How truthful are social media influencers?

Olivia Gauding

og198415@ohio.edu

Today, a large majority of Americans use some form of social media. According to the Pew Research Center, “... seven-in-ten Americans use social media to connect with one another, engage with news content, share information and entertain themselves.”. This statement shows the value social media has in the way Americans receive information. 

Social Media Influencers

Social media influencers are individuals on a media platform that have a large following due to their expertise in a specific industry. Social media influencers use their platform to post regularly, engage with their followers, create trends, and encourage their followers to buy certain products. Social media influencers have exploded the idea of endorsements and sponsorships.

An endorsement is a way for an individual to publicly announce their support for a brand or product. Sponsorships are a way for brands to pay individuals to publish their products.

On the social media app TikTok, videos that are sponsored will have the hashtags “#sponsored” or “#ad”. The videos that are endorsements will often have the hashtag “partner” with the brand tagged in their caption. 

An example of a TikTok influencer is Charli D’Amelio. At just fifteen years old, she became the most followed TikTok account. D’Amelio has 119.7M followers. Throughout her videos, it is clear she has had endorsements and sponsorships. 

Picture source: Business Insider

Because a large majority of Americans receive some sort of information from social media, it is vital that influencers are truthful. It can be tricky to know whether or not a social media influencer is being honest when they have multiple endorsements and sponsorships. 

Truth in Social Media

The PRSA code of ethics explains that individuals must “adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in advancing the interests of those we represent and in communicating with the public.”.

The AAF code of ethics explains in Principle 1 that “Advertising, public relations, marketing communications, news, and editorial all share a common objective of truth and high ethical standards in serving the public.”. 

There needs to be truth in everything that is being published. Truthful information is essential when advising the public on products or relaying information to them. Part of the reason social media influencers have such a large following is due to their credibility. Being truthful to their audience will increase an influencer’s integrity. 

The PRSA guidelines state that individuals must address any incorrect information that is published to their audience. This aids in avoiding deception. 

There are social media influencers that take these codes to heart. They speak up when they are misinformed about products they advertised or information they share. They value truth, and the importance of it. However, there are other social media influencers that ignore the codes. They use their platform to gain selfishly. 

Americans receive a good amount of their information through social media, so it is important to look for truthful individuals that have established integrity and credibility.