5 Consequences Of Celebrity And Social Media Influencer Culture
Have celebrity and social media influencers changed our culture for the better? Here are five consequences of celebrity and social media influencer culture.
Social media made it easier for others to see how others live or pretend to live. This led to keeping up with the Kardashians, the Joneses, and your neighbors. The rise of people wanting to keep up with the lifestyles of people they see on social media has further fed the culture of instant gratification. These are five consequences of celebrity and social media influencer culture.
Recommended:
Keeping Up With Others
First, many people now want to keep up with celebrities, influencers, and their neighbors. They do this by living lifestyles that they cannot afford. Some influencers may not even be able to afford their lifestyles, but they do it to get views.
The problem is that people now want to do that without increasing their income. Some may put it all on their credit cards or bet big in the stock market or cryptocurrencies to instantly become rich.
The consequence is it makes people think they can do the same things that have made others successful. The reality is that everyone has a different skill set. Instead of trying to keep up with others, you could invest in yourself to maximize your strengths.
Instant Gratification
The second is instant gratification. We are living in a society that glorifies instant gratification. Instant gratification comes in entertainment with streaming services, from two-day delivery to purchasing items using credit cards to buy something you may want instantly. You may intentionally forget about the high-interest rate of credit cards because you want. You may choose to gratify yourself instantly for short-term pleasure rather than focusing long-term.
Another problem with instant gratification is it makes people focus on getting things in the short term rather than learning patience. Patience and consistency can help you to reach long-term goals. When you think long-term, you recognize that tasks take time to accomplish. You cannot write a book overnight. You will not become successful overnight. Yet, the society of instant gratification pushes the myth of overnight success.
Refer your friends to Secure Single’s Substack and earn up to a six-month paid subscription for free!
Live Vicariously Through Others
Third, social media allows you to live vicariously through others. You can choose what others do, things you would like to do or have always wanted to do but have never done for whatever reason.
Rather than traveling and seeing the world or learning a new skill, you do it vicariously through others. You limit your exposure to new experiences and cultures by not traveling. You also limit your ability to learn new skills if you only read an article or watch a video without planning to take practical action after watching it. There is educational content on various topics, from health to personal finance that you can find online. The problem is if you never take action to improve yourself, you are merely entertaining yourself.
Applied knowledge is power. It does not matter how many videos or articles you read on a topic if you never implement a strategy to better yourself.
Vanity
Fourth, this has also led to vanity. Men want six-pack abs. Men take steroids to get jacked. The Herald writes:
“Respondents went on to suggest that celebrity and social media culture promotes unrealistic body types which skewed young men’s self-image and led some to consider IPED use to achieve extreme body goals.”
Men think they must have lots of muscle to be attractive. While it is healthy to go to the gym to exercise and lift, not everyone will be a bodybuilder. Yet more young people think they must get ripped to be masculine from watching fitness influencers or seeing advertisements promoting a fitness influencer’s program.
There has been a rise in women getting boob jobs to have bigger breasts. According to Monmouth Health and Wellness:
“Silicone implants were used in 88%, and saline implants in 12%, of all breast augmentations in 2018. Liposuction followed (258,558) and rhinoplasty was the 3rd (213,780) most popular cosmetic surgery in 2018.”
There has also been a rise in the use of a self-tanning or bronzing drug by women which is called the Barbie Drug. Melanotan II is a “synthetic hormone injection that stimulates the body’s natural pigmentation process. It is available for sale via the Internet only, and it promises the perfect tan without harmful UV exposure.” The Barbie Drug has generated controversy, with many people blaming social media.
These are mainly done for vanity purposes or the new catchphrase of the Instagram generation, for image-enhancing purposes. While it is natural to want to improve your look and focus on your health, drastically changing how you look for image-enhancing purposes is ridiculous. Some people even go so far as to make themselves look like elves.
The best thing you can do is be comfortable in your skin. You can be confident in yourself. That can be more attractive and tells people more about you than deciding to spend money on plastic surgeries.
Unrealistic Dreams And Desires
Fifth, having access to social media and watching people live lifestyles they cannot afford causes unrealistic dreams and desires. You likely heard about them when they were famous. Influencers and celebrities are often likely to show off their sports cars, mansions, and girlfriends/boyfriends.
It is critical to understand that dreams are different from goals. Dreams are abstract. They are vague. There is no set destination. Dreams are merely things that you think sound nice.
You must set a strategy and apply the right resources to reach it. Goals take time to achieve. They do not happen overnight. You can set realistic goals for yourself once you know yourself. You can focus on using your skills to achieve a goal. You can start small, then build up over time. There are three main types of goals:
Short-term goals
Medium-term goals
Long-term goals
Solutions
Limit your use of social media.
Only follow people who can improve your life on social media.
Realize that an “influencer” may make a video on a topic to get views.
Find some to learn about practical skills you are interested in or want to know.
You can start by limiting your use of social media. Social media has been found to have connections to mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
You can make a point to only follow and subscribe to people who improve your life on social media. These people provide good advice but make a point not to glamorize their life or show off their lifestyles.
You could find some people on social media who are genuine and who have never become top-level influencers, so they are more natural. They are less showy about their lifestyle. They recognize problems with social media and the concept of the “influencer.”
You can realize that an “influencer” may only be making a video to get views, clicks, and eyeballs to monetize their content.
The problem with the ads-based model is that you must continue to get consistent views and increase views to increase your income. If views are decreased, or the payout is lowered by the third-party putting advertisements in front of their content, their income also decreases. That is why it is essential to find ways to build a profitable business online without relying on third-party companies as much as possible.
Secure Single’s Algorithm recommends:
Summary
These are only some of the consequences of a celebrity and influencer culture. While the Internet has given us more accessible access to information that can improve our lives, it also has made the culture more vain.
The best thing you can do is limit the entertainment and news you read or watch. You will then find yourself being more productive. You will then be able to reach your goals. Stop focusing on celebrities and influencers. Focus and invest in yourself to thrive as a single person.
Become A Secure Single.
Upgrade to a premium membership to get access to exclusive posts for the price of a few coffees a month.