David:
Sure, inspiration is great when the topic is benign, but what about the proliferation of kids with eating disorders and body image problems because someone on Tik Tok tells them that they have to look a particular way to be popular. Megarexia (the opposite of Anorexia) is now an issue because kids want to look as jacked as the “influencers” they see on Instagram. Adults should know better, but I’d question whether they do. I suppose this also relates to giving people a voice that shouldn’t necessarily have one. Social media allows anyone and everyone to post whatever they want – everyone is entitled to freedom of speech, but if you’re touting hate crimes, victimising marginalised groups or bullying, should you have a voice?TrumpTruth Social anyone?
Sergey:
Yes, well, images of ripped dudes (who most likely are no strangers to steroids) and similar kinds of content should indeed come with some kind of a warning to prevent easy-to-impress types from jumping to conclusions about their own body and their lifestyle. However, there is little doubt that people just love looking at images like that. Usually, it’s demand that shapes supply, not the other way around. People need this content. What they do with it and how they interpret it is a different matter. As for borderline illegal content such as hate speech – I believe every major platform has a set of rules that its users have to adhere to. Those who break basic rules hardly represent the majority of social media users.
David:
But doesn’t the word “influencer” imply someone who influences people, whether they want to be influenced or not? Influencers “create” demand. It`s easy to say that the platforms will protect us from inappropriate content, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest they won’t, and in some cases the algorithm will continue to push harmful content. Similarly, we don’t always know at the time what sort of content will turn out to be harmful. Social media used to be about connecting people, but has morphed into this advertising machine, where even creators (some of them at least) are just part of that machine. If you do what “I” do, you can look, feel, behave, act, shop, be – like me. I’m selling a lifestyle that you can have too.
