Digital influencers, what are they?

They wake up early, make green smoothies, have time to train before going to work, do their make-up and hair like professionals. Lunchtime is always spent in a trendy restaurant and before they get home they still manage to escape to one of the trendiest rooftops in Portugal. This is the perfect influencer´s life but,...

17 Jun 2023 min reading

Without a doubt, the biggest problem is that today we are "sold" a life that is too perfect, a life that doesn´t exist. Whereas 20 years ago we knew a few moments of those lives, today that perfect life comes into our home all day long. That wouldn´t be a problem if it were a normal day to day life, only it isn´t. The reality that passes by on social networks is a utopian reality, with filters and fantasies, and the big problem with that is that our teenagers don´t have the capacity to understand that and separate what is real life from "online" life.

But if you think it´s only young people who follow and are influenced by this new reality, you´re wrong.

In the last year, Primetag (a company that studies the impact of social networks in the world) concluded that more than 20 million euros were spent in campaigns on social networks. Gone are the days when social networks were only for sharing thoughts and photos of our daily lives at dinners and parties. The current reality of these platforms is totally different and much more commercial. The number of followers on social networks has come to define the importance of people and to be an important factor for brands and for the influencers themselves.

The evolution of the digital world has been having a great impact on our lives. This evolution has brought great changes at a social level, especially in the way people communicate. For this reason, traditional media have also given way to other elements capable of influencing the communication process, in this case digital influencers.

But in reality, what are digital influencers?

As the name suggests, to influence means to induce someone to do something, by the way we behave, by what we do or say, that is, digital influencers are people (who may have a regular job or not) who express themselves through social networks, thus generating content. These contents attract the attention of a certain niche who follow them and are influenced by them on a daily basis.

These influencers manage to intervene in the messages and affect the digital communities, where the different contents are disseminated quickly and easily and this really is the secret of social networks. This all happens because the person is close, talks to his followers in real time, in a quick and accessible way to anyone.

What is the difference between a TV advertisement or marketing done by a digital influencer?

It is not necessary to think too much to give this answer. It´s all about proximity. While on television no one knows the actor or extra who is doing the advertising on social networks this is no longer quite the case. The influencer is closer to his audience, we can follow his daily life, his work, his friends, listen to his advice as if it were a friend. And that´s the key to success, customers have more confidence in people they know and believe in and most of the time they don´t even realise that it´s not a personal opinion, but advertising that is behind that comment.

And that´s really what worries and scares me in the internet world. This proximity sometimes "excessive" that makes people, especially young people, forget that it´s not real life. That influencers also wake up dishevelled, also have fewer good days, also have their problems and their worries. That disclosing their daily lives on social networks is their job and sometimes they wake up without the will to do it, and that not all the content they say or show is real, that advertising is always present, sometimes before they think it is.

But we can´t just draw bad conclusions, often this influence is positive. A study done last year reveals that due to the influence of social networks more young people started to exercise, eat more healthily, be more sustainable and read more. The trick, in my opinion, will always be the same, in this topic or in any other, knowledge, the more information we have about a certain subject, it becomes less dangerous, because we have more information on our side, we are more aware. So, it´s up to us, the parents, the adults in our society, to inform and enlighten our children and young people that the internet can bring us wonderful things, but it´s not always reliable and real, always trusting and distrusting is the secret!

Author : Cláudia Ferreira