Distribution of Voice

Back in March I wrote about the instrumental role that social media influencers played in promoting the concept of social distancing, amid the emergence of COVID-19. In just a few days, this obscure idea — social distancing — became ubiquitous. I don’t think that this norm would have gained traction nearly as quickly without the catalyst of social capital earned by the influencers among us.

As we now begin to round the corner on this virus, it’s clear that influencers will again play an instrumental role — this time in generating enthusiasm for the vaccinations that have been developed. In fact, the WHO is orchestrating an influencer campaign specifically for this purpose. That’s right…the World Health Organization is now in the business of influencer marketing.

This is a good opportunity to reflect on the role that influencers have come to play in our world. Just ten years ago, the concept of the social media influencer barely existed. Influencers have since become the primary force through which to spread information about everything from products to social justice causes to public health. Many influencers on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok now have more leverage in affecting public opinion than most politicians, businesses, and media outlets.

This is, of course, a double edged sword. On one hand, it’s very democratic to distribute this authority among the many, as opposed to concentrating it in a few select institutions. On the other hand, influencers now have the power to spread information about topics on which they are not really informed. It is for this reason that not only information but also misinformation has rampantly spread over the past few years.

So I pose the question to you — do the things that we’ve gained from this distribution of voice outweigh the things that we’ve lost?

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