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Our topic in the Erasmus+ program is media literacy: influencers. This page was created to raise awareness about the influence of influencers. It contains a description of the influencer profession, an interview with an influencer, and survey results.
Influencers
Influencers have a significant impact on social media. These are people who have gained many followers on social networks. They create videos, opinions and shape trends. They use various platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Myspace to spread their influence.
The influence of influencers on young people can be very strong. Many look up to influencers as role models and try to imitate them. Influencers often promote certain products or services, which can influence young people's shopping habits. In addition, they can affect their self-image and self-confidence, as young people often compare themselves to the idealized image presented by influencers.
Our project focuses on understanding the impact of influencers. The purpose of our survey, which we will present in more detail in the next chapter, is to get a sense of how young people perceive influencers, their impact on society and the consequences. We expect that the survey will show that young people recognize both positive and negative aspects of influencers, and that they are aware of the need for critical thinking when using social media.
Survey
The purpose of the survey was to find out how young people perceive influencers, how they influence them and the positive and negative consequences of their participation on social networks. The survey was completed by 117 students. Below are the survey results presented and analyzed.
Survey Results
We found that most students spend between 2 and 4 hours on their phone. On average, a student spends 2.7 hours per day on their phone, which is significantly less than the average person who spends about 4.5 hours.
Despite the fact that most think influencers have a negative impact, many still follow them regularly.
Most of us quickly notice when an influencer's post is sponsored (or at least we think so)
Interview with an Influencer
As part of our project, we conducted an interview with influencer Marko Žerjal. The interview was conducted via text and focuses on his role as an influencer, his influence on followers and his views on influencer marketing.
1. How would you describe your role as an influencer?
"I don't know, because I'm not sure what that word exactly means. If I understand correctly, it comes from the marketing field and denotes someone who uses their reach on social networks to promote various products or services. If that's true, then I certainly fall into this category, but influencing was never my goal, just a way to make paying bills easier."
2. How do you assess your influence on followers?
"I think my influence isn't particularly big. People do respond to my calls to come see me live, but not in excessively large numbers."
3. How do you choose brands or products to promote?
"I collaborate with brands that seem trustworthy and offer me good terms of cooperation."
4. Have you ever refused to collaborate with a particular brand? Why?
"Several times, either because they seemed suspicious or because they deal with something I don't consider appropriate to advertise to an audience that includes younger viewers - for example, gambling."
5. Do you think influencers affect their followers' purchasing decisions? If yes, how?
"To some extent certainly, but I think this influence is relatively small."
6. Do you agree that influencers have an influence on young people?
"To some extent, yes."
7. How do you see the future of influencer marketing?
"I think influencer marketing will continue to grow in importance as traditional media slowly declines."
8. What advice would you give to someone who wants to become an influencer?
"Rather approach it as a side project and have some other primary activity."
Now we've learned about opinions on the influence of influencers from both perspectives. Both perspectives have fairly similar and comparable views. However, we assume that not all influencers are the same (for example, which sponsors they choose to work with). We sincerely thank Žerjal for his cooperation and encourage you to check out his interesting content.