Every single time I open my phone I feel like there’s a new influencer telling me how to live my life. Buy this! Eat that! Travel here! Wake up at 5am and workout! Drink celery juice! Don’t live your life like that, live it like me! It’s just a constant flood of opinions, recommendations, trends, and aesthetics that, let’s be real, can be really overwhelming. It’s just so much information bombarding your system right when you wake up. 

Influencers are everywhere. From the big names with millions of followers and million dollar brand deals, to micro-influencers just starting to grow their platforms, the art of influence has evolved into force in marketing, culture, and even our everyday habits. Who would’ve thought that posting reviews and “day in the life’s” on Tik Tok could be a full time job? But like any job, people either can be really good at what they do or just maybe it’s not the job for them. Some influencers feel like they’re yelling right in my year with a megaphone while others feel kinda familiar, just like a friend. But with so much content coming at you from every direction, how do you handle all of it? 

Gone are the days when good impactful advertising meant a bright magazine ad or an engaging commercial between TV shows. Social media has now taken that number one spot in advertising and has turned every person with a phone and a social media platform into a potential brand ambassador, influencer, or even a celebrity. The influencers you see on social media shape trends, form opinions, and spread habits in ways that have never been so impactful. I mean even I’ve fallen for it (multiple) times. I see an influencer I like post a video on this new lipgloss, she tells me how good it is, how it changed her life (all while she’s probably getting paid or the product was sent to her for free, keep in mind) and then of course, I want it. 

But one thing that I have seen blow up in the last couple years, particularly on TikTok has been the concept of micro influencers. Micro-influencers, with their smaller but super dedicated audiences, often feel more authentic to me. They typically have anywhere between 1,000 to 100,000 followers and they kinda focus their content on their niche and stick to it. Usually what I see most is a focus on fitness, healthy eating, fashion, or even school and studying. I honestly feel like I am able to trust them more because to me the content feels more personal than commercialized. I mean I think that statement is pretty trye to. They probably aren’t bringing in the big bucks through their posts, and the products they are using in their videos are most likely bought by them on their own dime. They don’t have a big enough platform yet to be sent things from brands to make a video on so everything just feels a lot more real. 

With big influencers that have millions of followers and millions of dollars, everything just feels a bit more fake and put on. I mean heck, if I got sent a product and $500,000 I’d fake it about any product to be making that cash on just one single video no more than a minute long. It’s also crazy and a little frustrating that these people are making that type of money too. Not to say that they aren’t putting in the hard work, after all we never really get to see the behind the scenes of their lives but to put it in perspective, emergency healthcare workers and teachers who are working all day everyday don’t see that kind of money and to me, it’s frustrating and a little bit ignorant? And yes. Of course there are those influencers out there that do an excellent job of giving back to their communities however I don’t think it’s done enough. 

But here’s the problem, when everyone has an opinion and a platform, it becomes impossible to know who to trust. One influencer swears by intermittent fasting, while another says it’s terrible for you. One praises a beauty brand, another calls it problematic. It’s exhausting. Social media is no longer just a place to connect with friends, it’s a 24/7 opinion platform. Scrolling through Instagram or TikTok can feel like stepping into a loud, crowded room where everyone is shouting their hot take. This constant exposure to different (and often conflicting) opinions can be overwhelming and kinda just make me feel like I’ve been doing everything wrong. A silly example that I think of is when I was considering buying one of those Stanley water bottles. I saw 5 different influencers telling me how it was a “life changing water bottle”. Seriously? When is a water bottle ever life changing?? And then on the other hand I got the negative review side of it all. At the end of the day, it was just me getting bombarded with what is ultimately, very pointless. 

But I also do think that there are influencers out there that you may find that can really be more beneficial than negative for you. Maybe it’s an influencer who is a mental health advocate, or one who shows you how to make healthy recipes on a budget. I mean influencers aren’t bad. It’s just about finding the right ones to follow that don’t make your life full of noise. 

There’s no doubt that social media is going to continue to evolve. But along with social media evolving, so will the role of influencers. Brands are getting smarter about authenticity, audiences are becoming more selective, and the power dynamic is shifting towards relatability over reach. So does this mean that the online world is moving in the right direction? Maybe? But I think it’s good to remain cautious. Because at the end of the day, there is no need to buy that life changing product that Sally says to buy just because she said so. So, whether you love influencers, tolerate them, or feel completely overwhelmed by them, one thing’s for sure, they’re not going anywhere. But that doesn’t mean you have to listen to all of them. Choose wisely, protect your peace, and maybe, just maybe, find a few digital voices that make your scrolling a little more enjoyable. So what do you think about it all? Do you try your best to boycott influencers? Or are you someone who’s a ride or die on a couple of your favs? Personally, I think I’m somewhere in the middle.