I'm over lifestyle influencers
If you've ever watched a daily vlog, a package unboxing, or a clothing haul on YouTube, you may understand the appeal of lifestyle influencers. These manicured, subtly-filtered people — who are usually women — enchant their viewers with their ringlit videos and highly-curated Instagram feeds.
Even before COVID, these types of influencers were facing backlash for a number of reasons — quitting their "real" jobs, contributing to unattainable body image ideals, selling snake oil, among others.
Now, nearly a year into the pandemic, there's more to loathe than ever. I'm over lifestyle influencers, and I don't know if I can ever go back.
Some capital-i Influencers have made themselves easy targets for ire, like TikToker Bryce Hall, who threw parties with more than 100 guestsin the midst of the pandemic. Another, Tana Mongeau, blatently said she "doesn't fucking care"about COVID safety precautions.
But even the influencers who've taken the pandemic seriously, who've stayed inside and paraded their masked faces on camera going to Trader Joe's — I'm over them too. As they've continued to document their "real" life, through selfie clips edited together with plucky music, I've became more and more disillusioned.
SEE ALSO:Harnessing the power of social media to help young people quit vapingAt the start of the pandemic, influencers had the same confusion and panic as the rest of the internet/country/world. They vlogged their days at home and the empty store shelves; some cried to their DSLRs.
As someone who was equally confused and panicked at the start of this staying-at-home slog, I felt terrible watching these videos. They reflected my experience and made me all too aware of how widespread our new reality was. Hitherto, I'd watch lifestyle vlogs as entertainment, to kill time, or to find out if a brand was actually worth trying out. When the pandemic hit, vlogs ceased to offer any escape and only reminded me of our very real hellworld.
As 2020 wore on, my aversion to these videos only grew stronger. Some vloggers went the toxic positivityroute, always trying to find the "good" in the situation. Those were easy to take out of my usual rotation, but others were sneakier. They were more "real" about their experience — but a viewer has to examine how real it actually is. Footage in vlogs, just like any other piece of content, is handpicked, edited, filtered. If an influencer is having a bad day or sobbing on camera it's because they wanted you to see it; it's curated mess, curated "realness."
When the pandemic hit, vlogs ceased to offer any escape and only reminded me of our very real hellworld.
Beyond toxic positivity and selective negativity, another nefarious factor was at play: the need for influencers to sell. This was true before COVID, but even in the midst of the chaos these #ads never stopped. I've seen discount codes and diatribes about meal subscription boxes, beauty products, clothing, website domains — everything. When the world halted, influencers and brands kept churning out marketing material. Especially when millions of Americans are unemployed, a millionaire influencer hawking yet another moisturizer I don't need seemed tone deaf.
Yes, I know influencers make their living off sponsorships for superfluous products. During a global crisis, however, the need for this profession model seems more insignificant than ever.
So I've opted out of watching them hawk their wares. Surprisingly, however, I do still watch YouTube daily. Clicking away from lifestyle influencers actually allowed me to find a different genre that I find even more entertaining: commentary channels.
SEE ALSO:Here’s what you need to know about Clubhouse, the invite-only social appCommentary channels deep dive into current events while providing their own #takes and explore corners of the internet that haven't made the mainstream yet. The difference is not only the content, but the focus. Instead of being about the channel owner's day-to-day life, commentary channels are about the owner's interests, research, opinions.
These YouTubers gave way to film reviewers, political commentators, and other genres I never fully explored in the "lifestyle" trenches of Starbucks and lash extensions and #spon. Now when I go to YouTube, I'm greeted not with the same few (often white) smiling faces, but a variety of pop culture and societal dissections.
I won't say I'll never watch a vlog or an unboxing again — I'm only human. It's also true that non-influencer channels have paid sponsorships, although they tend to place them at the tail end of their videos and they seem tangential to the experience.
