To be worried about future generations…

[Nothingventurednothinggained]

Scrolling through Instagram I always come across plenty of ‘influencers’. They don’t seem to do anything worthwhile. It’s just constant selfies, throwaway cheap clothes adverts, flaunting expensive designer clothes/trainers/handbags.
I am starting to get really worried about my childrens futures. So many young people now want to be ‘influencers’ and don’t have any real work ethic.
Obviously, I will be trying my damned hardest to ensure my kids do well at school and know that they will need to work hard to get nice things (if that’s what they want).
It seems a lot of young people think this influencer lifestyle is sustainable (maybe for some, but that will be a minority).
Does anyone else worry about this?

i don't like the MLM side of influencing, hopefully in 10 years people will get tired of being sold too.

@TinySaltLick
Thankyou for your contribution.

Oh yes, the MLM where they can manifest things to happen in their lives

Influences are just freelance advertisers, doing exactly the same job as the people who put together adverts for John Lewis etc that people make such a massive fuss of every year, just on a smaller scale.

When I was at school, my friends wanted to be pop stars and footballers but most of them appear to have found more realistic ways of supporting themselves since then.

Young people are adapting to a changing job market with a completely different media and entertainment industry than the previous generation. I don't see how that is worrying - their dream jobs reflect the reality in which they are growing up.

To be fair, 'work hard to get by in life' isn't particularly realistic either. In my own circle there are more people who make money out of influencing than people who overcame a lack of privilege or brains/talent through hard work. We are seeing more and more that 'work hard' gets you nothing except mental health problems.

[quote Nothingventurednothinggained]@daimbarsatemydogsbone
It is all relative though isn’t it. Maybe your postman doesn’t want a fancy car. Maybe their interpretation of ‘nice things’ are different than yours.
I will always encourage my children to work hard to get by in life.[/quote]
I think it's bad advice to encourage hard work.

@Pedalpushers
I agree with you actually. But I don’t want to tell my children to not work hard, if you know what I mean. I don’t want to say, just do the bare minimum.

@Pedalpushers

To be fair, 'work hard to get by in life' isn't particularly realistic either. In my own circle there are more people who make money out of influencing than people who overcame a lack of privilege or brains/talent through hard work. We are seeing more and more that 'work hard' gets you nothing except mental health problems.

Exactly.

@daimbarsatemydogsbone
So you would not encourage your children to work hard at uni to gain their qualifications?

@Nothingventurednothinggained I think, keeping it to influencers, what we need to teach is that the lifestyle they are selling is not what matters in life. That most people don't live like that and there's nothing wrong with not having what they have.

It's not future generations, I'm 38 and my twitter is full of my colleagues and peers spouting rubbish to promote their 'personal brand'. I find it so fake, the " I'm so excited to be delivering this workshop on [dull topic]"

Are you? Are you REALLY EXCITED? No. No you are not.

@Pedalpushers
Absolutely. Probably have too much time on my hands and worrying for the sake of worrying!

@Mittenmob
Lol i feel quite embarrassed for them. Constantly recruiting for roles within their ‘brand’. Targeting stay at home mums, really horrible.

YABU really. There have always been vacuous, materialistic people, and young people with daft, unrealistic money-spinning ideas or pipe-dreams about what they will do with their lives. You just see more evidence of it because of social media.

There's loads of worthless jobs though. What many people consider a 'niche' job was probably just created by someone before who wanted a promotion. Just look on indeed at all the jobs on there, quite a lot aren't necessary.

@crazyjinglist
I think the take home point for me is - stay off social media!

Young people are rejecting the traditional workplace. Going to work every day and obeying a boss is unpleasant. I don’t blame them for not wanting to do it when there’s an alternative that they can do from home. Thankfully the workplace is changing, becoming more flexible with more opportunities to work from home, whether that’s being an influencer or doing another job from home.

@Comedycook

I wanted to be one of the women who held up the prizes on gameshows...sadly it wasn't to be

Same 😂 my cousin and I used to pretended to be Vanna White from the American Wheel of Fortunes

I think the take home point for me is - stay off social media!

Maybe. But I think the problem lies in how human nature makes people use social media, not the social media itself. I use Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and MN. Yes, I periodically get into the habit of spending too much time on them. But what I use them for is totally unproblematic. They haven't magically turned me into a shallow, attention-seeking fantasist or inspired me to want to be an influencer!

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

YANBU to worry I suppose but YABVU if you are telling them "they will need to work hard to get nice things".

If that was true my postwoman would be driving a fancy car.

A postwoman's job is not really a difficult one though is it?

Influencer's are no different to the famous people of the past. People have always had those dreams.
I think if you're of a certain age, it's quite easy to miss. I was pretty shocked when I first realised just how famous an influencer that I'd never even heard of could be.
A few weeks ago, I was attending an event at a large exhibition centre. There was a huge line of women in athleisure gear. A bit of googling revealed that a fitness influencer that I'd never heard of had a couple of hundred women paying something in the region of £70 for a group workout and a q&a session.
It's actually a better situation than the past. People can make an exceptional living without the sort of fame that means they can't go out in public. And it is much more "democratic" in that it's open to pretty much any demographic and they keep more of the profit they produce.
I don't think page 3 of The Sun created any millionaires, but OnlyFans certainly has.
It's just not what you're used to.

I do OP, I think smart phones have caused a lot of damage - especially in sexualised our young kids.

Children with access to hard core porn on their phones making 15 year old boys and girls have a very skewed idea of sex is and what is considered normal

Instagram full of people with heavily filtered photos causing young people to think they should be looking like people that dont actually exist.

Tictok is awful and causes teenagers to become brain dead morons.

I watched a facebook whistle blower in the senate before xmas and she was saying since facebook started Suicidal thoughts in children above 13 have gone up 300%

Why is being an influencer “not a career” but working for a big corporation in the advertising department is?
I don’t like influencing in general, but as a career path I don’t think it’s any more or less real than anything else. Any kid who thinks it’s all fun and glam would soon realise it’s not.

And to the pp who asked about encouraging kids to work hard and gain qualifications… personally I think it’s far better to focus on becoming skilled (which may or may not involve any qualifications). If you focus on working hard you will have to grind all your life. Become skilled and hard to replace and it’s much easier to have choices over how hard you work

I'm no fan of influencers but the fact is people can and do make a shitload of money out of it. Others don't, but that is the same of just about any other profession.

Can't help but think most of the jugmental attitudes towards influencers/youtubers etc is born of jealously based on an (usually) incorrect assumption that it's easy money.

@Dinkydonky

Why is being an influencer “not a career” but working for a big corporation in the advertising department is? I don’t like influencing in general, but as a career path I don’t think it’s any more or less real than anything else. Any kid who thinks it’s all fun and glam would soon realise it’s not.

And to the pp who asked about encouraging kids to work hard and gain qualifications… personally I think it’s far better to focus on becoming skilled (which may or may not involve any qualifications). If you focus on working hard you will have to grind all your life. Become skilled and hard to replace and it’s much easier to have choices over how hard you work

Being an influencer counts on how many people you can influence and this is mainly around how you look. When you stop influencing people or lose your looks - its over. It has a very short life time.

Its not a career. Its a short term quick fix for cash and adoration.