THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

Who Is Really Influencing Whom?

A young woman opens TikTok just to watch one funny video before going to bed. Twenty minutes later, she has watched a skincare routine, a fashion video, a relationship opinion, a restaurant recommendation and a creator explaining how to make money online.

She tells herself she was only scrolling.

Yet, without necessarily noticing it, something has already happened. She has been introduced to products she did not know she wanted, opinions she had never considered, expressions she may soon start using and a lifestyle that might quietly become the standard against which she measures her own life.

That is the interesting thing about social media influence. It does not always arrive looking like influence.

Sometimes it looks like entertainment.

Sometimes it sounds like advice from a friend.

Sometimes it is hidden inside a joke, a story, a morning routine or a casual sentence such as, “Guys, I have been using this for weeks, and honestly, I love it.”

But behind that seemingly ordinary moment can be a powerful communication system involving algorithms, advertising, personal branding and millions of viewers.

The social media influencer has become one of the most recognisable figures of the digital age, and their influence reaches far beyond selling products. Influencers can affect what people buy, wear, eat, say, believe, admire and even aspire to become.

The bigger question, however, is this: Are we choosing what influences us, or are we sometimes being influenced before we realise that a choice is being made for us?

When Ordinary People Became Media Houses

There was a time when becoming famous usually required access to television, radio, newspapers, film studios or record companies. Today, a person with a phone, an idea and an internet connection can potentially reach millions.

That change has completely altered the relationship between fame and ordinary people.

An influencer does not necessarily have to be a movie star, musician, politician or traditional celebrity. Someone can become influential because they cook, tell jokes, review products, discuss relationships, teach, travel, talk about business, create fashion content, discuss religion or simply document their daily life.

This is part of what makes influencers so powerful. They often appear closer to ordinary people than traditional celebrities do.

A viewer might think, “This person is just like me.”

That feeling of familiarity can become surprisingly powerful.

Consider someone who watches a particular creator every day. The creator's face becomes familiar. Their voice becomes familiar. Their opinions become familiar. Eventually, the viewer may feel as though they know the person personally, even though the relationship exists almost entirely on a screen.

That emotional connection is one reason influencer marketing works.

Why Do Smart People Get Influenced?

This is perhaps one of the most interesting questions.

If someone is intelligent, educated and capable of making decisions for themselves, why would an influencer be able to change their mind?

The answer is that intelligence does not make a person immune to influence.

Human beings are social creatures. We naturally look at what other people are doing when deciding what is acceptable, desirable or trustworthy. When thousands or millions of people appear to approve of something, it can create what psychologists often describe as social proof: the feeling that something deserves attention because so many others are paying attention to it.

There is also familiarity.

If you hear the same opinion repeatedly from someone you already like, the message can gradually feel more believable. It does not necessarily mean that you have been tricked. Sometimes your brain is simply responding to familiarity, trust and repeated exposure.

Then there is the emotional relationship.

A person may distrust an unknown advertisement but listen carefully when their favourite creator talks about the same product. The difference is not always the information itself. It is the person delivering it.

This is why someone can be highly educated and still be influenced by a creator.

Being smart does not mean having no emotions, preferences or social instincts.

The Influencer We Think We Know

Imagine that a creator has been sharing their life online for five years.

You have watched them celebrate birthdays, complain about difficult days, share family moments, travel, laugh with friends and occasionally talk about personal struggles. When that person eventually recommends a product, charity, political idea or lifestyle, the recommendation may feel different from an ordinary advertisement.

It feels personal.

This is where influence becomes complicated.

The creator may genuinely believe what they are saying. The creator may also be paid to say it. Sometimes both things can be true.

A person can genuinely like a product and still be receiving money to promote it.

That is why audiences need to understand the difference between personal opinion and sponsored promotion.

The influencer economy has become enormous enough that major creators are now businesses in themselves. MrBeast, for example, has built an enormous global audience around large-scale entertainment and philanthropy, while also developing businesses and commercial ventures. His success demonstrates how far the creator economy has moved beyond simply posting videos online.

