Influencers, in particular, are being frequently criticized for being out of touch with reality. Even though at the beginning of the influencer era they were liked for their relatability and groundedness—traits that perhaps a lot of celebrities lacked—now they’re becoming less relatable, having gained massive success and shifting to a significantly bougier and tone-deaf lifestyle.

To find out if social media has anything to do with this, Bored Panda reached out to Jocelyn Brewer, psychologist and founder of Digital Nutrition, and Joanne Broder, PhD, media psychologist and author. 

“The risk is that social media platforms use algorithms to shape the content, ideas, and attitudes that people are 'fed,'” says Brewer. “The more the algorithm narrows, the more we might find ourselves in an echo chamber of ideas that reinforce our perspectives and potentially don't critically challenge them.”

Therefore, she notes that it’s important for us to question what ‘reality’ we want to be in touch with. It may mean being more conscious of privilege, the cost of living crisis, or even geopolitical conflicts. Having decided that, we can then think of what action we can take to be more 'real’ as a result.

“Not all influencers consider the consequences of the content they put out there,” admits Broder. “For instance, they might start a challenge that has public health concerns. They might also alter images and use filters to project a distorted reality in their posts. How often do they think about the intended messages of their posts?”

Just this month, as Hurricane Milton approached Florida, a number of TikTok videos have surfaced of influencers not letting such dangerous natural phenomena get in the way of their Disney vacation. 

Cecily Bauchmann was among them, filming and sharing herself going on a Target trip to get her “Disney essentials,” as people in Florida were already being warned to evacuate. After receiving many harsh comments, she deleted the video. People hoped she would change her mind and cancel the trip but she didn’t. Instead, she took her 4 kids with her to Disney, which was confirmed by an Instagram story she posted on October 7. 

The news started covering the possibility of Hurricane Milton on October 4, meaning that these influencers had plenty of time to cancel their trips but did the opposite, endangering her family and taking space for potential evacuees. Many people go to Disney not to entertain themselves but to find some shelter from the hurricane. 

Other influencers who were heading to Disney claimed not knowing that Hurricane Milton was approaching. While they complained about rain ruining their trip, other people were worried about losing their lives. And while people empty out their savings to find a safe place to stay, they’re taking up Disney rooms. Probably the worst thing of it all is that they had the nerve to brag about their vacation on social media, once again highlighting just how ignorant and out of touch they can be. 

Brewer believes that these social media personas may have the potential to influence social media users to become disconnected from real life too. “Few of us have had media literacy lessons that teach us how to critically appraise the way that someone's social media is often a 'highlights reel' and consider what goes into producing content for professional influencers (who are often followed around by full production teams).”

But the bigger menace she sees is that most influencers might not realize how their content is affecting their audience. “I think the bigger threat is that social media influencers often have few qualifications or a deep understanding of the topics and content they share information about and this can be interpreted in unhelpful and decontextualized ways.”

To remain more connected to real life while being on social media, Broder recommends people, as well as social media personas, become more media literate so they can choose sources with authenticity. “Many social media users get their news and updates from influencers, so it's crucial that the Influencers are media literate so they do not spread misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. Social media users also need to be media literate so they are smart consumers of content. The analogy I always give is like knowing how to read a food label.”

Brewer adds that social media users should follow people who post a wide range of content. “They can engage with quality, fact-checked sources of news and journalism, appraise the attitudes and information they consume, and diversify their feeds to include digitally nutritious, high-quality content. Following people who share a wide range of ideas and information and who come from marginal and under-represented communities would help many folks develop a wider perspective of the issues facing humanity across the globe.”