Problematic influencers do not deserve a platform

Within recent years, influencers have become a prominent part of society. This term refers to content creators on various apps, such as TikTok and Instagram, with large social followings— often building their careers on their online presence. Influencing has become a full-time job for many people, allowing them to make thousands of dollars through sponsorships and paid advertising. 

Influencers come from all different backgrounds, which is beneficial as it gives people with different experiences a platform, but unfortunately, it has become apparent that some incredibly well-known influencers are actually horrible people underneath their social media facade. As a society, we need to stop supporting influencers through our viewership after they are exposed as bad people.  

A prime example of problematic influencers are those that encourage eating disorders, especially in young teens. These influencers often post body checks (taking pictures or posting videos of themselves to check if they are ‘thin’ enough), thinspo (content that encourages an unhealthy body image), and unrealistic meals and standards that are consumed by the audience can have long-lasting impacts on those who come across this kind of content, especially at young and vulnerable ages. 

While at first glance, these people may appear as fitness influencers, their behavior is damaging and is often called out by many. Despite this, some people continue supporting them by buying their products, completing their workout routines, or watching their videos. 

Another damaging type of influencer is those who contribute to the negativity online. There are influencers from different platforms who constantly comment negative things under other’s posts or make their own content to tear down groups of people. 

Continuing to support people who spread hate every day only contributes to making the internet a hateful place. Influencers who constantly call other creators or celebrities fat, ugly, untalented, and other insults can make the viewers believe that is okay. It is not; bullying has never been acceptable and never will be.

Another type of problematic influencer that I will mention is especially disturbing. There have been many influencers called out over the years for continuous animal abuse and neglect. This may seem like something that would be obvious from their profile, but many have become very skilled at hiding their true self.

A prime example of this comes from an influencer who has risen to internet fame over the past few years, Rhegan Coursey, known as Rhegan777, on the internet. She is a popular creator on TikTok with over four million followers. For a short period, she lived in an influencer house known as The Go House, a content house made up of Irish TikTok personalities.  

A few years after Rhegan left the house, the creators she lived with began exposing her abusive treatment of her cat. Rhegan originally claimed her cat ran away; this was disproved by influencers who witnessed her mistreat and neglect the cat to the point of death. 

Although Rhegan released countless apologies and admission of guilt, she quickly began posting normal content again. Today, this situation is almost completely erased from her platform, with full support from followers. It is discouraging— animal abuse is a black-and-white issue that these influencers should not gloss over. 

This example shows just how important it is to educate yourself about the people you choose to follow and listen to on social media. People can easily cover up terrible things they have done with almost no remorse or repercussions. 

As content consumers, we cannot continue to support these influencers who have one thing on their minds: money. Buying their merchandise, subscribing to their channels, commenting on posts, and even just viewing their content should not be normalized or condoned.