The Power of Social Media

Social media holds power over us as individuals in many ways, whether you like to think it or not. 

Marketing strategies

How many products have you purchased due to your favourite influencer promoting them? 

I know that myself personally have bought many of products due to my favourite bloggers or YouTubers suggesting them. 
For example, YouTuber Jamie Genevive has recently collaborated with NYX cosmetics and became the face of a new eyeshadow palette of theirs. This encouraged me to go out and purchase more of their products, because if Jamie Genevive is working with them they must be good! Right?
Many of us have this view when watching influencers promote products. 

Influencers on social media are becoming very attractive to brands when it come to advertising their products and brand. Brands can see that they have an audience that listen to them and trust them. So if brands can get these influencers to promote their products, they are almost guaranteed an increase in sales due to the trust the audience has with the influencer. 

A perfect example of this is "Zoella" or Zoe Sugg. Zoe is the female number one most subscribed to YouTube channel in the UK right now with over 12 million subscribers. She has the power to reach a lot of impressionable watchers of her channel who will want to try products out simply for the fact that she is telling them to! 
Zoe also came out with her own beauty range in 2014 and expanded in 2016 by releasing a lifestyle range, both of which are available in boots, superdrug and on feelunique. Both of which are selling extremely well (which shows how powerful she can be)!

Looking down  

I know that for me a big problem with having the use of the internet at my fingertips anytime I want is, that I am glued to my phone and never look up to see what is going on around me. 
Ever see that video that circulated around Facebook? It was called "Look up" and was made by the Anti-Social Media Network. It shows writer Gary Turk reading a poem encouraging people to 'look up from their phones' and 'experience life the real way'. 

Watch the video here- Look up

It completely shocked the internet as people were so unaware of the impact that social media was having on their everyday life. The video showed how relationships with family, friends and partners can all be affected by us constantly having our eyes glued to our social media accounts instead of looking up and experiencing the world around us. He even referred to social media as 'the media that is not so social'. 









So is it true that our relationships are being compromised as a result of the power of social media?  

If so this is going to pose a huge threat to future generations growing up in these times of social media over usage? Are our children going to know how to make friends and form relationships? Are they going to be able to communicate well with other people face-to-face if the only form of conversation they have with each other is through a screen? Should we even be worried about these issues? 


Instagram models 

Instagram models have become a massive part of the Instagram population. Thousands of male and female models have taken to Instagram to share their photos with the public and have found themselves gaining huge audiences.
However, is this contributing to the problem of low self-esteem found in our generation? 
Many of us dream of having the lives, bodies and experiences of these Instagram models. Why can't we just be happy with the lives that we are living now? 

Things were massively brought into perspective in 2015 when Australian Instagram model Essena O'Neill announced that she was quitting social media. Essena had over half a million Instagram followers and would post photos of herself in new clothes, in different parts of the world. 

Essena's inspiration to quit social media came about due to the fact that she believed 'it's not real life'. She then deleted many of her photos from her account, and with the rest she edited the captions to show her audience the truth behind the photos. One stating "see how relatable my captions were – stomach sucked in, strategic pose, pushed up boobs. I just want younger girls to know this isn’t candid life, or cool or inspirational. It’s contrived perfection made to get attention.” 

So not only are the audience of these Insta-models extremely self-conscious, but so are the creators themselves. They create these imagines and edit them until they are happy with how they look. It's sad really. 



These are just a few of the ways that social media has a tight hold and power over the generations of today. How long will it be until social media has completely and utterly consumed our lives? 




Thank you for reading, 
Siobhan McKerr x