Influencers on social media: the older generation’s opinion
For those of us who are fortunate enough to have grandparents, we’ve all known that moment where they tell us that we spend too much time on our phones, computers, and, consequently, social media. Of course, their opinion regarding us can be subjective, so what do they really think of these platforms? And more specifically, the so called “Influencers”.
“Older” generation is quite a broad term and depending on the country and/or culture, a person can be considered old at very different ages. For the sake of giving it a definition, in general, young people consider old any age above of their parents’. Subsequently this research has been done focalising in men and women aged 45 or more.
The opinions differ from person to person, not just because of their personal differences, but also because of the range of different influencers that there are. In some cases, some older people actually follow influencers themselves, whether they’re specialised in fitness, cooking, fashion, you name it; and have a positive opinion about them. Everyone can find something that’s appealing to them and that can motivate them to get better at something or learn new skills in their area of interest. It is indeed safe to say that every generation can find something for them on social media.
On the other hand, most would think in fact that our previous generations do not view these things so positively as most of ours; and there is a part of truth in that. Of course, because they didn’t grow up with the same technological advances as the young people nowadays, their overall transition in digital society has been somewhat different, and in some cases, a bit more difficult. Some say that being an “influencer” isn’t a real job, so they don’t recognise its legitimacy. On the conservative side of the older generation, fashion “influencers”, men and women, get criticised by the explicit content that they post (e.g. bikini/short ads, partial nudes, erotic photos, etc…), but this kind of opinions can also be found among the younger conservatives, so nothing new. Other people really just don’t care, nor know the existence of this so-called job. It’s safe to say that influencers are gaining a bit more recognition every day by the older generation but by the time all of them accept this as a “real job”, who knows, maybe we ourselves will become part of that generation and make space for the upcoming young people, who today are still only kids.
Bottom-line is that regardless of your age, gender or culture; there’s something for everyone online. Maybe not everyone is in line with the new digital revolution and this new way of marketing through influencers; but the fact is, that to our knowledge, this isn’t going to change anytime soon…
