Hey there,

In my line of work, authenticity and transparency are of the utmost importance. I teach my students to do the research to find what is real, truthful, and honest. I teach information literacy, which is researching for credible sources to back up thoughts, ideas, and arguments. I teach them to question what is real or not and who is telling the truth or not. 

I work with Gen Z daily, and I see what they are going through when it comes to social media and influencers. My students are on TikTok and Instagram for many hours a day, and they are constantly being bombarded with influencers through whatever algorithm is their feed. As a Gen Xer, I have no idea how those words just came to my head HA! Anyway, none of it makes sense to me. They constantly see people trying to sell them things, get them to join in on activities, or even hire a coach of some sort. Can they decipher who is being truthful or not, or what is real or not? 

Maybe it is my age, but I want honesty and reality. I want the truth to be fed to me, not false news or any sort of information that comes from someone being paid as an influencer or speaker of untruths. Also, how can a single person have so much influence over so many people, and why? Are they THAT cool? Or are they being paid to feed into the young minds of Gen Z? I just hope that Gen Zers do the research and look into these so-called influencers and see what is truthful or not. 

Okay, okay, I can understand the people on videos explaining about a product that they liked or disliked, and their viewers watching the product reviews. When influencers first started explaining products, it seemed more real. Now, I just see people with unrealistic lifestyles and fake everything, just for the money and the “likes”. I am unsure about the realm of influence; they seem more like ‘pushers’ to me… pushers of the products. They also seem insincere at times. I can equate it to commercials on TV where it says in tiny print at the bottom of the screen: “This is a paid actor.”