laurasandiaa reflection on today’s social media culture
Right now, I am sitting in front of the beach on a chic bohemian hostel on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. And what do I see? Well, except for the ocean I see many beautiful women taking selfies of themselves. Fancy clothes, extensive makeup, forced smiles, well-known posing. Some even have their own photographer with a very expensive camera.
Sometimes, they look at each other with sceptical eyes, and when they get together, they start to talk in a high pitched voice, exchanging forced smiles and unintentional compliments. If they end up doing a photo collaboration, they seem to be best friends casually encountering each other at the beach. But really, they don’t even like each other, just each other’s followers. I guess it’s a win-win.
But when I sit here watching for a while, non of those girls do anything interesting — they actually all do the same boring stuff — posing in front of the ocean in a bikini, or in a fancy dress with a hat. They show a lot of skin, yes, but not a sparkle of creativity or uniqueness.
This influencer world needs to change. Our relationship with the influencer culture has to change. It shouldn’t all be about taking pictures of yourself in beautiful places. Something is missing there, isn’t it?
Scrolling through Instagram, I see the exact same thing happening. No matter if it’s a travel, lifestyle, beauty or fashion influencer — almost none of them is actually creative with their content. Pretty boring if you ask me. But it seems that the stereotype of an influencer is the pretty girl with beautiful clothes. Wait a minute …
Can I only be an influencer if I am beautiful and have money to visit exotic places?
I think we are missing something really important here. If you are an influencer, you should create art. You should name yourself a content creator — which ultimately is an artist. And the content, in my opinion, should be a reflection of your being, your passion, your skills. Not just your face and body from different angles and in different clothes and places. If you have the power to reach and influence thousands or millions of people, you should use it wisely.
The problem here is – demand determines supply.
There only exist so many superficial influencers because there exist even more people that follow them vigorously.
I think the problem lies much deeper. Yes, in the society and its beauty norms and standards, but I am referring to much, much deeper. The problem lies in the individual — you and me. Most of us are living a life we don’t like, doing a job we despise and neglecting our actual skills and passions. Let’s be real here, most of us are super-duper timid and insecure when it comes to how we look. That is the reason why we are addicted to our phones, following beautiful people that represent exactly what we are searching for — living the life we cannot have. In the hope that one day this spark will reach us, too.
Bullshit.
I think it is safe to say that this strategy is doomed to fail. Rather than concentrating all our efforts and energy on others, we should better stop looking outside and start to invest in ourselves, and our art.
Each and every one of us is an artist, we just need to find that spark of creativity inside of us. And with that I don’t mean you need to start painting for singing, your art can be anything that motivated you to create. Artists are creators. You find what you love and then you start to create from there. And if you want to be an influencer, you simply find a way to create content around your passion. Creation can happen in different shapes and forms like writing, painting, photography or video.
So my question is — what kind of influencer do you want to be?
And if you don’t want to be an influencer, which famous people are you investing your time in? Think about it. You will never get it back.
An influencer doesn’t need to have 1 million followers. If you can change the perspective of one single soul with your art, you are an influencer. And do me and this world a favour, be a good one. Share content that touches your heart, share your very unique point of view, share the experience that made you a better person. If everyone would do that, social media would have fulfilled its purpose.
And one last thing — before you influence anyone else, first pay attention to the kind of influencer you are for yourself.
- How do you influence yourself with your thoughts?
- Which concepts shape your mind?
- From which ideas do you create your future?
Become conscious of yourself and you will become conscious of the world.
But then again, this is only my opinion. Your truth can be another one, and that is ok.
Thank you for reading, my friend.
Thank you for appreciating my art!
Find more inspiring stories in word and picture on my Instagram and Youtube Channel.
