Rebatable In uencers

Relating to the un-relatable

In uencers experience harsh cycle of fame, criticism for lifestyle

Emilia Citoler citolemi000@hsestudents.org

The term “in uencer” was rst coined by the New York Times in 2018; the range of 14 to 18, have grown up familiar with the idea of “going viral.” e lush lifestyle term was used to describe a group of people who post online to their respective platforms. Usually, these in uencers have the power to sway their audience to do or buy a certain thing. While some in uencers become popular enough to earn a celebrity status, in uencers have their own sort of fame. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and in some cases YouTube, regular people have the ability to post videos that are considered “relatable.” ese videos can go viral, reaching millions of views and high levels of engagement. ese posts can be a uke, but in some cases, they can start their creator down a troublesome trajectory. Becoming famous for being relatable will inevitably back re; the phrase itself being contradictory. Fame is certainly not relatable, but is sought a er by many members of Gen Z. With platforms like TikTok, which have the ability to blow up creators seemingly overnight, fame does not seem too far out of reach. In reality, gaining enough momentum on social media to be considered an in uencer is a game of luck and chance. Younger consumers of social media, like those in the age of in uencers is tempting, but is not achievable for most. Here is where being “relatable” tends to go wrong: If an in uencer’s audience initially followed for the relatable nature of the content and said in uencer e ectively gains a celebrity status, the content that follows is not relatable. at in uencer then loses the very quality that attracted most of their audience. e best way to understand this phenomenon is to look at the real-life examples of this cycle. Emma Chamberlain, arguably one of the famous in uencers to emerge from YouTube, began posting videos in 2017. A couple of years later, Chamberlain had over eight million subscribers. In 2022, Chamberlain founded her own co ee company, maintained a partnership with Louis Vuitton and gained a considerable amount of wealth. Chamberlain blew up for being relatable because she showed a raw and un ltered look into her life as a regular high school student. Her videos were mostly vlogs that documented her everyday life, without click-bait or gimmicks. Today, the lifestyle Chamberlain leads is completely unattainable for the average viewer, from her million dollar house to the grocery stores she shops at. e response from her audience to her newer projects re ects this shi into being un-relatable. Her once adoring fans that praised her being raw and un ltered have turned on her, saying her content is “out of touch” and “disconnected from reality.” While Chamberlain’s transformation into being unrelatable spanned over a few years, other in uencers have gone through the same process at a rapid rate. Victoria Paris, who found her fame on Tiktok, accumulated a large following for showing her life as a New York City resident. She, like Chamberlain, posted an un ltered look into her life as a 20-something-year-old, showing content such as new drinks that she tried from a local Asian market or the subways she frequented. A er her initial success, the grim reality of her situation set in: How do you create relatable content when you, yourself, are un-relatable? is is a question that is not unique to Paris, or Chamberlain. Many in uencers must face this shi in their general perception and decide how to modify their content to appease their viewers. is cycle is not at the fault of the audience, rather a consequence of the in uence of fame and fortune.