{"id":7173,"date":"2021-09-23T06:19:11","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T13:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/?p=7173"},"modified":"2021-09-23T07:54:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T14:54:15","slug":"the-problem-with-influencers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/2021\/09\/23\/the-problem-with-influencers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Problem with Influencers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/files\/2021\/09\/vlogger-home-with-smartphone-unboxing-clothes-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/files\/2021\/09\/vlogger-home-with-smartphone-unboxing-clothes-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/files\/2021\/09\/vlogger-home-with-smartphone-unboxing-clothes-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/files\/2021\/09\/vlogger-home-with-smartphone-unboxing-clothes-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/files\/2021\/09\/vlogger-home-with-smartphone-unboxing-clothes-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/files\/2021\/09\/vlogger-home-with-smartphone-unboxing-clothes-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Influencers have flourished in the last decade. Mobile platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, Snap Chat have facilitated influencers to build parasocial relationships with their followers. A parasocial relationship is when one party is invested in the relationship while the other party stays happily unaware of their existence. Unlike traditional celebrities, who are seen as superior, influencers remind consumers and viewers of themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Influencers offer frequent, and seemingly personal content,\u00a0that helps deepen the one-sided relationship. We often equate our influencer to a friend or family member. So when we go to grab the pet food in the grocery aisle, we find ourselves grabbing the brand our influencer likes, even though it\u2019s $5.00 more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concern is that there is usually a marketing strategy behind the influencer&#8217;s postings. And, there is a behaviour outcome the influencer is looking for (buy this pretty red dress because it is cheap and I, your influencer, approve of it). The motivation of postings goes beyond a desire to help, entertain and inspire and leans more heavily to making money and increasing followers. Some influencers have aligned themselves to organizations that do not always have high social, equitable, or sustainable standards. Sometimes influencers send hidden messages to society that aren&#8217;t sustainable (e.g., buy fast fashion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Influencers are not all bad; however, as consumers and viewers of content, it is our responsibility to look past the allure of the likeability and attention to what we are being sold and what the hidden message is.<\/p>\n\n\n\nhttps:\/\/www.currentaffairs.org\/2021\/02\/the-problem-with-influencers\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Influencers have flourished in the last decade. Mobile platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube, Snap Chat have facilitated influencers to build parasocial relationships&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/2021\/09\/23\/the-problem-with-influencers\/\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Problem with Influencers<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":86629,"featured_media":7174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[165],"class_list":["post-7173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mobileculture","tag-influencers","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86629"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7173"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7179,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7173\/revisions\/7179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec523\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}