The Toxic Influencing Culture and the Effect on Young People

Larissa Beriswill

lb657516@ohio.edu

 

In today's world, technology and social media are becoming big components in the lives of young people. For example, baby toys are being updated with time. 30 years ago, a child would be seen playing with a baby doll or a teddy bear. Today, there are fake cell phones and tablets for babies to play with. Additionally, some technology companies are making kid friendly electronics, like tablets. 

What happens when younger kids start making social media accounts? The most popular social media apps for kids in recent years are Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Young kids will follow social media influencers and celebrities because they will feel in touch with that person's life and what they are doing. On the other hand, these influencers may have an unhealthy effect on children's lives. 

Picture source: https://medium.com/the-influence-of-social-media-culture-on-subjectiv

According to this article published by Frontiers, children spend a lot of time watching their favorite influencers interact on social media. When they turn to these influencers for entertainment, they'll start turning to them for advice, information, comfort and company. When these children are watching every move the influencers make, they'll start mocking the behavior, even the more mature behavior like drinking and smoking. Not only do influencers post entertaining content, they will also post pictures suggesting what a perfect physique should look like.

Everyone goes through an awkward phase, typically in middle school or the start of high school. We all want to fit in and be up to date with the latest trends. Children turning to influencers for these trends can send the message that if they are not doing as the influencer is doing, they are doomed for life. We, as adults, know that this is not the case. But as for children, they are looking for guidance and what better way to do that than see what the popular influencers are doing?

There are a lot of negative effects that play a role if a child is following exactly what people on social media are doing. In this article published by Her Campus, there are many studies that have determined that a lot of the mental illnesses among young people in developed nations are due to the influence on social media. Additionally, children are seeking more attention on their social media, which leads to them determining their worth by the amount of likes they can get on a post.

As these children grow up, all they will know is how to perfectly pose for an Instagram picture or how to completely photoshop their face to look perfect. We need to teach these young people that there is so much more to life than what their favorite influencers are showing them.