the last butterfly of its kind emerges from a chrysalis to the world ignited in flame, earth scorched and torn asunder. And yet, amidst ash, the butterfly flaps its wings and takes flight.
Vulnerability’s Overwhelming Presence in Social Media
There’s a trend that I (and I’m sure many other people) have noticed recently when influencer’s express vulnerability on their social media accounts.
Since its inception, the Internet has been a platform in where people relish at the opportunity to create a personality profile that may be completely different to their offline equivalent. An individual can portray themselves as dripping in luxury items 24/7, or another could become the paragon of social justice; or there could be someone who just wants to start drama with every person they come in contact with. Online, there really is no cap on what direction you want to take, or how often you want to change who you are. Influencers, however, have a more difficult time achieving this freedom due to their curated identity being the thing that makes them money. That’s not to say that ALL influencers are fake or develop different personalities in order to be successful, but imo there’s a sliver of truth in this.
When looking at the beauty and wellness community, for example, both top and mid-tier influencers tend to have an intensely curated look and feel to their channels and IG pages, fresh and edited to look as relevant as possible. The caveat here, however, is that the audience eventually loses interests in overly curated content, and viewership begins to wane. This is what influencers are currently dealing with on all social platforms, and it seems like none of them really understand what’s the cause of it, when the answer may be as simple -and much closer to home- than they think.
The influencers who tend to express concerns about their viewership declining tend to be the ones where their tastes in products grew into a price range that the audience could no longer afford. This problem is exacerbated by them receiving so much PR that entire videos are dedicated to unboxing the sent product. While some viewers seek channels whose sole purpose is to be seen dripping in luxury, you’d also notice that said influencer’s numbers are not as affected. There’s a reason why the one who doesn’t care to be materialistic on camera does better than the other who attempts to be wholesome while holding an expensive exfoliator.
The problem is not just that you outgrew your audience, it’s the fact that you don’t understand that it’s a problem in the first place.
So the individual continues to post curated content that neither feels fresh nor benefits the audience it was developed for, and the more the influencer pushes, the more said audience considers that person “fake” or “disingenuous.” The reason why the materialistic influencer has consistent viewership is due to them accepting their personality and feeling comfortable in it, whereas the wholesome attitude that comes from the latter user, while it may not entirely be a facade, is most likely amped up to the nth degree on social media, which is easily seen through by their audience, and the lack of relatable content plus their suspiciously saccharine personality tears influencer and said audience apart.
Now it’s time to introduce the newest trend sweeping social media by storm: vulnerability.
Given the social climate in the U.S., where society is beginning to unravel and acknowledge some of its problematic behaviors, being empathetic and sensitive to these transitions are prevalent in general day to day conversation. For influencers, however, it seems that this change suggests that their vulnerability is something that will pique the audience’s interests once again, and also helps with the possible issue of disassociating from your online personality. So the influencer now has content that they deem relevant and fresh again, which is to appear as down-to-earth and vulnerable as possible on their social accounts, usually through vlogs or insta-stories. To an extent, their hunch is correct: everyone can relate to someone going through hard times, or feeling anxious and/or depressed, or having a personal trauma that distances you socially. Seeing someone in such an influential position can help normalize some of the stigmas in our society, which is important work in and of itself. The problem that we as viewers run into, however, is that vulnerability itself has become curated.
Watch any major influencers apology vlog or “opening up” insta-story in the past few months and I guarantee you will find a video or thread of stories that (generally) has the following formula:
1. Sitting on the floor, typically by the couch
2. Little to no makeup
3. Introducing the video by crying freely for 10-20 seconds (if it’s a vlog)
4. Announcing that you’ve been crying for the past x amount of minutes (if it’s an insta-story)
Now, here it branches out dependent on the content from the video. If it’s an apology video, you’ll typically see a roundabout attempt at apologizing for whatever it was that the influencer did, or more rarely, someone actually apologizing for their actions. If it’s a video opening up about your feelings, you’ll usually get content that possibly feels genuine, but the way it’s presented comes off awkwardly. Realizing that the video not only follows a formula, but may also be monetized (which I recognize some people may not care if such a personal video is flagged for revenue), lessens the effect it has on the audience, and once again, the influencer runs into their age old problem of coming off as disingenuous.
Influencers have also blamed YouTube and Instagram’s algorithm for the dip in their viewership, and given that I am not a person of influence, I can neither confirm nor deny that with personal experience. A recent article I’ve read sort of broke down the algorithm change in Instagram, where before the change, your photo’s engagement was at its peak for the first 72 minutes of it going live. Now with the updated algorithm, your photo is less likely to top the feed when it goes live, dependent on the engagement of the photo. However, the photo lasts longer on the feed and has the opportunity to surface more often than before. I’m an unsure if the algorithm change is something that has long-term benefits/short-term losses, and those who are counting their money now can’t see how it may benefit them in the future, but for now Influencers have taken different strategies to amend their losses.
A majority of users have now taken to Insta-stories, a quick and easy way to create content on the fly in order to engage your audience. “Take a look into my day to day,” the influencer entices, and the viewer, for a while, is entertained. But let’s be real, unless you’re open about every endeavor, the content that one could show day-to-day quickly becomes redundant, and we run into the good ole issue of viewer fatigue.
The subject of vulnerability is a touchy one, because no one is suggesting that people can’t express themselves and be open about their vulnerabilities. I personally encourage both those with a media presence and those off the grid to share their personal experiences as they see fit. What I can’t back, however, is what seems like a manipulative attempt to become relevant again by taking advantage of such a raw form of expression. When you, as the viewer, watch someone “come out” or speak about their trauma, you see the pain or nervousness that comes with these topics. Now, what you see from the major players on social media are overly curated videos of vulnerability that seem like a generic store brand of eye drops.
This is from the show ‘Alfred J Kwak’. The girl is called Winnie (named after Winnie Mandela) and in the show she’s an immigrant from ‘Homeland’ where black ducks are violently oppressed by colonist white geese. When she’s introduced her and her family are refugees trying to find asylum in ‘Great Waterland’, but face opposition from the racist government.
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