Stress is the disease of our time. From the very young to the very elderly, everyone experiences stress at some level. Whether it’s due to school or work, or something as big as the pandemic, we all have stressful days. But what about influencers? Are they excluded from this pain or do they get stressed like the rest of us?
Influencers and Stress
Influencers are in the most basic words, famous people. Their movements, their words, travels, outfits, whole lives are followed. As much as they let of course. But there is a certain amount of caution that is required to live that life. When an Influencer messes up, it is inevitable that it will show up anytime, anywhere as long as they have online presences. And this is scary, also very stressful.
Take the most unproblematic YouTuber, Jenna Marbles into account for example. She left the platform due to the stress caused by her previous videos. Even though she was never accused of racism, culture appropriation, or anything that other Influencers are accused of, she found some of her previous videos problematic, and quit the platform because she wasn’t able to handle the stress of those videos and what might come up in the past.
Social Media’s Cruelty
Filled with people of all ages, social media platforms are essentially cruel places. Freedom of speech is considered as being able to give hate speeches and comment nasty things on others’ posts. Even though there are some rules and filters in place, they don’t always block these heart-breaking comments. And not only the problematic Influencers get it. The ones who always seem to be bright and sunshiny can even get hate comments, which could ultimately get to them.
Anna, known as annaxsitar on TikTok, is one of the happiest Influencers you can find on the platform. But check the video below, and think about how you would react to such a comment.
@annaxsitar i can still feel how it felt to read this comment. you deserve the limitless love you are constantly giving to others.
The Pressure to Look Perfect
Created by the conventional media a long time ago, the pressure to perfection still exists on social media. And Influencers are accused all the time for creating this unrealistic standard of beauty, luxury, lifestyle and whatnot. We are quick to judge these new socialites for these standards, but we need to check before we wreck. The idea of perfection was created long before influencers. So, influencers using filters & touch ups in their content should not be something that we throw rocks at when the magazines that actually created this idea still exist. This pressure to look perfect is one of the biggest causes of stress on Influencers, even so that some of them fall into the traps of other illnesses to appeal to their audiences.
Can We Blame Influencers?
Partly. Influencers have a responsibility towards their audiences in informing whether they have filters on, or touch up their content. This is also mentioned in the laws related to social media in many countries. But technically, it’s not the influencers’ responsibility to check whether their audiences are affected by these filters, or how they react to them. And we have to keep in mind that the reason these influencers create a certain type of content is because they audience wants that specific content. So yes, we can partly blame influencers, but poke the needle on your skin before jumping on the hate-comment wagon. Also, if you are affected or offended by an influencer, simply stop following them.
What do you think about Influencers being under stress to create a certain content? Do you think their lives are all butterflies and rainbows, or do they also go through a lot like the rest of us?