Band 5+: Influencers have taken social media by storm and millions of people, especially children look up to influencers as models for behaviour and style. Many children even say their dream job is to be an influencer. Do influencers have a responsibility to promote good behaviour? Should audiences give this much power to influencers?

In the contemporary era, social media is being ruled by influencers and numerous individuals, mainly children consider them as their inspiration because of their behavioural traits. In fact, young-aged people career ambition is now shifted to be an influencer. I strongly agree that it is imperative for the online persuaders to spread well-behaved manners as youngsters follow their footsteps; along with this, I also contemplate that the viewers of social media should not too much empower influencers.

To begin with, there is no doubt that a plethora of influencers in social media such as Instagram and Facebook are emerging on a daily basis; moreover, it is their duty to provide information which includes study-related, sports-oriented and culturally rooted videos because their audience base is majorly school-going children who learns from their favourite personalities and try to copy their style in everyday lives. For instance, my eight-year-old niece follows a renowned dancer on Instagram and has learnt the classical dance by watching the dancer’s reels; since these videos are educational it has persuaded her, and she dreams to become a prestigious classical dancer in future.

On the other hand, instead of completely devoting to influencers by giving them more authority, it is necessary to view their videos on web solely for entertainment purposes. Furthermore, social media users of all ages should watch their beloved celebrity’s dance, motivational speech, and concert only during their spare time, and should be mindful of the time being spent online without empowering them largely. For example, I watch lifestyle-related YouTube videos for twenty-minutes everyday with a reminder to stop watching soon after the stipulated time. In this way, I am not addicted to online media too much.

To recapitulate, influencers are dominating the social media platforms, and it is their responsibility to showcase appropriate behaviours as children follows their methods and aspire to become like them. Nevertheless, audience attention on influencers should be limited.