It was just like any ordinary day. After a long day, I jumped up on my bed with no other expectation than to bedrock and mindlessly scroll through content.
You know, the kind of content where we see glamorous lifestyles. Traveling vlogs. Aesthetic kitchens. Perfect romantic relationships. Maybe a few names ring a bell: Nara Smith, David Dobrik, and Charlie Da’melio.
The list goes on.
It serves no other purpose than to make us “oooh” and “ahhh” at the lifestyles that are so close, yet so far.
So there I was, fully knowing what I was getting myself into when “Huh? What’s this?”. The first video I scroll upon depicts a daily vlog of an accountant with a 9-5. No bright and flashy colors. No grandiose events. His dog? Not an expensive pure breed or a golden retriever, but a mutt.
He drives home in silence for lunch instead of going out. He briefly plays with his dog and eats leftovers. Finally, he returns to work and finishes typing on his keyboard in his cubicle. Originally confused, I still stayed to watch the whole TikTok video. While I continued to scroll, brushing off this brief encounter, the next few months were filled with moments where I stumbled across the same deglamorized videos.
Whether it was a TikTok of a 24-year-old in Chicago with a work-from-home job or a single mother making dinner for her children, they all had one thing in common. They depicted the so-called bland and boring lifestyles we know we live but are too scared to post.
In an age where organic and “real” social media is no longer the norm, Tiktok, Instagram, and YouTube have now become platforms for users to become famous, flash wealth, and partner with brands to make more money. The audience is nothing more than a consumer, manipulated and pulled every which way.
The Influencer Age
Remember the social media golden years? It was a hub where users posted “in-the-moment” shots of their lives, like their lunch or who they were hanging out with. Or remember when YouTube boasted home videos of kids singing in their rooms? What seemed like ages ago, social media is dominated by what can only be described as the “influencer age.”
“2009 was the year that saw a huge influx of bloggers and YouTubers. The likes of Alfie Deyes, Zoella, Tanya Burr, and PewDiePie took the world by storm and kickstarted the influencer phenomenon. What started out as a hobby turned into life-changing careers and led them to become industry leaders,” an article by LinkedIn said.
In a study posted by the National Library of Medicine, social media influencers were found to have significant effects on teenagers’ self-esteem and identity formation, as well as contributing greatly to their digital distraction.
Gen-Z is Affected More Than Ever
“According to Cabourg and Manenti (2017), the content shared by adolescents with each other about their lives on their own social networks helps them understand and discover each other and create their identity away from their parents. This phenomenon turns into a problem when adolescents mimic each other only not to be excluded or rejected, even if these actions do not represent them,” the National Library of Medicine shared.
Influencers with 100k + followers make roughly per post. Those with 1 million followers can expect $1900 per post, the highest-paid influencers being Charlie D’meilo, Br. Beast and Logan Paul. It’s no wonder that kids these days are rejecting college in hopes of landing millions as influencers.
So, in an age where a single cooking YouTube video is littered with ads or grownups have now resorted to playing with dolls to bait views from young audiences, now would be a good time to ask ourselves one thing: What are we doing?
Bringing Back Normality
As average influencers continue to take on social media, I argue that they’re the ones who deserve our platforms and attention. “Average influencers,” as the word suggests, do not refer to boring or bland influencers but influencers that reflect the lives of the common majority. They are restoring what is actually realistic, valuable, and experienced by ordinary people. And no, just because it’s realistic doesn’t make it any less entertaining. We get a glimpse into the lives of people who are just like us. As a result, it opens up a door we never thought possible with social media.
While their videos may look different from early social media like “Charlie Bit My Finger” or Zoella’s Christmas Series, average influencers today are a direct product of social media in 2024: the idea that anyone can become an influencer.
Let’s talk about what their “averageness” does for us as viewers.
What “Averageness” Does for Society
1. They Remind us of the Value of Routine
Unlike dancing teen influencers who get famous overnight and jumpstart their reality TV career, average influencers remind us of traits we’ve almost lost sight of. Discipline. Routine. The Notorious yet Iconic 9-5. Family. While the influencers of today flash the best cars and designer clothes, their agenda is normally very self-centered. They not only make viewers wish they had their gadgets and looked like them, but they don’t push viewers towards any form of self-development or growth.
“Some studies have found that envy towards influencers can have negative consequences, such as decreased life satisfaction, affective well-being, and increased depression,” an article by the National Library of Medicine said.
On the other hand, average influencers usually share repetitive content. Lots of this content shows their lifestyles that involve routine and discipline. This could look like working out right after work, eating lunch at the same time every day, or getting their kids ready for school every morning.
A study by NCBI found that “good daily habits during the early stages of life determine success throughout life. Conversely, the research found that poor daily habits of modern society lead to negative behaviors such as quitting jobs and dropping out of school.”
As Aristotole once said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” Maybe these so-called average influencers are onto something.
2. Real Diversity Acts as Mirrors for Audiences
You know that great feeling when we read a book or watch a movie with a character that reminds us of ourselves? Even better, is when the characters look like us. We feel seen and understood and think, “If they can do it, I can too!”
Average influencer videos might not be as stimulating or professionally shot, but they do one thing we may have never considered. They act as mirrors. Mirrors, whether in books, social media, or television, can be anything that “helps reflect what we observe and know about the world we live in. It’s powerful to read or listen to a story about someone like you…They allow us to view and understand lives that are different from our own, like a window onto other experiences.”
With social media offering this exciting window of opportunity, this also presents the chance for new diversity and inclusivity.
No, it’s not the forced level of diversity when Disney or Netflix slaps a POC character onto their movies just for the heck of it.
For social media, this could look like many things. A mom sharing her life as a mom with an autistic child. A homeless boy sharing how he budgets and prepares dinner. A wild family of 6 shopping for new back to school clothes. Average influencers offer the true diversity and inclusivity our society has been looking for!
3. Low-Stim Media is Better for Us
Let’s face it. Our generation is in need of a major media detox. From streaming services to 6-second shorts on YouTube, the fact that we have so many stimulating options may do more bad for us than good.
Take David Dobrik’s vlogs, for example. What once took the internet by storm and made him a millionaire, the success of his vlogs is attributed to how short they are, its emotional rollercoaster-esque, and David’s guest celebrity appearances. While on a David Dobrik binge once in college, I remember thinking to myself, “This guy is only two years older than me. Why isn’t my life as exciting or as interesting as his?” Is this mindset really what’s best for young audiences?
With average influencers, I found their content quieter, full of more honest conversation and dialogue, and less click-baitable.
“Low-stimulating media offers a respite from the constant barrage of intense sensory experiences and can benefit individuals seeking relaxation, focus, or a quieter form of entertainment,” an article by Hippocampus Clubhouse said.
So, with our culture in a media frenzy, choosing to engage with an average influencer can make all the difference. You might end up feeling more relaxed, focused, and peaceful.
Final Thoughts…
At the end of the day, what we choose to watch is completely up to us. But we can’t deny the value that these average influencers are providing for society at the moment. They remind us of everything good while paving new paths for an exciting future where we can hear and watch stories from all over the world. They are redefining what we previously thought of as influencer entertainment, changing the economy of social media forever.
You may already have a few favorite average influencers that you regularly watch. You may be entirely new to this content. The point is to give it a try and watch the fruitful outcomes that proceed. “Average influencing” is here to stay and make a positive mark on society.
