Once upon a time, news came from strange old people in suits, sitting behind desks, deadpanning about interest rates, political scandals and something ominous called “the markets.” You might not have trusted them, but at least they looked like they hadn’t been paid in free teeth-whitening kits.
Fast-forward to today, I have just read a news report saying “one in five Americans” now say they get their news from social media influencers. In the UK, Ofcom tells us that over half of internet users rely on social media as their primary news source. That’s not “I saw a clip of Newsnight on TikTok,” that’s “this is where I go to find out what’s going on in the world”. Presumably between a bitcoin video and a collagen powder discount code.
Now, here’s the real question. Did these people ever watch proper news before influencers turned it into content with background music and ‘link in bio’? Or is this the first time they’ve felt informed, because it came with emojis and a face they trust from reality TV?
The thing about traditional journalism is that, at its best, it’s accountable, fact-checked and has at least some ethical standards. Whereas some influencers are entirely unregulated, deeply unqualified, and incentivised not by truth, but by reach, likes and occasionally a PR package containing fake tan and a “collaboration opportunity.”
Remember when a slew of influencers in the UK got caught promoting a cryptocurrency scam? They didn’t know what it was, they just knew it paid better than a protein bar sponsorship. Or when people started burning 5G towers because an influencer decided COVID was a government mind-control plot? It’s the informational equivalent of letting your toddler set the satnav and wondering why you end in a ditch…
More recently, some have promoted everything from miracle cures to “just asking questions” about conflicts they couldn’t locate on a map, usually while standing in front of a ring light. There was one particularly alarming moment when a beauty influencer gave her audience a breathy explainer on Middle Eastern geopolitics: somewhere between her “date night lashes” tutorial and an affiliate link for a water bottle.
The real horror here isn’t that they’re making it up, it’s that so many people take it at face value. Because when someone you follow daily says, “This is literally what’s happening right now,” many take it as gospel. It doesn’t matter if they’ve confused Harlequins with Holland.
Influencers are personable. They tell stories. They film from their kitchen, and they cry when someone gets kicked off Love Island. You feel like you know them – scary…
And let’s be honest, real news is often complicated, grim and inconvenient because you have to tune in at a certain time or play catch up. Influencer news is bite-sized, when you have five minutes spare, emotionally charged and morally clear. No nuance, no sources, no follow-up. Just a hot take and a call to action that usually ends with “Don’t forget to subscribe.”
If the current trend continues, we’ll have a generation that thinks diplomacy is conducted over Instagram Live and that fact-checking is something people do when they’re “being negative.” We risk a public so immune to actual reporting that unless the story comes with a GRWM (get ready with me) video, it’s just not worth knowing.
And as for democracy? Hard to say. But I doubt the founding fathers had “micro-influencer collabs” in mind when they championed free speech.
We need to ask questions. Not just about what’s being said, but who is saying it, and why. Was this post sponsored, and if so who by? Are they qualified to speak on this issue? Did they read beyond the headline? (Did you?)
We don’t need to cancel every influencer who has an opinion, but we do need to stop pretending that likes equal legitimacy. Because when the line between news and nonsense is blurred beyond recognition, we all lose, unless your definition of current events involves a conspiracy, a lip enhancer, and a pouty pose in a war zone.
Get your news from someone who knows what they’re talking about – remember people like Jeremy Paxman ?
Photo by Christine slay
