Selah Neal

According to social commerce platform Whop, 42% of US teens are actively earning money online through their digital channels.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” the kindergarten teacher asks.

“An Influencer!” the five-year-old answers.

What happened to astronauts or doctors? When did children start wanting to be influencers? Well, maybe being an influencer is actually the dream life. Maybe society does not give them enough credit for what they do.

The job looks enticing from an outside perspective. Influencers make an average salary of 91k in a year and are constantly receiving extravagant PR boxes from brands. These packages being sent to influencers are actually promoting their brands, as 49% of people trust influencer recommendations. Influencers are significantly impacting culture because of how much control they have over their followers.

But beyond those surface-level things, having your life out in the open leads to being able to share your passions and opinions with other people. With this comes the opportunity to meet a multitude of people from different backgrounds. Influencers get to connect and make relationships with people we only dream about meeting.

Local Central Californian influencer, “Cassies Compass,” is entertaining many opportunities because of her account. Cassie Yoshikawa is a self-proclaimed “California & beyond” influencer, highlighting local places but also sharing her traveling experience in international places. Because her account was gaining popularity; she decided to go full-time into content creation.

“It definitely has given me the opportunity to go places I would not have been able to go before,” Yoshikawa said. “I am able to do press trips where destinations will host me. [Locations will] put together an itinerary and suggest places for me and give me places they want me to highlight. But beyond that, being able to connect with people from Fresno has been really cool.”

 

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A post shared by Cassie | Central California & Beyond (@cassiescompass)

She receives positive feedback from local businesses and places she highlights because she points people there. Cassie is an example of using her platform to her advantage. The way she curates her content for the benefit of Fresno is an example of influencing for the betterment of a community. Cassie was finally recognized for her hard work when she received a proclamation from the City of Fresno.

With their life so out in the open, have you ever thought about what that does to the influencers themselves? Having your life publicly displayed all the time can lead to a decline in mental health because your earnings depend on how other people perceive you. If people are not viewing your content, it results in a decrease in earnings. This financial instability is the number one reason for stress and anxiety among influencers.

Influencers have to constantly strive for a larger audience and seek to capture more people’s short attention spans. They live their lives according to what other people think of them and what they want to see. This results in a constant spiraling of: why aren’t my videos getting views? Or even why the hate and negativity towards my content?

This mental spiraling results in content creators becoming twice as likely to experience suicidal thoughts related to their work when compared to the general population. A study conducted by Creators 4 Mental Health (C4MH) and Lupiani Insights & Strategies explores the mental obstacles of being so involved online.

Amanda T Yarnelle is a Dependent Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences in the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. She believes that mental health in the content creator industry is something often not discussed.

“This survey [by Creators 4 Mental Health (C4MH) and Lupiani Insights & Strategies] reveals the pressures that come alongside those responsibilities: The financial pressure. The obsession over content performance. The burnout. The constant toxicity. And the isolation,” Yarnelle said.

Influencers are constantly trying to balance the mix of performance with authenticity in their content. They have to cater to their audience’s needs while also keeping it relatable. Creators aim to convey their passions for their subject while also convincing their audience to purchase or participate in whatever they are introducing.

While influencers are silently struggling mentally, there is a gap in support systems. 89% of creators have never had access to mental health resources, and only 6% of creators have a supportive manager. Even though there are millions of influencers, there is still a substantial gap in mental health support.

While I am not an influencer, nor do I want to be, I acknowledge their work, and what they do truly does shape our society. Over the years, we have shifted into: who controls the culture of our world? As we are transitioning into “influencer culture,” we have to consider the behind the scenes. They are curating content with brand deals but also navigating issues like financial insecurity, mental health, and frequent criticism. Influencers do live a glamorous life, but we have to consider those costs.

To read more from The Feather, visit K’lanna McArn shines light through life’s challenges and Black History Month Spotlight: Betty Reid Soskin leaves legacy of truth, history and representation.