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?

Wow your assumption that I must be jealous is very strange.
I don’t want to be an influencer, I don’t want my children to want to be influencers. I certainly do not want to be in the public eye. Couldn’t think of anything worse. I would have that level of intrusion in my life.
Sorry to disappoint you though!

When I was a teenager, half the boys wanted to be footballers and half the girls wanted to be popstars. My secondary school best friend wanted to become a page 3 girl. She's now a civil servant!

The fashionable jobs may have changed to gamers and influencers, but I don't think that's any worse. Just like I realised I wasn't going to be the next Kylie and went to uni instead, today's teenagers will realise they won't be the next Zoella and find something more realistic to do.

Be more worried that my daughter has not got much of a future because we’ve destroyed the planet for them

@Nothingventurednothinggained

Wow your assumption that I must be jealous is very strange. I don’t want to be an influencer, I don’t want my children to want to be influencers. I certainly do not want to be in the public eye. Couldn’t think of anything worse. I would have that level of intrusion in my life. Sorry to disappoint you though!

Well then, wtf do you care if people are able to make jobs of being influencers or not if you aren't -eventhoughyourpostsreekofit- jealous.

@WindyState
Repeating your accusations doesn’t make them any more factual.
They can make money that way if they want. My worry was that my children might think it’s an easy life and want to do it too.

Well then, wtf do you care if people are able to make jobs of being influencers or not if you aren't eventhoughyourpostsreekofit jealous.

This is the second recent thread where I've seen people say that someone who's not a fan of influencers must be jealous of them, and it was hilariously misguided both times! People have other jobs that they have qualifications and training for and make money from. Ones which don't depend on flogging stuff to gullible people by creating a fake persona and lifestyle. I haven't seen a single influencer I envy yet. Maybe I haven't stumbled across the right ones yet .

People care about this stuff because they think that influencers aren't generally a positive influence on society. And they know that it's a very unstable way of making a living, so they aren't keen on their dc thinking it's a good career.

I don't think "influencing" on Instagram (if that is even a thing) is much different to David Beckham advertising hair gel or whatever. It's someone being paid to say that they use a product and it's great. That's been done for years.

What I hope our young people can see through is that there is no way that an "influencer" can find that many products so fantastic. I mean, I roll my eyes at half of it and think "yeah, right, love, that new range of shakes really made you lose 6 stone, didn't it?" etc. Or I laugh at the way the home stylist ones do up a room in their house and take photos off it 10 times a day from different angles and in different light, changing their rug (free from whichever company) every couple of weeks "I am LOVING my new geometric rug from Next - it goes so well with my curtains" etc etc. Eye. Roll. Then they're having a refurb of the same room 3 months later because of some other "must have" trend, and more products donated by companies that they'll need to mention.

It's so transparent but I do think it works on some people. My sister gets lots of fashion magazines. To me they're just catalogues, full of adverts. sometimes they're marked as "advertorials" but often not. You know the sort of thing, a couple of pages of the latest "must have" beauty balms or whatever. It's all just products that are sent to the magazines. So bloody BORING to read about. But if I go shopping with my sister, the first place she wants to go is the beauty counter "oh, this new moisturiser made from angel's sweat is supposed to be soooo good" - and she'll part with 50 quid for it.

So it does all have the desired effect.

I just feel sorry for the huge amount of self-promotion that actually talented people like authors have to do on social media. We had one come to a school I worked in. In beween talking to the kids she had her head buried in her phone looking at twitter etc. Must be EXHAUSTING to have to constantly trying to be noticed online.

@Nothingventurednothinggained

And you are deluded for thinking that influencing is a viable career option.

well clearly it is for some people, as lots of people make great money from it. I know someone who is fairly successful - not Kylie Jenner levels but 500k followers on insta ,and she made enough to buy a 4 bed detached house cash in her mid 20s, and now supports her partner and 2 kids off her earnings.

Is it a viable career for everyone? Obviously not, but neither is being a doctor, footballer, pilot, etc.

[quote Nothingventurednothinggained]@WindyState
Repeating your accusations doesn’t make them any more factual.
They can make money that way if they want. My worry was that my children might think it’s an easy life and want to do it too.[/quote]
I wasn't repeating the accusation.

I was saying that I don't believe your denial that you aren't annoyed that people are making money out of something you believe to be easy work.

Fact is, plenty of people make money from all sorts of avenues you probably deem inappropriate for your children. So what?