Regardless, the past year has made me examine my YouTube habits in a way I never had before. Instead of watching small glimpses of an influencer's day, I watch a commentary channel dig into a TikTok trend I didn't know about, or a pundit examine this week's political antics. I've realized I'd rather be on YouTube to benefit myself, not watch someone else's life through a selective lens.
(责任编辑:关于我们)
- North Korea says it conducted important test to develop multiple warhead missile
- How big tech should react to the FBI's conspiracy theories memo
- How big tech should react to the FBI's conspiracy theories memo
- 陈瑶生:育种本质是优选优配!新品种的差异化商业价值是其持续发展的根基
- Microwave technique recovers 87% of batteries' lithium in 15 minutes
- 实干担当抓落实 多措并举促发展
- North Korea still claims zero cases of COVID
- Let's all admire Wilfred Warrior, the ridiculous
- 抓实资助政策宣传 助力教育脱贫攻坚
- By a technicality, August's full moon is blue. Here's why.
- 渔约湛江最长情!“渔公子”倾情推介湛江金鲳鱼
- Uber and Lyft are clogging big city streets a little more than they thought
- Jewish nurse who treated suspected synagogue shooter 'chose to show him empathy'
-
Top 10 Most Significant Nvidia GPUs of All Time
Founded in 1993, Nvidia is a youngster when compared to other semiconductor companies. However, its ...[详细] -
银行卡一直放在身上,密码也从未透露他人,突然卡里的钱就没了!若遇到此事,我们第一反应定是立即向当地警方报警,然后到开户银行挂失。不久前,市民向女士就遇上了这样一件事,她银行卡一直放在身上,密码从未向外 ...[详细]
-
North Korea stays mum over suspected multiple missile launches
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / AP-Yonhap North Korea's state media remained silent Mon ...[详细] -
Watch John Lewis dance to 'Happy' at a Stacey Abrams campaign event
And now, your wholesome video of the week: Rep. John Lewis getting down to Pharrell's "Happy."CBS Ne ...[详细] -
Garmin Fenix 8 vs. Apple Watch Ultra: The Fenix wins big on battery life
Garmin's got a new flagship in its rugged smartwatch category, the Garmin Fenix 8. The company's Fen ...[详细] -
Domain registry moves to ban cryptocurrency names
Sorry, crypto companies, you can’t register a .bank domain name.fTLD Registry Services, which ...[详细] -
9至10月是楼市传统的销售旺季,被称之为房地产界的“金九银十”。在国庆、中秋期间,很多楼盘纷纷推出优惠,采用特价房、一口价、送物业、老带新等政策刺激销售。在假期快到来之际,想要在这两个月购房的置业者, ...[详细]
-
North Carolina early voting midterms: a diabolical new Republican ploy to suppress black turnout.
Since the 2013 Supreme Court decision overturning parts of the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina has ...[详细] -
近日,雅安市首届“文轩教育”校园足球精英夏令营顺利闭营。活动以市级联赛冠军队伍为班底,精英选手作为补充,遴选120名足球运动员、30名领队教练员参与,活动为期6天,共设置6个组别。市教育局相关负责人介 ...[详细]
-
雅安日报/北纬网讯市委办近日下发《关于认真做好学习贯彻市委四届四次全会精神宣讲工作的通知》,要求要在全市开展全覆盖的市委四届四次全会精神宣讲活动,全面准确深入阐释市委全会精神,切实增强宣讲的思想性、针 ...[详细]
Yoon touts pension reform drive amid stagnant popularity rating
Please enjoy a photo of Emmanuel Macron crushing Donald Trump's hand
- Update your BIOS: Utilities from Top Motherboard Makers
- Facebook removed hundreds of fake accounts tied to Saudi government
- Truth panel confirms North Korean forces' massacre of Christians during Korean War
- Let's all admire Wilfred Warrior, the ridiculous
- [Online Predators] Deepfake pornography haunts S. Korea
- 打造乡村大舞台,南农为歌者筑梦
- North Korea still claims zero cases of COVID