To Like or Dislike? Women’s Complex Relationship with Social Media Influencers

For centuries celebrities have used their fame and notoriety to make money promoting products and services, so there’s nothing new about well-known people encouraging their fans to buy certain products. But it took the rise of the smartphone and the invention of social media to take this idea of celebrity endorsements and flip it on its head. Today, unfamous people with large social media followings are leveraging those audiences to land corporate sponsorships and endorsement deals. In some cases, these so-called “social media influencers” are able to earn six-figure incomes or higher. 

A new report from the Reboot Foundation and the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society explores the perceptions women and girls have of the influencers they follow, their views on the relationship between social media content and their feelings of self-worth, and the viability of influencing as a career. The report also probes influencers: the perceptions they have of their female followers, their opinions on influencing as a career, and their thoughts on the psychological impact their content might be having on young women who follow them.

The report, To Like or Dislike? Women’s Complex Relationship with Social Media Influencers, found perplexing contrasts in women’s views and opinions on their relationship with social media and the influencers they follow. For example, more than 60 percent of women acknowledge that influencers have at least “moderate” influence on their opinions, yet barely a third of women said they trusted influencer endorsements. The data also revealed a surprising level of callousness influencers have for the wellbeing of women who follow them.

Among the survey’s key findings:

• Nearly 60 percent of girls acknowledged feeling a connection with an influencer even though more than three-quarters of them also said that influencer content is potentially harmful to their self-esteem and feelings of self-worth.
• 39 percent of women of all ages have taken steps to become social media influencers, such as trying to generate income through their platforms or cultivating huge online followings.
• 70 percent of teen girls said influencers were “very” or “moderately” important in shaping their views on beauty, fashion, lifestyles, and careers. 

The survey included responses from over 1,000 female influencers, and revealed troubling trends for women who choose that line of work: 

• 30 percent of influencers said they would not stop influencing even if their content was shown to be harmful to their young followers.
• 26 percent of influencers said they’ve experienced harassment in real life that first began as online harassment. 
• 78 percent do not earn enough to fully support themselves by influencing.

The issues and contractions revealed by this survey warrant additional study and investigation. As teens and children increasingly live their lives online, the roles that influencers play in their development and maturation is something that should concern parents, educators, and child advocates alike. As for influencing as a possible career path, the data from this survey strongly suggests that women and girls should look elsewhere for a payday.