The changing face of Influencers

There’s a new wave of authentic, no-bullshit, self-loving women appearing on our feeds to diversify our favourite social platforms. The facade of influencer culture, full of unrealistic and impossible standards, has long been criticised for its unattainable expectations. Slowly but surely, the tide is now changing.

Size 0 sun-kissed ‘Baddies’ and filtered fitness gurus have hogged our screens for long enough. It’s about time we welcomed the content creators redefining the influencer game with their sweet embrace of our imperfections.

According to research carried out by Stylist, ‘one in three women continue to follow influencers on social media, even when they make them feel bad about themselves.’

In 2020, The Women and Equalities Committee conducted a survey which found that 61% of adults and 66% of children feel negative about their body image. Respondents explained that social media use is damaging for their image issues as it forces them to constantly view content which encourages them to ‘look a certain way.’

My question is, why the hell are we still obsessing over accounts that are making us feel like shit? We are in control of who we follow online, and there’s a whole community of women normalising, and empowering, us and our flaws.

Meg Sloan, a self-worth coach and qualified psychological wellbeing practitioner, says that issues with self-esteem can be massively exacerbated by the editing of images which is rife on social media.

“Women are comparing their appearance to an image that does not exist in real life, which can lead to a lack of confidence, depression, anxiety and in some cases eating disorders,” she explains.

Although she acknowledges that there is a long way to go until some big named influencers embrace authenticity and vulnerability online, Meg hopes that the dawn of honest influencers will raise awareness that much of what we see on social media isn’t necessarily real or attainable.

“I hope that this will have a positive impact on people's mental health,” she adds.

I spoke to some of the up-and-coming social media stars who are dismantling the notorious influencer norms with their honesty, realness, and acceptance of all thing’s woman. They've shared their experiences of what it’s like engaging with the internet as new, candid voices.

Name: Ella Donnelly

Social Platform and Followers: TikTok @elladonnelly_xo, 254k +

Covers all things from body positivity, especially in plus size girls, to normalising mental health issues.

The stereotypical influencer just shows a perfect lifestyle. And I don't do that or try and make out my life is perfect or that my body is perfect or that what I do is perfect. The things I show just reminds other people that I am normal, and they are too- they don't have to live up to the expectations of looking like everyone else in the social media world.

I grew up big and never saw successful big girls, or even any on social media. Showing my body means I’m proving that I don’t look like everyone else, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be loved equally.

The whole mental health side of it; I want to put out my own mental health to show at the end of the day everyone has their problems, but we can get through it if we talk about it and not hide the fact that some people do struggle with mental illnesses. Speaking about it normalises it, and sometimes people do really need help.

TikTok is a welcoming platform, but it’s the platform I have been most hated on. It’s a lot. I’m just at the point where hate comments don't affect me that much. The more I have grown, the more hate I get. I would rather delete the hateful comments before it gets attention and people join in. The support is way more than the hate comments, it’s amazing.

The hate comments push me more to change the internet world, to even change one person's life- it’s making me go one step further to prove that everybody is beautiful. All you have to do is be kind.

People should talk about stuff that makes others uncomfortable so that it normalises things others have been scared to talk about for so long. I've always wanted to change the mindset of the people on the internet. I'm not saying I'm going to change the whole world, but if I can change a couple of people's minds- that's important, I have a voice and I want to use it in the best way possible.

My favourite thing about being an authentic influencer is that someone will watch my video and then comment saying ‘this made my day’. Or ‘I watched your video when I was sad, and it just made me so happy.’ The fact I can make someone smile from a 15 second video, and viewers openly admit they watch me to make them feel better, makes my heart feel like something different!

When people say to me ‘you inspired me to wear a skirt today’, or ‘you inspired me to be a better person today’, that’s amazing and it shows I can put my confidence out there and make someone else feel confident- it’s worth everything to me.

Name: Freya Dudding

Social Platform and Followers: Instagram @freyadudding, 10.9k

Covers all things from body positivity to sustainability and advocating for the BLM movement.

I cover things I grew up feeling uncomfortable with as a child and teenager, things I grew up feeling self-conscious about or things I noticed I didn't feel like I could talk about with other people. So, periods and masturbating and that sort of thing. I never felt like I could talk to anyone about it without feeling shamed. I feel like people do actually want to talk about these things but feel like they will be judged if they talk about them.

With body positivity, I only just gained my confidence in the past year or two and I get messages from a lot of girls saying, ‘thanks for talking about this because I was bullied and never confident in that either.’

I think it’s so important to talk about important issues. I want the things I post to be meaningful and relatable.

I've only been doing social media influencing for about a year. When Instagram started pushing reels, I started posting my TikTok content to reels. One of my outfit reels on Instagram blew up to 1.5 million viewers. That brought a few bad comments, but I just laughed them off.

I think I'm showing people it's okay to embrace their differences by being brave enough to show myself in a light that others may not think is stereotypically beautiful and still post it. For example, if you haven't shaved your armpits one day, who shaves their armpits every day? It's nice to post that and think it is going to positively influence others.

My favourite part is all the nice messages I get. It's so heart-warming. I imagine the people watching my content are like me a few years ago and It's nice to know I may be helping them come to the confidence that I have now.

Name: Katie White

Social Platform and Followers: Instagram @katies_skin, 15k

Covers all things skin, documenting her acne scar journey.

I talk Mostly about acne and skin positivity. I speak honestly about my journey and how I've felt growing up with acne. I want to help people become more confident in their skin and not hide behind filters. My main goal is to help others love themselves and normalise acne.

It is very important to me to talk about these things, it’s very rare that people will talk about certain topics or be open about their daily struggles, so knowing I have people following me makes me want to help as many of them as I can.

I started my social media influencing because of other people. When I was at my lowest, I typed in ‘skin positivity’ and saw loads of people being so confident sharing their stories, I realised I wasn’t alone and wanted to do the same as them and help others. I think because we are so open and show our insecurities and normalise them by posting our imperfections online for everyone to see, it empowers other people to do the same (I hope).

I get tons of loving messages and that’s honestly one of the main reasons I keep going on my account, knowing I have helped others in some way. I’ve also received some comments about my appearance calling me ugly and that my skin looks worse. As well as this, I have also received unsolicited advice to ‘wash my face’ or ‘drink water’ and that doing that will get rid of my acne. In the past I have let comments like that get to me, but I’m learning to ignore the negativity.

My favourite part is communicating with others and getting to know others that are going through the same thing I am!

LINK TO MULTIMEDIA ARTICLE: https://rebellemag.jusnet.co.uk/2021/05/25/the-changing-face-of-influencers/