Before, influencers could not be called influencers if they do not contribute anything to society. Now, everyone's an influencer! It brings me to the great question: who exactly is an influencer?
Is it someone that sells or promote stuff online? Is it someone that spends their families wealth on expensive and exquisite vacations and gets a million likes when they upload a picture because of it? Are they the musicians, the actors, the comedians, the producers and everyone in the content creation society? Or is it just a hot girl or guy that gets a thousand views and has a million followers because they upload hot pictures of themselves in swimsuits or bikini.
Maybe, the criteria for being an "influencer" is now based on the number of followers or views that you have. Nonetheless, they're some of these types of "influencers" you would reconsider stalking after reading this article.
The Perfect People:
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They seem to have everything: the perfect life, perfect body, perfect clothes, perfect house, etc and it makes you feel like your life doesn't measure up, it makes you feel like you're not doing enough. In other words, it makes you feel like crap!!! Do not get me wrong, I'm not saying it's their fault that you feel that way.
It's their life it's their money and it's their body. They are lucky to be wealthy and perfect and they don't need to be sorry for that, but not everyone's as fortunate as they are and it's natural for humans to try to measure up to these people who seem like they have the "perfect" life.
So if you happen to be one of those people that find themselves comparing their lives with those of the people you follow on social media, then you need to unfollow such people because constantly seeing their pictures and stories on your Instagram feed will keep making you feel worse every day so it's best to cut them off totally and DO NOT STALK THEM!!
Trollers/attention seekers:
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These people court attention at all costs. They behave as if the world revolves around them and they love being the centre of attention. They can say or do unreasonable things to get attention. Examples are people who flaunt their body on social media for more views and likes, post nudes, stir up drama against other celebrities or brands to attract the press and resultantly the public.
The sad truth about these trollers is that they get the attention they seek. People give it to them because people love drama, people want action, people love when things are tense so these "trollers" that happen to give them all that ends up winning their views and time. Don't be one of their viewers, don't be one of those people who encourage them to do more by giving them your attention and unintentionally, your support. Most of these people who can do anything to court attention are self-centred and the attention and support you give them benefits only them.
Influencers who do not support or follow other influencers:
These are your classic *I'm too good to follow anyone* people. They have over a million and even more followers and have a big "0" under the list of people that they follow. It's normal for celebrities and influencers to not follow their fans but for celebrities and influencers to not even consider following other celebrities, influencers or pages, then that shows a lack of support and I'm not trying to judge them by an unseen stereotype, but it is what is.
There will be no finger-pointing because we all know these people. It's right there on their page. Examples are people with 23 million followers-0 following, 10 million followers-2 following, 4million followers-6 following.
This type of influencers fell into my list because I believe in giving and receiving (you gain support from people, you give support to other people). So if you're showing support as a fan by following these people or "influencers" who cannot support other people, then you should reconsider.
People/ Brands that lie:
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Have you ever seen an advert on Instagram or Facebook showing you two pictures of supposedly the same person but with a significant size difference and a caption and description of their latest magic weight loss pill? If you have, then you understand this point already.
Brand Influencers and ambassadors will try to convince you to buy their product. They'll promise you the best of the best and while most times their product may actually happen to be authentic, sometimes, you may not be lucky enough because not all of these brands are honest. Money is marketing and marketing is a strategy that always involves a little bit of exaggeration which may be extreme in some cases.
For instance, the "magic weight loss pill" I mentioned earlier. How scientifically possible is it that someone who is over 200 pounds obese will become a 105-pound supermodel in just two weeks by taking a pill??!! No exercises, no special diet or surgery just by taking a pill! Another example are these skin products that will promise to take away all your acne, dark spots and wrinkles in one night. These are everywhere but to mention a few.
Influencers that own brands with bad reputation or brands that you have actually used and have seen to be fake should be checked out of the list of influencers you follow.
Influencers that do not contribute to your life:
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So have you ever gone through your following list on Instagram or Twitter and ask yourself why you're following every single person on that list? If you haven't, I suggest you do that as soon as you're done reading this article.
When you open your Instagram profile and glance at the list of people you're following, ask yourself: what do these people add to my life as an individual? It will definitely vary based on your preferences and life choices. I am someone who really loves comedy and I love watching things that make me laugh so you'll be sure to find a lot of comedians on my following list.
Yours might be different. If you're into football, Lionel Messi and Ronaldo will definitely be at the top of your list and if you're a faithful Nickelodeon fan, then your following list will not be complete without Jace Norman, Kira Kosarin and the rest of the nick stars.
If you're stuck on a profile and you can't put together a reason why you should keep following this person (I.e they're not your friends or family, they're not someone you like or even know), it's just a random person you don't or can't recall how or why you started following him or her in the first place, then it's time to hit that unfollow button.
Influencers that brag:
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Self-explanatory! All these people do is brag about their wealth and success, they love to flaunt and show it off whenever they get the opportunity. Now get this straight, it's ok for people to appreciate themselves for their success and achievements, but if they constantly do it and it has bad effects on the public, their fans, their watchers, you as one of their supporters, then that is a sign that you shouldn't be following such people.
Even though some influencers have negative impacts on our lives, they are still some that contribute positively to the society and are in fact the ones that we should be following, it all depends on how you view them. If you still love an influencer even though he or she falls into any of these categories then keep giving your support.
