How We Let Teenagers Run the World's Marketing
In a world gone mad, academics have finally noticed that letting social media 'influencers' run wild might not be the brightest idea. While bureaucrats fumble with regulations, teenagers are being influenced to buy rubbish they don't need by people famous for being famous. God help us all.
Let’s talk about influencers. Not the old-school sort you might actually remember—a television host with a bit of flair, a columnist with a pinch of wit—but the modern “influencer.” These are the social media demigods, if you can even call them that, flooding our Instagram feeds, popping up between the TikTok dances, and raking in millions. They’re like some strange new species, with an apparent mission to get us to buy whatever they’re hawking. But while they may have the power to convince people to buy things, they’re as regulated as a toddler with a credit card in a toy shop.
This isn't an idle complaint from the over-30 crowd. Influencers—especially the ones with million-strong followings—are shaping habits, pushing products, and have somehow managed to weasel their way into becoming the poster children of consumer culture. And yet, there’s almost no legislation in place that stops them from selling whatever they fancy, in whatever way they fancy, to an audience that ranges from savvy 20-somethings to, more worryingly, children barely old enough to spell “influencer.”
