This article provides information on Instagram Influencers and their negative and positive effects on mental health, overconsumption and raising awareness.

What are Social Media Influencers?

The rise of social media has led to the growth of social media influencers, in particular Instagram Influencers. Influencers are individuals who have a large social media following and are considered to be experts in their field. These Instagram Influencers are divided up into four different categories, bloggers and content creators, celebrities, micro celebrities and industry experts. The influencers also create paid content for brands and influence behaviour through Instagram stories as-well as posting pictures and videos (Kalu, 2019).

Negatives

Instagram Influencers and Over Consumption

When I go onto Instagram there is constant temptation. I see influencers promoting a product or service and I always feel the urge to go and buy it. The audience begins to unknowingly think the same way presented to them by the influencer. Individuals also put a huge amount of trust in these influencers. Usually the products they promote are in their supposed area of expertise, i.e. fitness, makeup, fashion. Followers believe they are knowledgeable in the products they promote which they often are not (Nandagiri et al. 2018). In many cases influencers are paid by brands to promote certain products that they may not even use. As a result individuals often begin impulse buying which in turn has led to over consumption.

Instagram Influencers and Mental Health

More and more people are beginning to compare themselves to the influencers that they are seeing on Instagram. Comparing oneself to influencers based on their appearance can be extremely damaging to an individual’s mental health. If I am having a down day and go onto Instagram and see an influencers lavish life it makes me feel even worse.

However, these images are unrealistic, it is a highlight reel of an individual’s best bits, it does not show the full picture.

Influencers on social media often have amazing bodies, which can lead to women and men who feel they do not fit this ideal having a negative body image. Photoshop and editing are now also regularly used by influencers to present an idealised version of themselves, making it difficult to distinguish what is real and what is fake (Bauer 2020). It is clear that influencers need to become more transparent in what they are posting as to prevent detrimental effects to young people’s mental health.

Positives

Instagram Influencers Giving Back

Instagram influencers often believe in giving back to their followers and to society as a whole. Irish Instagrammer Rosie Connolly organised a handbag raffle in 2019 where she sold tickets for 5 euro through her Instagram. A total of  €275,434.57 was raised for CHI in both Temple Street and Crumlin hospital. A lot of influencers can see the importance of giving back to the community. Also influencers often organise giveaways in order to thank their followers for the continued support. Love Island star and Instagram Influencer Molly Mae gave away prizes worth 8 thousand pounds on her Instagram. This was as a token of appreciation to her followers for reaching one million Youtube subscribers.

Instagram Influencers Raising Awareness

Influencers have the ability to raise awareness about important topics and issues. An Instagram influencer called anxietysugar openly discusses her struggles with anxiety, depression and BPD. Another influencer called francescaeatsroses speaks about her experience with an eating disorder while sharing healthy vegan recipes. There are also a number of body positive influencers such as Megan Jane Crabbe and Iskra Lawrence. They empower everyone to love and appreciate their body no matter the size or shape. Instagram Influencers are also beginning to openly discuss sexual health and wellbeing and removing the stigma associated with these discussions. Dr. Anita Mitra speaks openly about topics such as PCOS and smear tests. She also began an IGTV discussing everything and anything to do with sexual health.

If you want to learn more about Instagram take a look at Instagram Marketing: Top 3 tips to increase brand awareness or 10 Instagram Tips for businesses

References:

Bauer, JK., 2020. The Effects of Instagram Influencers and Appearance Comparisons on Body Appreciation, Internalization of Beauty Ideals and Self Esteem in Women.

Kalu, F., 2019. The Impact Of Social Media Influencer Marketing On Purchase Intention From An Irish Male Millennial’s Perception: A Case Study Of Irish Fashion Industry.

Nandagiri, V. and Philip, L., 2018. Impact of Influencers from Instagram and Youtube on their Followers. . International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Modern Education, 4(1), pp.61-65.

OpenInfluence, 2020. Influencers Spread Mental Health Awareness.