Influencers are no longer standing outside the traditional business world.

They are part of it.

Nigeria Has Seen This Power Too

Nigeria provides some fascinating examples of how quickly social media attention can turn into real-world influence.

When Hilda Baci embarked on her widely publicised cooking marathon in 2023, social media transformed what could have been a personal culinary challenge into a national conversation. Nigerians followed updates, celebrated milestones and discussed the event across different platforms.

The story eventually attracted international attention.

Whether someone personally cared about cooking or not, the event became difficult to ignore because social media had turned one person's effort into a shared public experience.

That is the power of digital influence.

It can take something happening in one location and make people hundreds or thousands of kilometres away feel as though they are participating.

Influencers have also helped Nigerian fashion, comedy, food, music, beauty and entrepreneurship reach audiences that traditional media might never have reached so quickly.

A young designer can display clothing online and find customers without owning a television station.

A small food business can become popular because a creator visits the restaurant.

A comedian can build an audience without appearing on a television comedy programme.

A teacher can reach students beyond the classroom.

That side of influencer culture is worth celebrating.

But There Is Another Side

The same system that can promote a small business can also promote misinformation.

The same creator who encourages people to read can also spread an unverified claim.

The same person who motivates young people to pursue their dreams can unintentionally make success appear ridiculously easy.

This becomes especially dangerous when influencers speak confidently about subjects they do not understand.

Health is one example.

Someone may watch a confident creator discussing a health issue and assume that because the person has millions of followers, they must know what they are talking about. But popularity is not the same as expertise.

The same applies to money, education, relationships, politics and other serious subjects.

A person can have five million followers and still be wrong.

That simple fact is easy to forget when the person speaks with confidence.

Influence Is Also Changing How We Speak

Listen carefully to young people's conversations today and you may hear expressions that began or became popular through online communities.

Words such as “rizz,” “no cap,” “slay” and countless other expressions have travelled from digital spaces into everyday speech. Some expressions disappear almost as quickly as they arrive, while others become part of wider popular language.

This shows that influencers do not only sell products.

They can help shape language.

They introduce expressions, jokes, gestures, sounds and ways of communicating that audiences imitate because they want to participate in the culture surrounding the trend.

The same thing happens with fashion.

A particular hairstyle appears repeatedly in videos. A certain style of clothing becomes popular. A particular type of makeup suddenly seems to be everywhere. People begin recreating the look, and brands quickly notice the trend.

What started as someone's personal style can become a commercial movement.

The Influence Reaches Different Social Classes

Influencer culture is sometimes described as though it affects only teenagers, but that is not true.

A teenager might follow a fashion or entertainment creator.

A university student may follow educational or career content.

A working adult may watch financial, business or productivity creators.

A parent might follow cooking, parenting or home-improvement accounts.

An older person may use social media for news, health information, religion or community connections.

The subject changes, but the basic mechanism remains similar: people give attention to individuals whose content they find useful, entertaining or relatable.

Social class can also shape the type of influence people experience.

Someone with substantial disposable income may be influenced to purchase expensive fashion, technology or travel experiences. Someone with a limited income may be more interested in affordable products, side-hustle ideas, discounts or practical household advice.

Yet both can be affected by the same psychological desire: the desire to improve life in some way.

Why Does Everyone Want to Become an Influencer?

Ask many young people what they would like to become, and “influencer” is no longer a strange answer.

Why?

Part of it is money.

Successful creators can earn through advertising, brand partnerships, businesses, subscriptions, events and other commercial opportunities.

There is also freedom. The idea of working for yourself, building your own audience and turning creativity into income is attractive.

Then there is recognition.

Many people want to be seen, heard and appreciated. Social media provides something traditional society often makes difficult: the possibility of building an audience without waiting for someone powerful to give you permission.

For a young person watching a creator rise from an ordinary background to international recognition, becoming an influencer can look like a realistic path to success.

