UNITED STATES—I find it so fascinating nowadays when you ask tweens, teenagers and young adults what they want to do career wise the answer I hear so common is social media influencer. It immediately makes me think: why? I know social media is the craze right now, rather its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumbler, Tik Tok, Reddit or some other platform, businesses, advertisers and marketing firms are relying on social media influencers to help promote their brands and products.

Look, this is not me knocking anyone’s hustle, if you can make a living doing something that requires little to no effort go for it, just as long as you’re not doing anything illegal I’m ok with it. However, it seems the young generation just doesn’t want to work nowadays if I’m being honest. No more people wanting to be doctors, lawyers, business owners, firefighters, police officers, engineers and so much more. It’s all about posting a tweet, making a post and getting tons of people to SEE IT or RESPOND TO IT and you collect a check for it.

Gosh, I wish social media was around when I was growing up I wouldn’t have had to spend thousands of dollars in college to actually get an opportunity to have a job that would ultimately lead to a career. For those who didn’t catch that, its direct sarcasm people. You have so many people who believe because faux celebrities, yes, that is what I’m calling so many of these social media influencers because the term celebrity has changed so much in recent years. Reality TV stars are considered high-profile compared to movie stars, models and those who have spent years working in the entertainment industry to build a name or brand. It sometimes makes you wonder rather the goal is to obtain celebrity status or if the focus is to be a social media influencer. It is indeed hard for me to differentiate at times. I don’t understand why so many people buy into what these social media influencers promote on their social media platforms.

It is almost like these people fail to realize that these people are paid to promote these products or push a particular trend, brand or product. These people don’t really care about these products or brands; they care about the MONEY THEY RECEIVE AS A RESULT OF PUSHING SUCH BRANDS OR PRODUCTS. For example, do you think a celebrity is wearing a particular clothing brand simply because they love it? Um, no, they are wearing it because they have become an ambassador. They are getting paid to wear that brand.

Which means not only are they collecting a check for a campaign, they are probably getting free clothing as well to promote those products in hopes of bringing in new customers as a well. It is all a game of money. You push this product or brand to your hundreds of thousands or millions of followers and we’re going to pay you X, Y and Z. Some of you might be thinking why are you so jealous of these social media influencers? No jealously here people; it is an assessment. I could care less what people do with their time as long as it doesn’t personally impact my life you do you.

I wish our younger generation wasn’t so gullible to fall for what these influencers are pushing. If you purchase a product that an influencer is pushing that doesn’t mean you’re going to be popular people. You’re simply doing what the influencer is hoping you do to help them continue to make money from that brand. I guess what I am saying is don’t be so easily influenced by what other people are doing because at the end of the day it is all about making money. It is like podcasts today.

Hell, I remember nearly 6 to 7 years ago there was only a handful of podcasts. Nowadays, every damn person has a podcast people. You can talk about pencils, pens, cell phones and so much more. If you can talk about a specific niche, it is something a business or businesses will use as an angle to make money. For those who are so focused on being a social media influencer, you have to ask the question: why do you want to do this? Is it because you’re savvy at social media or is it an easy way to earn a buck without doing much besides a post and a pic here and there, while pushing content to grow your audience. Who knows, I just wish every time I spoke to a youngster that was not the first thing echoed out of their mouth: social media influencer.

Written By Zoe Mitchell