Should We Expect Every Influencer To Speak Up About Politics?
Influencers aren't journalists, and they aren't experts on news and politics, so maybe it's time to give them a break.
LightField Studios | Shutterstock Today, the world is all about social media influencers. Traditional celebrities like actors and athletes seem to have taken a backseat to TikTokers, YouTubers, and Instagrammers with thousands, if not millions, of followers. It’s these voices that people turn to in an effort to form opinions and make decisions.
Much like other celebrities, influencers are, of course, typically not qualified in any way to report on newsworthy events. Still, they are expected to be a new kind of journalist, sharing their thoughts on the state of the world between product promotions and “get ready with me” videos. Is it really fair to expect influencers to speak up about politics, though?
As much as people might like them to be, influencers are not journalists.
It’s easy to understand why people watch influencers in such large numbers. They make content that is meant to be consumed for entertainment. Watching the news is far from entertaining; in most cases, it’s just downright depressing. This could account for the fact that, according to a Reuters report, “55% of TikTok and Snapchat users and 52% of Instagram users get their news from ‘personalities’ — compared to 33-42% who get it from mainstream media and journalists on those platforms,” said VOA News.
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People have become so used to watching their favorite influencers and being informed on everything that seems important that they assume those same influencers can cover real-world events. This belief is changing the way people vote, a group of international researchers concluded in a study published in the journal Management Information Systems Quarterly.
Wael Jabr, an assistant professor at Penn State and one of the study co-authors, stated, “On the one hand, enhanced communication technologies enable voters to be more informed of public policies, so policymakers need to take into account this effect and moderate their positions. On the other hand, technological advancements also make information distortion less costly for influencers, leading to a more polarized society.”
As much as social media influencers may hold people’s attention, they are not journalists who have gone through years of higher education and other qualifications to reach the point they are at today. As the Baylor Lariat’s editorial board pointed out, “Instead, turn to trusted news sources and humanitarian activists. They are dedicating their lives to being experts on these important subjects. TikTok is not a news source, and the influencers on the platform are not reporters.”
You can still hold influencers to high standards without expecting them to have all the answers.
Ultimately, each person gets to choose who they support on social media. If they are not happy with a particular influencer’s actions or attitudes, they can simply unfollow them. As one Reddit user said, expecting an influencer who shares content about something like beauty or organization to share political information is a bit misplaced because they aren’t a political influencer with expertise in that area.
One TikToker named Whitney Catalano actually made a video with her thoughts on this topic. She said she understands fans’ frustration with influencers who do not speak out about important issues, but said, “Frankly, it’s kind of like an unfollow and refocus situation.” In other words, the power goes back into the hands of the fan and does not mean someone necessarily needs to be canceled for not addressing a newsworthy topic.
Influencers are not political experts and are under no obligation to speak up.
It’s normal to want people who have large platforms to speak up when something happens, especially with protests exploding across the U.S. regarding the Trump administration’s immigration policies. However, you wouldn’t expect to get a professional political commentary from your plumber or your hair stylist. They might share their opinion, but that’s all it is.
As the Baylor Lariat shared, the same is true of influencers. Although they have a lot of people listening to them, that doesn’t mean they know a lot about what is happening in the world. If they feel pressured to share, they could accidentally spread misinformation, which would further confuse and upset followers.
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If influencers feel comfortable sharing their political opinions, that’s fine. But they shouldn’t feel required to do so, especially when the stakes are so high, and saying something even slightly wrong could lead to them being canceled. Everyone has the right to keep their political opinions private if they choose to, and that same courtesy should be extended to influencers.
Again, who you follow is up to you, and if an influencer’s content makes you unhappy, you can “unfollow and refocus,” as Catalano suggested. Maybe it’s time to try moving on to someone who more closely aligns with your views. Just remember, that doesn’t mean you have to leave a trail of hate for the influencers you leave behind.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
