Transcription - Me seeing a 21 year old influencer buy her third house while I can’t even afford a sunscreen

The woman in the image is Katrina Kaif, a British actor who primarily work in Bollywood films

  • GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    7 hours ago

    I don’t know a single influencer. I have no clue what they do in their daily lives or how much money they earn.

    My advice, get off social media. That’s what supports them, that’s what causes brain rot. Two good reasons why.

  • U7826391786239@piefed.zipEnglish
    92·
    8 hours ago

    can you really get mad at influencers though? they would have nothing if no one liked and subscribed them

    the problem is the same as it’s always been–herd mentality, FOMO, and whatever reptile brain bullshit urge people have hardwired to consume garbage and then try to justify/rationalize it

      • U7826391786239@piefed.zipEnglish
        11·
        7 hours ago

        you think taking away the influencer would solve the problem? if it wasn’t influencer A, it would be influencer B-- what’s the difference? there are countless other things one can devote time and attention to. it’s the consumer who chooses to look at influencer bullshit.

        so pretty much, yea. we’re really going to blame the consumer on this one.

        • flandish@lemmy.worldEnglish
          9·
          7 hours ago

          chooses

          laughs in specifically addictive design patterns.

          would you blame an addict for being addicted?

          the problem is corporations. always is. always has been.

          • U7826391786239@piefed.zipEnglish
            34·
            7 hours ago

            if drug traffickers (aka corporations) were the only ones in control of anything, then we would ALL be addicted. we’re not.

            you can’t escape the fact that at some point decisions are made by the people who then become victims. the question is what drives people to make that poor initial decision?

            again (and again and again)–herd mentality, FOMO, whatever it is that drives people to eat shit

            take away the addictive thing, people will find something else to become dependent on

        • dandelion (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          6·
          7 hours ago

          the question you have raised is about moral responsibility - who is more responsible for the shitty behavior of the influencer, the influencer doing their behavior, or the consumer who subscribes and consumes their content?

          I don’t think there is any question that the consumer’s views and subscriptions provide the basis of the success or failure of an influencer - and in that sense, what consumers tend to view controls what influencers succeed and fail.

          But consumers are not choosing to view content in a completely neutral context, i.e. they aren’t looking at influencer A or B on their merits or behavior alone, instead there are all kinds of ways that consumers are directed to view some content and not other content: SEO manipulation, the algorithm, etc. all change what consumers even see and interact with.

          So no, I don’t think it’s the consumer primarily responsible for driving traffic to one kind of influencer or another.

          And regardless, I think it’s the influencer who is most morally responsible for their behavior regardless of the audience that might motivate them.

          Finally, I think you have ignored the most important factor in deciding who succeeds or fails: the corporate platform and how it prioritizes one kind of content over another. Neither the influencer nor the consumer are primarily in control of where attention is placed, the platform which manipulates and controls what content shows up in search and recommendation feeds are primarily in control.

          • U7826391786239@piefed.zipEnglish
            11·
            7 hours ago

            of course the influencer (or whoever is paying/controlling them)is in control of their own content, actions, behavior–and yes the entire machine is designed to manipulate behavior

            but are you looking at influencers, giving them traffic? i can tell you i’m not. so what happened?

            we go back to my first comment-- herd mentality, FOMO, whatever it is that drives people to eat shit.

            influencers are a symptom of a problem. taking them away doesn’t solve the problem, which is societal. before influencers it was reality tv. before reality tv it was jerry springer. before that–shitty daytime soap operas. and on and on, all the way back to ancient greek drama. sorry, i don’t have the solution, other than to say maybe the people perpetuating this shit deserve a little of that criticism, ridicule, mockery too