Gen Z And The Rise Of Influencer Culture
The power and pitfalls of online fame
Undoubtedly, the role of social media influencers has grown significantly since the inception of the World Wide Web in 1991. It’s undeniable that countless people spend most of their lives in the digital world. This phenomenon has rapidly transformed minds and warped expectations about fame and success.
Generation Z, often referred to as Gen Z, is the demographic cohort that comes after the Millennials. While there is some variation in the exact years that define Gen Z, it generally includes individuals born from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s. As of January 2022, the oldest members of Gen Z were in their mid-20s. For these individuals, social media has been an indispensable part of social life, even promising to meet the essential human need for real-life companionship.
Have you ever wondered about the disastrous negative effects of social media on the Gen Z population? Social media is powerful in connecting people worldwide, but it is equally powerful in destroying or having severely negative impacts on the population. From scrolling through reels for endless hours to getting involved in cyber crimes, a part of the population has already gone too far due to social media. On one hand, social media can help people connect with friends and family, find support groups, and learn about mental health resources. On the other hand, it can lead to feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression. This is because social media can be a breeding ground for comparison, perfectionism, and cyberbullying.
We are certainly aware of people spreading hateful comments about some of our favourite celebrities or even ordinary people. In extreme cases, people sometimes receive death threats! This crime, known as cyberbullying, generally occurs when people raise and post concerns about sensitive issues. Personal grudges between people can also lead to cyberbullying. For instance, the Mumbai Police Cyber Cell arrested a man from Hyderabad for giving online rape threats to the daughter of the Indian cricketer Virat Kohli following the team’s loss against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.
Remember the episode of the chat show “Koffee with Karan,” where Alia Bhatt said that Prithviraj Chauhan was the President of India? Her answer flooded social media with countless memes and jokes. No matter how funny it was for the nation, Alia surely had a hard time.
Most people consider the internet a platform that provides them anonymity, allowing them to victimise others. It’s extremely easy to hide your identity on the internet and express your feelings without the fear of being caught. Whether celebrities, politicians, or regular citizens, online trolls target everyone equally. The internet is not short of people who, instead of winning arguments based on reason, resort to abuse, threats, insults, and bullying to prove their point. You must have come across such people everywhere, especially while browsing through social media. The above were two instances where celebrities were victims of the frightful act of cyberbullying.
It’s undeniable that cyberbullying can have a huge negative impact on the lifestyle of the person who is a victim. Even more alarming, current research suggests that suicide attempts among adolescents have nearly doubled since 2008. The effects of cyberbullying include mental health issues, increased stress and anxiety, depression, acting out violently, and low self-esteem. Apart from cyberbullying, we must also be aware of certain toxic beauty standards promoted by social media. We have seen teenagers applying filters and photo editing tools to enhance their appearance. A significant portion of Generation Z finds such beauty standards attractive. Have you ever wondered about the negative effects of applying such features? Negative body image, low self-esteem, and mental health issues such as anxiety and depression are the after-effects of such unrealistic and toxic features!
Constant exposure to edited and filtered images has contributed to dissatisfaction with one’s appearance. We encounter countless individuals in our generation comparing their bodies to influencers, celebrities, or peers, leading to dissatisfaction with their appearance. Constant validation through likes and comments can create a dependency on external approval for self-worth. In such cases, individuals are quite often subjected to body shaming, criticism, and negative comments related to physical appearance, which can lead to several mental health issues. The rampant use of social media has contributed to an increase in these symptoms.
It’s quite intuitive that social media has helped people connect to a much greater extent, but it also poses several threats to Generation Z. We must understand that social media has been a great bane for society due to the cyber issues it brings along. This indeed is an alarming situation since it negatively impacts the life of an individual, specifically the individuals of Generation Z, who have been greatly affected by these negative concerns of social media. Moreover, there are ongoing discussions and efforts to address these concerns, both at the societal level and within the design and policies of social media platforms.
Balancing the positive aspects of social media with the potential drawbacks is essential for fostering a healthy digital environment for Gen Z and future generations.
