INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

As a social media influencer, my response to this question allows for a more diverse answer as there are so many different opportunities and pathways stemming from this industry sector.

For example, the rapid growth in popularity in social media platforms such as TikTok in a small space of time rendering more old-school social media outlets such as Facebook and Tumblr fairly redundant, especially by the Gen Z consumer and Alpha Generation; shows us that the ‘stability’ of the future of social media content creation as a practice is uncertain. That being said I would like to explore the methodologies and theories one could harness to protect themselves against the majority of this uncertainty, resulting in a stable future-proof career plan. Like any successful business or company, there are or should be procedures in place in order to protect a company from the threat of failure. This type of risk assessment is necessary and should be appropriated for social media influencers also, to protect themselves against the uncertainty of the future. While the world has been reeling from a pandemic, climate change, wars and a plethora of disasters, social media has been on a non-stop growth spurt. The communication aspect allows us instant knowledge. In this case, it is hard to imagine that social media will ever go away, especially when you consider the pace at which we are advancing as a global society technologically. That being said, often times social media influencing is not considered a legitimate career, due to the attitudes of older generations. This makes sense as they have been raised without the influence of social media, however, for millennials, Gen Z and Alpha Generation, in particular, a life without social media seems unthinkable and influencing is a perfectly legitimate job. The language of modern technology allows consumers to communicate in a whole new way, through hashtags, newly developed internet slang, soundbites, trending topics and content.

The accessibility of becoming a content creator is also something that should be addressed. Anyone can post anything, within loose guidelines set by social media platforms to protect viewers from discrimination and unsafe content etc.

There is no interview process, no qualification required, and freedom of speech means that anyone can post content to their social media. That being said a career in influencing in most cases takes a degree of determination, consistency and a clear target audience.

However, does this accessibility mean that the future may give way to an over-saturated market sector creating a surplus of social media influencers in the industry? In order to further my knowledge and construct my argument as to why and how social media influencers will be able to survive and aim for a lifelong career in content creation, I need to first research the history of influencing. This is so that I can gain a clear understanding of what has already happened, thus giving me the ability to forecast what the future will look like for influencers.