Education & Career Trends: September 17, 2024
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Article by Michal Malewicz, published on medium.com.
We’re dangerously close to having only influencers left on the social media platforms. It means they don’t have anyone to actually influence anymore.
Social media platforms are at a tipping point where genuine influence is eroding. What once served as a space for meaningful interactions and sharing of ideas has morphed into a sprawling ecosystem of influencers, micro-influencers, and smaller influencers, all vying for attention.
The irony is glaring: influencers, who should inspire and shape opinions, are increasingly speaking to others with the same goal—amplifying their own influence.
A System Stuck in a Loop
The concept of influencing has changed. It is no longer about reaching a diverse audience but about amplifying personal brand and reach. Thousands of smaller influencers now follow a single influencer, not because they are captivated by the content, but in the hopes of grabbing some reach for themselves. The loop continues with comments designed to gain followers, and it has become more about who can draw the most engagement than what is being said.
This trend of ‘engagement farming’—the practice of creating content purely for likes, shares, and clicks—has led to a diluted social media experience. The goal is no longer quality or value, but merely keeping up with the algorithm. This race for fleeting attention, combined with our shrinking attention spans, has devalued content.
An Unintentional Popularity Contest
This isn’t a new problem. In 2006, I (the author) created a startup in Poland that became an unintentional precursor to this phenomenon. It was a platform where users posted short sticky notes to one another, similar to early Twitter. While the platform became popular, it quickly devolved into a popularity contest where users begged for attention with messages like “Come to my wall and write me something nice!”—a foreshadowing of the current social media landscape.
Much like back then, today’s social media thrives on shallow interactions. Most posts aren’t conversations; they are one-way comments begging for engagement.
The Rise of DM Reciprocity
Another troubling trend is the rise of direct messaging (DM) as a tool for reciprocity. Influencers will slide into each other’s DMs, pretending to build friendships, but the true motive is often self-serving. If I’m nice to you, you’ll like or repost my content. It’s a social strategy that has infiltrated influencer culture, weakening the authenticity of online relationships.
The consequences of this are significant, not just for social media but for society at large. Influencers are increasingly focused on short-term gains, building personal brands that scream for attention rather than offer substance. This influencer-driven culture can create the illusion of success, where more followers or likes equate to relevance.
Everyone Wants to be an Influencer
The race for online fame is real. According to a 2019 Harris Poll, 30% of American kids want to become YouTubers, while in China, 60% aspire to be astronauts, with less than 20% going for social media fame. The shift towards social media stardom is creating a generation more interested in personal branding than actual skill development. Social media companies have normalized this, pushing individuals to remain relevant by staying loud and visible.
This shift has placed us on a hamster wheel, endlessly chasing numbers that, in reality, are meaningless. For instance, many Instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers struggle to get a fraction of that engagement on their posts. It’s clear that numbers don’t always reflect true influence or quality content.
The Broken System
We’ve reached a point where social media feels more like a popularity contest than a place for connection. The algorithms that determine who gets visibility are driving influencers to focus more on virality than quality. The result? Content becomes shallow, with little thought given to its real impact.
People don’t follow influencers for their content anymore; they do so with their own self-interest in mind. If an influencer succeeds, others try to copy them. If a post fails, they take note and adjust for their own benefit. Everyone is competing in the same space, fighting for the same fleeting moments of attention.
Is Longform Content the Solution?
Despite this trend, there is hope. A growing subset of social media users is tired of short, quick, and empty content. They seek value and substance, gravitating toward long-form content with real messages. The focus is shifting away from gaming the algorithm to presenting genuine quality.
While the system is far from fixed, there is a slow but steady movement towards meaningful engagement. As creators realise the futility of empty numbers, they’re beginning to prioritise depth over superficial reach. After all, one engaged follower who values a thoughtful post is worth more than a thousand who scroll past a flashy video.
In a world obsessed with fast content and inflated follower counts, the true value lies in meaningful connections. Perhaps, over time, the pursuit of quality will triumph over the algorithmic chase for attention.
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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