Influence or Be Influenced : The kind of world we live in

“The least informed person in my generation is more informed than most informed person in yours”

This is a dialogue from the Netflix series “The Politician” where a daughter and mother are arguing over voting between a person who has been a senator for 30 years and a young guy with no experience but a drive and campaign more hitting towards younger generation.

This particular dialogue started a dialogue within me, today we have more knowledge available, more resources , more content that we can consume in our lifetimes. Social media has made reaching out to masses very easy with just a click of a button. We have gotten a new breed of celebrities we call “Influencers”.

Influence is defined as the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself.

Influencers are people who through their social media reach and content, reach out to people globally, their reach is so wide and strong that companies started a new marketing strategy “Influencer marketing “ making reaching out to masses with their products easier and quicker. 

There are several platforms which Influencers use , majority are on YouTube, Instagram and Tiktok, making these 3 the biggest source of content consumption in our and more importantly our future generation. When we were growing up, technology was kept at bay and parents discouraged mobile devices to an extent which is getting blurry in today’s generation. You will find young-lings not only following these Influencers but also trying to become one, they follow them, they watch their content and they start acting like them, they make the language they hear as part of their life because if it’s getting millions of views and likes, it really must be cool to use that. 

There are some amazing Influencers out there, who churn out content, based on their sheer hard work and talent. Each field has some talented , hardworking people who churn out great content which entertains, helps , informs its viewers. 

"With great power, comes great responsibility "

In my opinion, the Influencers with such great reach and impact should also hold accountability of what exactly are they putting out there, cursing on a microphone sitting at home in name of roasting, is not the content anyone should aspire to do or consume, but alas! That happens in the name of comedy in race of getting fame. 

When you have the reach , views and people are following you, one should make sure that you set out the right message. You have the power to mould the impressionable mind, make sure you do not create a generation that doesn’t know or care about right and wrong. 

Parent, should make sure they know what the children are hooked too, it is like a drug a little slow and gradual but it sure conditions the mind. Make sure kids know the difference between worth watching and skipping. 

Companies, Influencers marketing is a wonderful tool, use it wisely! It should be a social response to not just back a Influencer for reach but do ensure you back the content that’s worth reaching out to masses, that you would want your product to be associated with.

“To have a positive influence on someone's life is a blessing.”― Unarine Ramaru