OSP: Introduction to influencers

 The rise of influencers

The rise of influencers is a major change in media and culture due to technology, the internet and social media. Influencers give brands a new and powerful way to reach audiences but critics think that social media stars are taking advantage of their relationship with their followers.

User-generated content

Influencers exist because of changes in technology and the internet. This created social media sites like YouTube and Facebook and led to the rise in user-generated content.

User-generated content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands.

UGC means audiences can be producers as well as consumers – we create and share media as well as viewing it.

How do influencers make money?

Kim Kardashian is worth an estimated $1.7 BILLION which shows how much money influencers can make.

It is estimated that Kardashian can make anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million for each promoted Instagram post. She has also endorsed and promoted 57 brands which range from one-off posts to long-term contracts.


Influencers and their impact on media and culture

Are influencers having a positive or negative impact on society, media and culture? You need to be able to form your own opinion on this question. To help you, watch the following video from the BBC on how influencers make money and see if it changes your views:

Extension - Bad Influencer: Belle Gibson & The Great Insta Con

The danger with user-generated content is whether we can trust what we see on social media. Belle Gibson was one of the first lifestyle influencers but ended up in a controversy over faking cancer diagnoses to promote her posts. This is a preview of a BBC3 documentary on Belle Gibson and the Great Insta Con:

Introduction to OSP: Influencers blog tasks


1) What years did YouTube, Twitter and Instagram launch?

YouTube launched in 2005, Twitter in 2006, and Instagram in 2010.

2) What is the definition of an influencer?

A person who has become well known through regular social media posts and is able to promote a product or service by recommending or using it online.

3) Give an example of an influencer and how many followers they have. Try and add some additional information, brand associations or other statistics if you can.

Kim Kardashian has over 221 million followers on Instagram and over 71 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) as of November 2025. She's the co-founder of SKIMS which is currently valued at about $5 billion dollars.

4) How big is the influencer industry according to the article?

According to the article the industry is very big. As by the end of 2019, the influencer marketing industry was worth some $8bn a year. One recent report by Insider Intelligence predicted that it would grow to $15bn globally by the end of 2022.

5) What are the problems associated with being an influencer?

The problems associated with being an influencer are: There are the endless hours spent preparing for photo shoots, arranging photographers, changing outfits in cramped “pop-up tents”, editing photos and thinking up envy-inducing captions and hashtags. Demanding clients often force them to endlessly re-shoot photos or videos until they come out just right. There’s the pressure of always seeking to increase your follower count to drive up revenues. But arguably the toughest part, says Amy Hart (1.1 million followers), is negotiating payment in a crowded market.

6) Why is it suggested that audiences actually like being sold products by influencers?


7) What representation of beauty is often found on Instagram or other influencer sites?

8) What is YOUR opinion on influencers? Are they a positive or negative influence on our society and culture? Why?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Magazines: Typography Photoshop workshop

Image
  "Typefaces give voice to words" There are two main terms that we need to learn: Serif Serif fonts have tabs (or 'feet') at the corners of the letters. Serif fonts are more old fashioned, traditional or authoritative. They are particularly suited to long passages of text as they create a 'line' for the reader to follow. Sans Serif Sans Serif fonts are more modern and do not have tabs or 'feet' on the letters. They are used for titles, headings and create a more contemporary, modern feel to the product. Typography: Photoshop workshop Task 1 Create an A4 document in Photoshop. Choose a font to represent the following words (you may need to Google their meanings). Think about: UPPER or lower case? Font size? Angle? Position on page? Mistake Harmony Falling Personality Elastic Emperor Brittle Globe Radiation Relax Madness Task 2 Choose three of the words and create an instant graphic identity for each (see image right). Use the tools, effects and colour a...
Read more

Music video: Introduction

Image
  BLACKPINK: How You Like That Arctic Monkeys: I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor We need to study the  industry  and  audience  contexts for these products:  Industry:  how music video is produced and marketed and how this has changed over time. Audience:  Target audience and audience pleasures. How music contributes to an audience's sense of identity. Fandom. How the internet has changed the position of the audience. PLUS:  Historical, cultural and social significance of the music videos and the impact of the internet on the music industry. Music video will appear in Paper 1, Section B of Exam Section B is only on  INDUSTRIES  and  AUDIENCES  and will consist of: 1 short answer question 2 medium answer questions – one on audience, one on industry 1 extended essay style question on one of the media forms we have studied - which is very likely to be Music Video due to the advance information we have from AQA about the S...
Read more

Mise-en-scene: Stranger Things analysis

Image
Mise-en-scene is a vital aspect of media language and builds nicely on our work on denotation and connotation. Mise-en-scène is a French term meaning ‘Putting on Stage’.  It refers to the Media language used by the producer in their media product to communicate with their audience so…everything we see on screen. We can remember what this includes using the acronym CLAMPS: Costume Lighting Actor placement and movement Make-up Props Setting When we look at a clip, image or advert in Media Studies we need to be able to identify aspects of  mise-en-scene  and explain the effect it has on the audience.   Choose  THREE  aspects of mise-en-scene (e.g. costume, lighting and setting) and write a short paragraph for  each  about the  denotation  and  connotation  and what is communicated to the audience. Lighting: In the beginning the scene starts outside, at night, only being illuminated by sparse synthetic lighting. This becomes a runn...
Read more