Impact of Social Media Influencers

A Huge Part of Kids' Lives

Social media is becoming a huge part of kids' lives today. There are growing concerns about a minors' social media use, especially when it comes to social media influencers. As of 2021 nearly two-thirds of American teens followed social media influencers - which is considerably more than the 29% of aduts that follow them.

Let's take a look at the positive and negative impacts that social media influencers can have on children.

What is a Social Media Influencer

A social media influencer (or influencer for short) is a person that has an following online based on their personality, skills or interests. They often share snapshots of their everyday lives and activities.

Influencers often have large audiences and create sponsored content around products in exchange for upfront payments or percentages of sales. The paid promotions are usually blended in with the rest of the influencers content so it is difficult to tell what is real and what is sponsored.

Not all influencers are adults, there are plenty of minor influencers as well. Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok are the most popular networks for minor social media influencers. If your child spends a lot of time on these platforms, they probably follow several influencers.

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Why do Kids Follow Influencers?

There are many reasons that kids follow influencers. Often influencers can offer kids a break from their everyday life of school, entertainment and social interactions with exciting content. Influencers that kids follow will often provide information that is relevant to the child's interests or hobbies. The most populare influencers are: Music, Gaming, Celebrity, Humor, Lifestyle, Fashion and Beauty.

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The Good

Social media influencers aren't all bad influences on children. They can do good things as well and provide inspiration or comfort. Here are some of the good things that social media influencers can do:

Promote Activism

Some influencers use social media platforms to spread social awareness. Influencers can encourage their audience to advocate for causes by providing information. They can also give young people resources and inspiration to engage with their communities.

Provide Comfort

Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, children and teens used social media to fill a void of social interaction in their lives. Many turned to influencers to help them remain positive during hard times as many promoted kindness and self-care techniques.

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The Bad

Unfortunately there is a negative side to social media influencers. Here are some of the negatives:

Unhealthy Products & Themes

Often food and beverage companies turn to influencers to promote their products through sponsored posts. Unfortunately these blend right in with the normal news feed content and are easily mistaken as authentic content. They can promote unhealthy behavior such as alcohol use, tobacco use or junk foods.

Create Comparisons

Kids already have plenty of peer pressure to deal with from in-person interactions without adding influencers into the mix. Influencers often present the beet, most flawless aspect of their lives and create unrealistic comparisons for young followers to draw from. These comparisons have been linked to anxiety, depression, sleep issues and negative body image

Unrealistic Ideals

Because of the plethora of filters and photo-altering techniques out there, influencers can promote unrealistic body standards. Many influencers are even undergoing cosmetic procedures in return for promotions and leave their fans feeling that they have to 'catch up' to those they follow.

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How to Monitor Your Child's Exposure to Influencers

Influencers can have different impacts on your child's life and mental wellbeing. How can you ensure the influencers your child follows are positive ones? Here are a few strategies to help you stay involved.

Follow Who They Follow

It may seem like a simple thing, but following who your child follows on social media is the best way to get a pulse on what is going on. This way you will see the same content that your child does on social media.

Join Your Child

If your child wants to take part in social media challenges or start posting their own content then it is a great idea for you to be a part of the process. For example, if they want to create lip-syncing videos on TikTok, be supportive! This way you can keep the lines of communication about their social media presense open.

Use SocialEyez to Monitor Content and Interactions

Monitoring your child's social accounts can be time-consuming and it invades on your child's privacy. SocialEyez monitors your child's social media accounts and the influencers that they are following without invading your childs privacy.

SocialEyez monitors the content your child is interacting with on social media and will send you an alert if inappropriate content, cyberbullying, threats or suicidal ideation are detected.

Using a tool like SocialEyez can help you keep your child safe without invading their privacy.

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Influencers Aren't Going Anywhere

Social media influencers are a part of life for both kids and adults and they are are here to stay, whether we like it or not. Depending on their content they can both negatively and positively impact impressionable kids. Talk to your children about the influencers they follow and why. It will help you understand their interests and lives more.