When I grew up, my sources of media were TV, radio, magazines and newspapers. Today we have “Social Media.” Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. With the internet and cell phones, social media is at our fingertips at any given moment. Anyone can stream their thoughts, information or stories to the whole world via social media. Social media is a powerful platform and can be extremely influential because people are very impacted by compelling stories.
Storytelling is rampant on all forms of social media; People like to watch other people and hear what they have to say.
Here is a story by Workopolis about a woman who posted on Facebook that she just got a job at a daycare but hated working at daycare. She immediately received negative responses and her future employer was contacted regarding her post. This caused her to be fired before she even started the new job.
Social media is so popular that there are what are called “Influencers.” Influencers in social media are ordinary people who build a reputation of expertise in certain areas. They post about their thoughts and choices on social media and receive large followings from interested people who are inspired and influenced by their viewpoints. Influencers can be very helpful to businesses if they create trends and encourage their followers to buy specific products.
Followers of Social Media Influencers basically follow the influencer like sheep follow their shepherd. It is really amazing to me that there are so many people out there lookin for someone to follow.
Here is a YouTube video on “The Truth About Being An Instagram Influencer.”
There are even Virtual Influencers now:
Not everyone is a fan of Influencers: