unmuted

Dominating a high percentage of social trends, behaviors and attitudes throughout the media in our society, celebrities and influencers have a significant impact on culture. The influence of highly visible public figures often extends beyond entertainment, as their popularity can directly affect their audience’s decision making and construct aspirational lifestyles. Their endorsements and personal branding strategies often transform into a form of cultural influence. As trendsetters, they have the power to dictate ideas all the way from simple fashion trends, to political movements which illustrate the intertwined relationship between media visibility and cultural influence. 

Influencers:

By promoting products, or lifestyles, social media influencers foster a sense of community among their followers ultimately impacting and shaping culture. These digital celebrities are an integral part of online communities. Social media platforms like Youtube, Instagram and TikTok provide influencers with a social network for content creation and distribution. Categorized by engagement levels and followers, influencers can be determined as micro-, macro- and mega influencers. While all contribute to a shift in culture, the larger the media presence the more influence one will have on an audience. 

Often showing their daily routines, diets, and personal experiences influencers inspire their followers to adopt different lifestyles and set trends including fashion, and beauty trends. These trends can spread quickly on social media platforms which can promote different standards or ideals. Specifically within the beauty industry social media influencers will introduce new skincare products, new makeup techniques, and aesthetic styles. Influencers can ultimately promote certain beauty standards by controlling what is seen as normal or desirable. Constant exposure to edited images or filtered videos can make followers feel pressure to look “perfect,” which can sometimes lead to insecurity or unrealistic expectations. For example,  

“The viral #ThatGirl trend, which has more than 1.3 billion views, is Wellness TikTok’s most recognizable trending hashtag, and through its reverence for a white, cis-hetero-patriarchal beauty ideal that envisions a route to empowerment through optimizing one’s productivity at home and at work, exemplifies what Boffone characterizes as how “TikTok is designed to uphold whiteness as not just the norm, but as something aspirational.” (Sweeney-Romero 113)

As described by Katlin Sweeney-Romeo in her article describing Wellness Tik Tok, the #ThatGirl trend, which has been promoted by many lifestyle influencers, encourages daily positive habits and routines like waking up early, and clean eating that promote “self-care”.  These short videos also highlight small aesthetic behaviors such as wearing a matching workout set and include background music that matches the pacing of the video. However this trend, although satisfying, often promotes a very limited beauty statement which includes a typically thin, wealthy, accomplished and conventionally attractive white woman. According to these influencers anyone can maintain this lifestyle by following a specific daily routine but based on the requirements this is not attainable for all. Unlike these social media influencers not everyone has the time, money and resources needed for their attempt on the trend to be successful, this unintentionally leads to guilt, comparison to others and unrealistic expectations within society.

Celebrities:

Unlike the idea of social media influencers, celebrities have been around for a lot longer. People who are widely known and recognized by the public, celebrities are famous due to their presence in mass media which shapes their public image and fame (Nouri 2). From Hollywood actors like Ryan Reynolds to popstars like Ariana Grande, celebrity influence on culture extends beyond entertainment, affecting politics, social norms and fashion. 

Celebrities often use their platforms to raise awareness about social issues and advocate for change which can encourage their followers to make an impact. For example, actors like Emma Watson and Leonardo DiCaprio, use part of their platform to advocate vocally for environment sustainability and gender equality. Their involvement and ability to raise awareness of these issues brings significant attention to these causes and discussion at policy levels (10). 

Whether they intend to or not, celebrities and influencers become role models for their followers. In a society where it has become increasingly image-centric, people often look to public figures for inspiration on how to think, act and present themselves. As a result, it has become more common that these ideals, lifestyles and characteristics projected by celebrities are taken up by their fans and followers, ultimately impacting culture.