OSP: Introduction to influencers

Our new topic is Online, Social and Participatory Media - or OSP for short.

There's just one CSP to study here - Marcus Rashford and his online presence. This is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four elements of the Theoretical Framework (Language, Representation, Industries, Audience) and all relevant contexts. 

But before we study Marcus Rashford in detail, we need to look at the rise of social media influencers and the impact this has had on media, society and culture.

The rise of influencers

The rise of influencers is a major change in media and culture due to technology, the internet and social media. Influencers give brands a new and powerful way to reach audiences but critics think that social media stars are taking advantage of their relationship with their followers.

User-generated content

Influencers exist because of changes in technology and the internet. This created social media sites like YouTube and Facebook and led to the rise in user-generated content.

User-generated content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by people, rather than brands.

UGC means audiences can be producers as well as consumers – we create and share media as well as viewing it.

How do influencers make money?

YouTuber Zoella (Zoe Sugg) started a blog at home and within a few years gained millions of followers and turned her online presence into a major financial opportunity.

It is estimated at one point Zoella made £15,000 a month from YouTube pre-roll advertising, up to £20,000 each for promotional videos or Instagram posts plus money from books and a beauty product range with Superdrug.

Influencers and their impact on media and culture

Are influencers having a positive or negative impact on society, media and culture? You need to be able to form your own opinion on this question. To help you, watch the following video from the BBC on how influencers make money and see if it changes your views:

Here's the extended 28-minute Panorama if you'd like to see more:

Extension - Bad Influencer: Belle Gibson & The Great Insta Con

The danger with user-generated content is whether we can trust what we see on social media. Belle Gibson was one of the first lifestyle influencers but ended up in a controversy over faking cancer diagnoses to promote her posts. This is a preview of a BBC3 documentary on Belle Gibson and the Great Insta Con:

Introduction to OSP: Influencers blog tasks

Read this article in The Week magazine on the rise of social media influencers and answer the following questions:  

1) What years did YouTube, Twitter and Instagram launch?

2) What is the definition of an influencer?

3) Give an example of an influencer and how many followers they have. Try and add some additional information, brand associations or other statistics if you can.

4) How big is the influencer industry according to the article?

5) What are the problems associated with being an influencer?

6) Why is it suggested that audiences actually like being sold products by influencers?

7) What representation of beauty is often found on Instagram or other influencer sites?

8) What is YOUR opinion on influencers? Are they a positive or negative influence on our society and culture? Why?

Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this Forbes article on how covid and TikTok have changed the influencer market in the last couple of years. What does this tell us about society and media culture - are we becoming more creative and independent or is this just another way to sell more products to more people?

Complete this for homework if you don't finish it in the lesson - due date on Google Classroom.