Equipping students to navigate the booming social media influencer industry
If you close your eyes and picture a popular social media influencer, who do you see? If we lost you at “popular influencer” and you came up blank, you’re not the only one. Students, on the other hand, could likely give you the names of three influencers off the top of their heads. From Mr. Beast to Charlie D’Amelio or even Alix Earle, students are no strangers to the world of influencers. This means they’re also no strangers to the one thing that makes the influencer industry so financially appealing: ads and brand deals.
With the power and reach to make anyone a star if they work hard enough and the fact that it is expected to become a 69.92 billion-dollar industry by 2029, the social media influencer industry is an exciting one and on the rise. However, as a new industry, the guidelines and laws that are in place to protect consumers don’t necessarily adhere to the influencer industry. This has led to numerous influencers promoting scams, questionable products, and false advertising.
As students are getting on social media at earlier ages than ever and 95% say they are online almost constantly, chances are they are interacting with influencers on a daily, if not hourly, basis. It’s easy to see why students need to be informed about influencers and their posts. But what is being done to protect students from false advertising, scams, and unrealistic expectations? Recently, France announced that they are working to legally define what an influencer is so that they can better protect social media users and regulate this booming industry. While this is a great step in protecting students, let’s explore other ways we can empower our students to navigate the influencer industry.
Key terms to know when discussing the influencer industry with students
Influencer: Also known as content creators, influencers are people who have a following on social media and monetize their content to make money. Some influencers are full-fledged, full-time, “I do this for a living” influencers. While others do it on a much smaller scale. What makes the definition of an influencer so hard to nail down is measuring who is and who isn’t considered an influencer. At its core, an influencer influences people to do or buy something. With so many creators in the space and so many different ways to consider how someone’s audience is actually influenced, there’s often a grey area in defining whether or not someone is truly an influencer.
Influencer Industry: What started as people posting videos on platforms like YouTube has since turned into an industry full of all kinds of influencers, from micro-influencers, fitness influencers, food influencers, beauty influencers, and so many more. If you can think of a hobby or niche, there is likely a social media influencer community for it.
In fact, a recent study about Gen Z and influencers found that:
- For Gen Z students, top-performing YouTube influencers are more well-known, and even more well-liked, than famous celebrities and athletes
- 46% of 13 to 16-year-olds and 52% of 17 to 21-year-olds follow people who are considered “influencers”
- 54% of young Americans would become an influencer if they were given the opportunity
It’s safe to say that our students are frequently coming across influencers on social media, and that won’t be changing anytime soon.
France takes action to keep social media users informed about influencers and ads
The reach of influencers can be global given the nature of social media, but France is the first country to take legal action to protect people from possibly being misled by the content they come across. Influencers have been accused of promoting questionable products, not disclosing ads or brand deals, or even encouraging their audience to invest their money in risky investments. French reality TV star Nabilla Benattia-Vergara promoted Bitcoin to “millions of Snapchat followers without disclosing that she was being paid to do so.” In response, France fined her €20,000. And this is just one example of many.
Stéphane Vojetta, a politician in France’s Assemblée Nationale, shared that they have “had meetings with victims of scams from everything from medical malpractice to drop-shipping to cryptocurrency-based Ponzi schemes.” Vojetta and others have since proposed legislation that would regulate the kinds of products and services that influencers would legally be allowed to advertise. This law would make it so creators would have to be transparent about when a post is sponsored by including a banner that says it was sponsored, instead of having that disclaimer hidden in the caption or hashtag.
This is a great step in the right direction, as students in France will be more empowered to make their own critical choices about whether or not they want to buy a product from an influencer. The question then becomes whether or not other countries will follow their lead – further empowering students to make their own, unbiased decisions when shopping online.
TSI’s Take
As students navigate social media, they come across ads and sponsored posts by influencers all of the time, and many students aspire to be influencers as it becomes a more and more popular way to make money. While the influencer industry has proven to be a successful path for people around the globe, educators can empower students to avoid being misled by non-disclosed, sponsored posts by keeping The Social Institute’s Seven Social Standards in mind, especially:
- Find Your Influencers: Find influencers who are positive, credible, and transparent role models. This means thinking critically about whether a social media post seems to be an ad or sponsored even when it isn’t disclosed. Encourage your students to really think about whether or not the person promoting a product or service is being authentic in their promotion.
- Play To Your Core: Play to their core values if they do choose to become a social media influencer. There are so many different avenues students can take when it comes to finding their “niche” audience. Empower them to stay true to their passions, interests, and hobbies when creating content.
At the end of the day, not all social media influencers are out to mislead or “trick” their audiences. And students as young as middle school are following their dreams of becoming influencers by making videos on apps like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The key to helping our students navigate influencer culture online is to remind them to think critically about the content they come across and to be who they are when they create content of their own. Plus, who knows, maybe your student will become the next Mr. Beast or Alix Earle.
If you’re looking to learn more about influencers, check out the most followed TikTok creators of 2023 here.
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The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in understanding student experiences and creator of #WinAtSocial, a gamified, online learning platform that equips students, educators, and families to navigate social experiences — online and offline — in healthy ways. Our unique, student-respected approach incorporates topics like social media, technology use, and current events that have a significant impact on student well-being. Lessons teach life skills for the modern day to inspire high-character decisions that support the health, happiness, and future success of students, while capturing data that provides insights to school leaders to inform school policy and communications, and enable high-impact teaching and a healthy learning environment. For schools, our turnkey technology allows for easy implementation and a comprehensive game plan to support the well-being of school communities. For schools, our turnkey technology allows for easy implementation and a comprehensive game plan to support the well-being of school communities.