So what?
I am concerned that my children may want to copy these ‘influencers’.
So that, is my issue. It is not about me being jealous or annoyed at them for making the money.
We don’t agree, and that is ok.

@Comedycook

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

Ooh I wanted to be one of those! Modelling how to open a fridge on 'the price is right'

I was fairly young i.e. 19 when I started following influencers. i am now 29! I never thought it could be a viable career, don't know anyone who thinks that either! I just think many people do it because they like the attention, money is a bonus.

Plus its not like you can pay your bills with free lipsticks and Dyson hair dryers right? Yes for a tiny percentage i.e. top 1%, it can generate enough income for it to be considered a job, but most of us know that its not really viable for the majority of people.

I do have a SIL who writes and uses Patreon as a platform to generate income; basically users pay a subscription fee every month to gain access to her content and there are different tiers. She earns maybe a few hundred dollars a month, the odds of earning a living on that platform for artists is probably roughly equivalent to the odds of an influencer making a decent living. it was found in a survey that less than 2% of patreon content creators make more than the federal minimum wage. However, i think there have always been writers who would work for no or little money so this is not new. Likewise for influencers- in the past, they would probably have tried being actors/models and the majority would also have earned very little. The difference, I suppose, is that acting/modelling is considered a 'real job' and influencing isn't, but I don't see why people look at it so differently. You have to edit and stage your videos often all on your own, do your hair and makeup, come up with interesting content everyday, respond to your fans, liaise with sponsors etc. It can be a full time job if you are successful even if for most people, it wouldn't be.

The problem with instagram and other similar sites is that it has been proven to damage self esteem especially in the 18-25 year old range. Young people scroll through looking at people with seemingly perfect lives and feel that if their life doesn't match - its lacking. Studies have found that depression has been linked to spending long hours on these sites and negative body image - especially in young girls.

The influencers are heavily filtered and edited and it gives - people ( mostly girls again) unrealistic beliefs and ideas in that this is how they should look.

British fashion photographer John Rankin Waddell did a really interesting series of images where he asked young people to take a selfie then it it to make it more 'more media friendly'. The girls images where much. more dramatically changed and the series was called "visual diet' and looked at how images can affect our mental health.

The biggest danger of exaggerated body ideals is the very real issue of eating disorders and the heightened risk of body dysmorphia.

Facebook, insta, ticktock have all been designed to make people addicted to them. Facebook even knows when you havnt logged on for a while and will send you a random push notification to bring you back in - twitter and insta are the same.

To be honest I think there should be a big push from the government to encourage people to put their phones down and break the habit.

Porn is so easily accessible to young children through mobile devices, I do worry for my daughters and what there first sexual experience will be. Will the boy she chooses expect her to have no public hair, like anal sex and behave like a porn star in bed. It is worrying.

I think the smart phones have been a curse on society over all actually.

Influencers are annoying but mostly harmless. I’d be far more worried about climate change and a crumbling economy at this rate.

I’m with you OP.

The dichotomy between this generation’s ability to talk openly about mental health while at the same time perpetuating images and unrealistic lifestyles that contribute to poor mental health of their impressionable followers is irritatingly, glaringly jarring. It seems so ‘emperors new clothes’ to me. It’s frustrating and I can’t help but see it as irresponsible. It’s this century’s version of selling tabacco to underage kids.

I try and flag up examples of where influencers are human too and that we’re all vulnerable, tired, lazy, spotty, bloated etc even if influencers make it look like they aren’t (apart from the odd occasion where they have no choice as they’ve been caught out photoshopping or have f**ked up and need to apologise so they don’t get cancelled and lose their job become stream ).

If anyone had the golden parenting tips on how to navigate this - and porn too - please let me know!!!

*income stream

I don't think "influencing" on Instagram (if that is even a thing) is much different to David Beckham advertising hair gel or whatever.

I think it is quite a bit different tbh. When you see an advert with David Beckham in it, you know he's just being employed to be a famous person being paid to be the face of a brand he probably never even uses.

Whereas people who follow influencers on social media can interact with them. Some seem to almost think of them like friends or acquaintances. It's more personal. They get really invested in their lifestyles and what they do. And they seem to actually believe the online persona is real and that they really use and genuinely love the products they're promoting.

I'm not saying all or even most followers think like this, but the format certainly makes it easier for influencers to establish this kind of dynamic. Particularly if their followers are mainly young people. But I've seen MNers talk about influencers in this way occasionally.