6 Unrealistic Ideas Influencers Put in Our Heads
Have you ever scrolled through Instagram and instantly become jealous of someone on your feed?
I know I have, and most of the time, it's an influencer who has led me to feel this way. They travel to exotic places, get free products and seem to live an easy life of luxury. While I'm certainly generalizing here, influencers (typically) fill our heads with a bunch of nonsense.
You know that hair vitamin they swear by? They're paid to tell you about it. How about the facial oil they can't live without? Yep, it's just an advertisement. With no real way to tell what's genuine anymore, how are we supposed to view influencers in this changing digital age? Below are just some of the unrealistic ideas they put in our heads.
1. We Need to Try Every Fashion Trend in Order to Be Relevant
I'm all for trying out new trends—it's one of my favorite things to do each season. However, when influencers "blow up," sometimes they forget their roots. What was once a profile you visited for fashion inspo might become a feed of sponsored, cliché posts. Have you noticed that all of the big influencers' feeds look identical? They wear the same things and use the same filters. Where did the authenticity go? Plus, a lot of the merchandise they wear and promote is not affordable for most of us.
2. The Amount of Comments and Likes We Get Is Important
Have you ever felt anxiety when one of your posts didn't get as many likes as you'd hoped? You may have even considered deleting it. Why do we feel this way in the first place? What's the real difference between a post that gets 50 likes or one that gets 200 likes? Influencers have inadvertently taught us that comments and likes are a sign of how popular we are, when really there are a number of reasons that contribute to why some posts do better than others.
3. All Relationships Are Perfect
You know what I'm talking about—those people who post about how flawless their relationships are. Their S.O.s are supportive of them and happy to take their pictures without complaint; they're happy with their partner 24/7; their relationship is always full of excitement and adventure. But you know what? Behind closed doors that isn't always the case. So why show us only the good parts of their relationships? Well, giving followers a glimpse of actual reality would tarnish the image of perfection that society so desperately wants to project.
4. You Have to Be a Jetsetter
Scroll through any well-known influencer's social media feed and you'll see images of them traveling around the world. A lot of them schedule out their posts to make it look like they took a month-long vacation somewhere, when in actuality, they had eight outfit changes a day. One influencer even posted photoshopped pictures of her at Coachella, when she was really at home in the UK. She came clean in a video saying it was an experiment, but even if she had good intentions, what she really wanted in the end was more followers.
5. There's Only One Ideal Beach Body
While there are certainly body-positive influencers, a majority of popular Instagram personalities have the same body type: petite and skinny. But guess what—it's not realistic. They have treatments, trainers and a lot of time to waste at their disposal. They're in the public eye, so imagine the pressure they must feel to look "perfect." From skinny teas to supplements, the constant flood of techniques to keep a "beach bod" is honestly overwhelming.
6. We Should Show Off Every Aspect of Our Lives on Social Media
One aspect of being an influencer involves showing off every little thing you do throughout your day. From their coffee order, to their workout, to the 45th moisturizer they "swear by," we hear and see it all. While some influencers are actually entertaining and dish out their real opinions, most of what we see is scripted or paid for.
With all of that being said, there are also some incredible influencers out there who send positive messages to their followers. The best ones are those who don't care what others think of them and don't do too many sponsored posts. What you have to remember is that sponsored posts are how influencers make most of their money, so most of it isn't authentic.
Have a love-hate relationship with social media? HERE'S how to have a healthy connection with Instagram.