Are We Over Influenced?

Fashion Details:

Today I’m asking a big question and a funny one too…are we over influenced?  Yes the “influencer” is asking if you are over influenced. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially on the heels of the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.  That sale was everywhere on Instagram and blogs and it felt like overload. Or as one reader said it was the Blogger Olympics.  

I swear I saw the same sweater 100 times in one day.  And I even bought that sweater! Partly because I liked it and partly because it was burned into my head over the course of two days.  It was a great example of being “influenced” to buy a product. When I got the sweater it was a complete fail, in fact, I posted why it was such a fail on my Insta stories.  I was sad too. This hyped up sweater was a total bust and I felt a little taken by everyone who posted this sweater. I felt misled to be honest.  

What Is An Influencer? 

According to Google, an influencer is “an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with his/her audience…an individual who has a following in a particular niche, which they actively engage with.”

After I read that definition I decided that everyone I follow on social media is an influencer in some way.  And we’ve actually been influenced for years and haven’t realized it. Think back 20 years ago.  If someone came to work or school wearing a super cute top you’d ask her where it was from and then go buy it. It took about a week to accomplish this task.  This may happen once a month. But with social media it happens every minute of the day.

It happens so often because we see way more people a day now.  Now these aren’t hard core facts, but 20 years ago you probably saw less than 50 people a day.  You would only see people that you actually interacted with on a daily basis. Whether it was walking down the street or talking to something at work.  Flash forward to today and you probably see 500+ people a day, in real life and on social media. It’s kind of like people overload.

Now take all those people you “see” a day and think about how many products and clothes you see on them.  You get where I’m going with this. We see an insanely high amount of things to potentially buy every day. And for the most part everyone is telling you it’s the best thing ever.  That’s a lot of information to take in, process and do something with. It can kind of be too much to handle at times.  

Are We Over Influenced? 

My answer is yes and no.  Great answer, right?  You have to hear me out on this one.

I say yes because I do believe we are.  Every post, every video, everything we see on social media is trying to provide us with information.  It is super easy to get caught in the social media trap of scrolling for hours and shopping for hours too. I’ve been guilty of it for sure!

I say no because you are in control of how you are influenced.  You don’t have to buy everything you see on someone’s feed. And you certainly shouldn’t be buying things if it’s not within your budget.  You should follow people you like and trust.  

How To Control Being Over Influenced 

I have a few simple guidelines to avoid being over influenced.

1. Follow people you like and can relate too.  I personally don’t follow any high fashion influencers.  I’m not a huge high end label gal (beside the occasional investment piece) so there is no need for me to follow people who are.
2. Clean up social media.  I used to have de-friend Fridays.  I would de-friend or unfollow people on Friday’s who no longer brought me joy.  It’s the Konmari Method of social media 🙂
3. Don’t follow people who are only pushing products.  Yes influencers make money by showing you products and selling them.  However they should give you something more too.  They should provide you with quality content like career advice, relationship advice and feel good pieces.   The internet allows people to consume and share information, find people who want to provide the content.
4. Think before you buy anything.  I have a heavy finger when it comes to online shopping, I buy quickly.  However, I am making a more conscious effort to pause before I hit the buy button.  Keep things in your cart for a day or two, think about it, then go back and purchase it.  Or create a Wish List on the LIKEtoKNOW.IT app. I wrote a full post on how it works, you can find it here.
5. Trust your gut.  You can tell when people are being genuine and when they are trying to make a quick buck.  If you feel they are pushy with product, don’t follow them.

So what do you think?  Are we over influenced?  Let me know in the comments below!