Under the influence

An Instagram influencer is the name given to people who are paid to promote brands and companies on Instagram. The deals are created via direct message and require no palpable contract. Often the company sends the teenager an item for them to pose in and post on their public Instagram account, giving them a credit of course. Directions on how to post, what to write in the caption, which hashtags to write and if they need to tag anyone are often included. Businesses are paying an average of $5-$20 to post for their start-up brands, according to a study by The Atlantic.

And the effect of these influencers extends beyond money: the term “influencer marketing” increased 325% in Google searches in 2017, ⅔ of company departments are hoping to augment their social media marketing presence, and the largest platform for marketing is Instagram.

Among the emerging market for companies to promote their brands on Instagram, there is a multitude of hazards. With little real regulation and limited attention from parents, companies take advantage of teens with scams. This past summer, SoAestheticShop, a company that sells youth inspired clothing and accessories, allegedly refused to pay their influencers.

Including the potential danger that comes from becoming an Instagram influencer and being a consumer of the influence, the conception of branding teenagers tips on a tightrope.

Generation Z spends $44 billion per year, and for many companies, the focus is to not only cater to a younger generation, but the goal is also to additionally create an interconnected customer and consumer base that functions independently.

The exponential increase and intensity of promotion via Instagram have increased over the past decade. Ads are so common that news outlets have created guides on how to get rid of them. Raised with commodity culture, today’s teenagers are exposed to fragile self-images that give brands an opportunity to exploit. Kids on Instagram subversively agree to accept the conditions of an instrumental mechanism of consumerism that pops up every time the Instagram app is launched.

Younger generations are at the highest risk of being negatively affected by social media. They now become the ones branding, whether opting to follow said influencers or becoming an influencer themselves. This participation subversively puts children into a world that only revolves around the buying and selling of products, and essentially, teens.

The tactic isn’t new. When Teen Vogue started in 200, they directly catered towards a younger audience which prepared that generation for graduating to the adult magazines. The magazines construct a largely unattainable world for young generations, especially girls.