The more I delve into social media, the more I see it as detrimental to society, particularly for young people. It is both shallow and omnipresent.

It appears to be quite addictive as well. Older teenagers report being “almost constantly” online, averaging nearly five hours each day, with much of that time wasted on the toxic realms of social media.

An additional troubling aspect for the youth and society is the rise of full-time influencers.

Excluding celebrities — whose careers are already in the limelight — there exists a group of ordinary individuals abandoning traditional jobs in favor of pursuing social media influence. While I support influencers as a part of a vibrant capitalist system, I am concerned that they entice young individuals to forsake substantial work in pursuit of hollow fame. This phenomenon fosters consumerism, deception, and self-absorption.

The allure of influencing captivates the young and naive

Various websites now assist aspiring influencers in figuring out how many followers are necessary to earn enough to “quit the day job.” To achieve an income of about $34,000 annually, a YouTube influencer would require at least 1,000 subscribers and over 8 million views per year.

With platforms like Instagram hosting over 2 billion active users and YouTube even more, influencers need just a small slice of that audience to secure a decent living. Thus, it’s easy to see why many are drawn to becoming professional influencers.

Nonetheless, the highest-earning Instagram influencers are typically celebrities or athletes — like my 11-year-old’s favorite soccer player, Lionel Messi. Messi commands at least $2.5 million per sponsored post on his Instagram, which boasts over 500 million followers.

Most aspiring influencers will never achieve a fraction of that level of fame or wealth. However, I notice numerous individuals on my own Instagram feed announcing they’ve left their jobs to become full-time content creators.

I’m not referring to people like Mark Rober, the innovative and engaging former NASA engineer turned internet science guru adored by both kids and parents. Rather, I mean individuals who have shifted from stable jobs post-college to becoming full-time content creators, sharing snippets of their lives or focusing on particular themes like dating or fitness.

Opinion: Parents require assistance in monitoring their kids’ social media usage. A government ban could help.

A 2019 Harris Poll revealed that children in the U.S. are three times more inclined to aspire to be YouTubers than astronauts. The allure is evident — after all, one does not need substantial expertise or years of education to upload videos on YouTube.

Donaldson, a college dropout, initially gained traction with videos centered around online gaming. He now has over 340 million subscribers and a multimillion-dollar business, including candy bars that are popular among kids.

MrBeast himself acknowledges that achieving success as an influencer demands immense dedication, a fact I fully agree with.

In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Donaldson stated: “For five years, I was obsessively and unhealthily focused on learning about virality, analyzing the YouTube algorithm. I would wake up, order food through Uber Eats, and then spend the entire day on my computer studying  continuously alongside other YouTubers.”

However, this obsession with virality concerns me, especially when the content often appears trivial or meaningless. For instance, MrBeast gained immense popularity in 2017 with a video where he counted to 100,000.

While I understand that not every child aspires to be the next Elon Musk or George Orwell, and I admit that MrBeast’s wealth and charitable endeavors outshine mine, I question whether attaining wealth and fame is the ultimate goal today.

Not everything in life has to be educational, but given how much social media is shallow and misleading, I find myself pondering its impact on us as individuals and as a community.

Social media influencers promote artificial lifestyles

A significant issue with social media influencers is that a lot of their content is fabricated, leading their followers to become enamored with lives that don’t truly exist.

Influencers tend to concentrate on trending niches like home decor, parenting, romantic relationships, or fitness. They leverage their perceived lifestyle choices into brand deals and profit from selling their merchandise as well as soliciting funds from their fan base.

According to Influencer MarketingHub’s State of Influencer Marketing Report, the influencer marketing industry has reached a staggering value of $21.1 billion.

However, social media profiles that merely illustrate the highlights of someone’s existence can be as genuine as a Kardashian.

Most adults have enough life experience to see through these illusions. (Though, I must admit, I sometimes find myself scrolling through Instagram and questioning why my home isn’t as tidy as those presented.)

My concern is that many adolescents and younger kids don’t grasp the extent of the superficiality in social media influencing. It’s likely that the unrealistic and polished content contributes to the rising levels of depression and anxiety reported among the youth in America.

Former model Kaila Uli shared in her TikTok videos that influencers in Los Angeles often rent extravagant cars and lavish homes to project a lifestyle they do not genuinely possess. “Many creators rent these places weekly, film their content, and make it seem like they reside there,” she explained.

Even at its best, social media influence presents a work and lifestyle devoid of purpose. It is a form of self-indulgence online that harms both the viewers and the creators of this content.

The Netflix show “Hype House” showcases a group of youthful TikTok and YouTube creators living in a Los Angeles mansion as they strive to become viral sensations. The show’s self-referential premise—about kids trying to create their own “shows” to gain fame—feels trivial and even troubling to me.

In Neil Postman’s 1985 book “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” he stated, “Americans no longer converse; they entertain one another. They don’t share ideas; they share images.”

Postman’s insights came long before Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to start Facebook. Today’s social media landscape is far more chaotic than he could have ever envisaged.

The allure of fame is undoubtedly strong, and for young individuals immersed in social media, the chance to earn big seems tantalizingly close.

But I must inquire: Is this truly how you envision spending your only life?

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist for YSL News. She resides in Texas with her four children.