Being easily influenced is something that this generation has suffered from tremendously. Whether it’s having the new Owala water bottle or the iPhone 17, people feel pressured to buy it just because it is trending. Consumerism is rising faster now than it ever has before and it is harming young people’s sense of value and purpose. Driving this trend is the rise of internet influencer culture and the illusion that anyone can become a successful influencer. 

Influencers can earn six figures posting selfies on social media but at the same time, many influencers undergo anxiety, stress, and identity crisis.  According to Ryan Hilliard during his NPR interview, a person will need to have about a million followers to influence a full-time career. In terms of math- that is about less than 1% likely to achieve. Content creators, especially mukbangers, have spoken out before about the stress they undergo when creating videos to promote items. These creators quite literally spend the money they earn to go towards the videos they create, and most of the time don’t receive a valid amount of likes or views. Not only does this create a negative impact on the influencer, but the people who are watching feel the need to indulge on things because others are. 

This brings people to question: how much does it take to become a successful influencer? Well, that’s simple: it takes keeping up with trends, ideas, sponsorships, and even more. Social media apps such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat influence individuals from all over the world to participate in the same lifestyle as creators. From a viewer’s perspective, it looks extremely fun and easy to live life as an individual who is an influencer, but it’s the complete opposite.

Many influencers experience burning out from constantly chasing trends and fear of irrelevance if they take a break. Rewards may not outweigh the sacrifices influencers go through either; influencers can spend hours or even days editing and viewers will only see the highlights of the clips that took hours of negotiating and strategizing behind the screen. In a report titled, “Beyond the filter: Impact of popularity on the mental health of social media influencers,” researchers discovered a surprising connection between the number of followers an influencer had and their overall mental health: the more followers, the more their mental health declined, likely from the increased pressure to keep up with follower expectations.  

Some may wonder how Gen Z ties into influencer culture. According to Self.inc “Over half (57%) of people in the Gen Z age group said they often buy items after seeing them on social media.” This statistic reveals how consumerism, social media, and trends play a role in shaping Gen Z’s sense of identity and purpose. 

I’ve witnessed people I’ve known for years fall victim to comparison culture, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), and identity struggles. Becoming an influencer is not a legitimate career path because it causes people to compare themselves to people who are more “famous” than them. I would never consider myself an influencer if my mental health was declining because I didn’t feel like enough. That’s the thing people miss: who is truly being themselves when they are online in front of a camera? Will they still be relevant if they don’t participate in a particular trend? Are they still as valuable if someone else does it “better”? Influencers might look like they have it all together on screen, but behind the scenes, the reality might not be as perfect.  

Chasing for the fame and fortune that comes with being an influencer ultimately comes with a cost. No matter how many likes, followers, or amount of the trends a person follows, someone will always end up trapped in the loop of consumerism, stress, and comparison.