Influencer or Influenced, Which Are You?

Social media undoubtedly has become a part of our daily lives. It alters the way we live, in ways that have a real impact on society. In this day of age, it is hard to think of someone that doesn't have a social media account. Even my grandmother who is 76 year old, is on social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkend. So does myself! Based on my Iphone Screen report, I spend at least 3.5 hour/day on social media channels. I’m a business owner, so for each social media platform I have two accounts, a personal and a business: two Facebook, two Twitter and two Instagram accounts.

In my personal account, I consider myself an information follower of what others share to see what is going on in the world. In my business accounts, I’m more of an opinion leader sharing new trends with my customers. I look through a lot of memes, quirky images and trending pics on instagram. I search trending hashtags on twitter and news and heartfelt stories on Facebook. After that, I use the information I gather to post on my business page to keep up with trends and motivate people to buy my products. 

To give an example, one of my social media accounts has become an influencer to others. I have an instagram account, Po_Dachshund that has about 3000 followers. It mainly follows my dog’s life. I post all activities that he does each day: brushing his teeth, taking bath, going to the park, etc. He has become famous in the dachshund world. There were dog toy companies, dog clothes and dog toothpaste companies contacting us to have him use their products on Po’s instagram account. His fans would direct message us and ask where to buy products as soon as I post it. Not to mention, these fans are all over the world. When he was sick, many sent well wishes and expressed that they are also sad to see him not well. I’m surprised that he has so much impact on those who follow him on social media.

Social media has given us such an enormous power to reach audiences everywhere in the world. It can be both ways positive and negative. On the positive side, you feel  close to others without ever seeing them. If you choose to post positive information widely it can affect someone's life in a good way. On the other hand, it can invade your privacy, people just persistently asking for more content. It can be very addictive, if we don’t know when to stop.

After all, we don’t need to be validated by using social media whether you are a follower or an influencer. 

How Media Influences My Views

We can’t deny that the media has a lot of power over the audiences. It can be very manipulative, influential and persuasive over our political and social views. Everyday when I wake up first thing in the morning, I check my emails, social media and messages to see what is going on in our world. I receive information through online news. However, I consider myself more resistant to media influence when it comes to news because I grew up in Thailand where all news is controlled by the government and distrusted. You could not trust what was being reported. For entertainment, shopping, etc. I could be more easily affected by advertisements because it is harder to validate every advertisement.

When I want to receive news, not only do I watch it on TV, but I also read the news online from different sources to get the most accurate information and different points of view. I think the media is very fragmented and depending on the organization’s political leaning focused on serving a specific audience type. The media sends out information they want their audience to believe, especially nowadays it would be insensible if we would react to it without validating with other sources.

On the other hand when I see pictures on instagram of beautiful places to visit, special discounts of merchadises or pictures of famous people I am not as wary as when I am getting news. Images can more easily persuade me to accept the information they are presenting very quickly. These are propaganda images in society.

Another example, when I see facebook ads about things I am interested in for instance exercise equipment, shoes, facial cream, etc. Those types of targeted ads can be very tempting with propaganda images that just tempt me to click on them. By showing how products look fantastic on models. Advertisements for either print, video and movies are very persuasive to audiences. Sometimes I don’t even realize I have absorbed that information automatically just by watching the same ad over and over. That is how much power the media has over people's decisions and it plays such a vital role in our view of society. 

The media also has the ability to control information that is being presented on things shown in the movies or information in news. Media can easily misrepresent certain ideologies or truth and dominate our political interest and ideas. This has made the media lose credibility over time. Distrust in the media is growing and I feel this trend will continue and is not necessarily bad if it results in people researching topics more.

Most Commonly Used Methods in Mass Communication

We can’t deny that most of the time of our everyday life is spent on online platforms, gadgets and devices. From buying products, food, clothes, studying, meetings, to mingling on social media. We probably use our phone or desktop every five minutes to check our emails. Social media has played a vital role in most American lives, but how much of our personal information has been collected and how safe it is? According to Pew Research Center  “Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information. Majorities think their personal data is less secure now, that data collection poses more risks than benefits, and believe it is not possible to go through daily life without being tracked”. (Pew Research Center, 2019)

Pew Research Center focused on this particular topic by using common method data collection and surveys from Americans by asking a series of questions and then categorized groups of people by age, gender, ethic, education and incomes. “Majority of Americans feel as if they have little control over data collected about them by companies and the government”. (Pew Research Center, 2019)

Americans know that their data is being collected by companies or the government in our daily lives. Who collects, stores and what do they use our information for? Will our data be less secure today than it was five years ago? 

The surveys also showed that most have been harassed through social media. The survey research has mainly focused on young adults under 35 and older adults over 65, both males and females. Most females are more affected by social abuse such as sexual harassment or stalking than males. Roughly four-in-ten Americans have experienced online harassment, half of this group were targeted because they have different political views. There were aggressive political debates and people being called names led to arguments.

The surveys and data collecting methods Pew Research Center employs are an efficient way to help us to understand human behaviors.