But the internet usually shows the success story, not the thousands of people who tried and remained unnoticed.

That is an important distinction.

Are Influencers Creating Unrealistic Expectations?

Sometimes, yes.

Social media can make other people's lives appear permanently exciting.

You see the holiday but not the months of saving.

You see the new car but not the financial arrangements behind it.

You see the perfect relationship photograph but not the disagreement that happened before the camera came out.

You see the successful business but rarely the failed attempts that came before it.

When people repeatedly compare their ordinary lives with other people's carefully selected moments, dissatisfaction can grow.

This is particularly significant for young people who are still developing their identities and deciding what they value.

If popularity, expensive possessions, physical appearance, luxury and constant public attention are repeatedly presented as evidence of success, young viewers may begin to believe that those things define a successful life.

But a camera can show only a portion of reality.

When Influence Becomes Manipulation

Influence itself is not necessarily bad.

A teacher influences students.

A parent influences a child.

A pastor influences a congregation.

A good leader influences a community.

An influencer can encourage someone to read, exercise responsibly, start a business, learn a skill, support a charity or become interested in an important social issue.

The problem begins when influence becomes deliberately deceptive.

Suppose a creator pretends to recommend a product because they personally love it while hiding that they were paid to promote it. Or imagine someone deliberately exaggerating a false claim because they know controversy will generate views.

At that point, we move closer to manipulation.

Manipulation involves deliberately steering people's emotions, perceptions or behaviour for a particular purpose, often without giving them enough information to make a fully informed decision.

That is why transparency matters.

People deserve to know when they are watching an advertisement disguised as casual advice.

The Algorithm Has a Seat at the Table

There is another player in this story that we should not ignore: the algorithm.

Influencers create content, but platforms decide which content receives more visibility.

If a video generates strong reactions, people may watch it longer, comment, share it or return to it repeatedly. The platform can then interpret those behaviours as signs that the content is interesting and show it to more people.

This creates a powerful cycle.

The creator learns what attracts attention. The audience sees more of what attracts attention. The platform receives more engagement. The creator produces more similar content.

Eventually, the loudest, most emotional or most entertaining ideas can sometimes receive more attention than the quiet, carefully researched ones.

That does not mean everything popular is false.

It simply means popularity should never be our only test for truth.

So, Is Influencer Culture a Menace?

Not automatically.

Social media influencers are neither heroes nor villains as a group. They are people operating inside a powerful communication system, and what they do with that power determines whether their influence becomes helpful or harmful.

Some creators educate millions.

Some promote businesses and help entrepreneurs find customers.

Some raise money for people in need.

Some preserve languages, traditions and cultural practices.

Others spread misinformation, promote unrealistic lifestyles or use their popularity irresponsibly.

The audience also has a role to play.

We cannot hand over responsibility for our thinking to people simply because they are popular.

Before accepting a claim, we can ask: Who is saying this? Why are they saying it? What do they gain from me believing it? Is there evidence? Would I believe the same thing if it came from someone I did not admire?

Those questions are simple, but they can create an important pause between seeing something and accepting it.

The Real Question Is Not Whether We Are Influenced

The truth is that all of us are influenced by something.

Our parents influence us. Friends influence us. Teachers influence us. Religion, culture, music, television, books and our surroundings influence us.

Social media has simply made influence faster, more personal and more difficult to escape.

A creator can wake up in Lagos and, before breakfast, influence someone in London, Nairobi, Accra or New York.

That is an extraordinary form of power.

But perhaps the greatest lesson is this: we should never confuse familiarity with truth or popularity with wisdom.

The influencer may hold the phone, but the audience still has a mind.

The challenge is learning to use it.

Because the most powerful influencer in our lives should not always be the person with the largest following. Sometimes, it should be our own ability to stop, question, think and decide for ourselves.

And perhaps that is the real future of social media: not a world without influencers, because that is unlikely to happen, but a world where people can enjoy being influenced without surrendering their ability to think independently.

But is this even possible?