounts of content over a long period of time can absorb trends, ideologies and rhetorics that are in close alignment to the general public’s viewpoints. This shapes the user’s desires for conformity rather than practicality.
2: A real-world interaction deficit
The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced reliance on virtual connections to sustain relationships between individuals. However, it also strengthened vulnerability towards strangers in social media comment sections. This in turn can normalize vulnerability online, however when Gen-Z is faced with in-person interactions, the vulnerability they’ve normalized online is no longer applicable and can create dissonance. This lack of nuanced experience with nonverbal cues and verbal communication, can set many individuals of Gen-Z back. COVID-19’s impact has only grown in size since.
3: Accountability dismissed
There is a common misconception that teenage influencers and their potential harmful behaviors they subject onto their consumers will be dismissed due to their youth. The “they’ll grow out of it” phrase is commonly used to avoid accountability, as it suggests behavior is guaranteed to change as adolescents develop. Although there may be merit to this viewpoint, social etiquette needs to be enforced when it comes to influencers to minimize any negative consequences they may have on their consumers as it may inflict negative consequences to their consumers.
To combat the negative effects that social media influencers have on online consumers, users need to pay more attention to the content on their screens rather than mindlessly consuming media. Setting time constraints and critiquing ideas they see on the internet will allow users to inform themselves of current events while preserving their well-being in the long-run.
