Lesson video

Hello, my name is Miss Willow, and I'm going to be guiding you through today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called Understanding Online Influences, and it's part of our unit called Media Influence: Who decides what I experience in the online world? Okay, let's make a start on today's learning.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to describe the motivations of online influencers and explain why this means that you shouldn't always trust their content.

Before we get started, we need to go over some ground rules.

These help to make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable throughout today's lesson.

Laura says that it's really important that we listen to others.

That means we're not going to interrupt other people if they're speaking.

Jacob says we need to not have any judgement , and that means we are not going to judge other people for what they say, how they feel, or what they've experienced.

Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy, and that means we're not going to ask each other any personal questions as that can make some people feel uncomfortable.

And Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

That means it's up to us how much we want to join in.

Now we're going to go through the keywords for today's lesson.

These are gonna come up multiple times throughout today's lesson, so it's really important that we have a good understanding of what each word means.

An influencer is someone famous or trying to be famous through posting content online.

Audience.

In this context, the viewers or followers of an online influencer.

Engage.

In this context, to engage is to like, comment, or interact with an online post or a social media account.

Motivation is the reason why someone does something and authentic means something that is real and genuine.

As we go through today's lesson, keep an eye out for these words as they come up.

Today's lesson is split into three learning cycles.

First of all, we're going to look at who are online influencers.

Then we'll look at why do influencers make content? And finally we're going to look at how do I know if a post is authentic? Let's make a start on the first learning cycle.

Who are online influencers? There are many people in our lives who can influence our behaviour.

So for example, teachers, adults who care for us and friends.

Can you think of some people in your life who can influence your behaviour? Online influences are people who are famous or people who are trying to be famous by posting online content.

So this might include videos, photos, text, for example, posts.

And Izzy tells us that they do this to create an online audience.

Remember that this was one of our key words at the start of the lesson, and it means a group of people who follow someone or interact with someone on social media.

There are many different types of online influences.

For example, there's gaming influences, beauty influences, fashion, health and wellbeing, food, sports and lifestyle.

So there are lots of different influences for lots of different hobbies and interests.

Some influences post online just as a hobby.

So they do it just because they enjoy it, but for other influences it's a job, meaning that they get paid for it.

So online influences typically post a lot on social media.

They engage with their audience by interacting with them.

So they might leave them comments or reply to their ideas.

They might have a large number of followers and they might post content that makes them seem a particular way.

Let's do a quick check for understanding to see how you're getting on so far.

What is an online influencer? Is it A, anyone who has a social media account that they use? B, anyone famous or trying to be famous by posting content online? Or C, anyone who does not have a private social media account.

So maybe their social media account is set to public.

Which of those is an online influencer? You might want to pause the video, tell the person next to you or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said B.

An online influencer is anyone famous or trying to be famous by posting content online.

Well done.

Influencers engage with their audience and they can pretend to be a certain way in order to gain more likes and followers.

So Jacob tells us that some influencers try to be relatable by sharing things a lot of people relate to and understand.

So this might be a way that they try to gain more likes and followers and expand on their audience.

Laura says that other influences try to be aspirational, and this means that they show a life that many people wish they had.

Influencers, trying to be relatable, might post about some problems that they have, their thoughts and opinions, some funny situations that they've been in or what their day looks like.

So these make their audience feel like they're similar to them and they will trust their opinions more.

So this is how they're trying to portray themselves as an influencer, as someone who their audience can relate to.

Influencers trying to be aspirational might post about travelling or going on lots of different holidays.

They might post about where they live, especially if they've got a really nice house.

Products that they might have bought.

Being healthy or fit, as lots of people can aspire to be more healthy or fit.

And these make their audience want to behave in a way that makes them similar to the influencer.

Let's do another check for understanding.

What might an influencer do on social media? And there might be more than one correct answer to this.

A, engage with their audience.

B, rarely post on social media or C, post content that makes them seem relatable or aspirational.

What do you think? Pause the video.

Tell the person next to you.

Tell me or just have a think to yourself.

What might an influencer do on social media? Well done if you said A and C.

An influencer on social media might engage with their audience and they might post content that makes them seem relatable or aspirational.

Can you remember what those words mean? Let's put your learning from this learning cycle into practise.

Holly is an online influencer.

Can you list three things that she might do on social media as part of her day? You might need your worksheet for this.

You've got a couple of minutes.

Pause the video and off you go.

Okay, let's have a look at what I put and you can see if you've got something similar.

So you might have said that Holly might post regularly on social media.

She might engage with her audience.

She might post about travelling, her home, products she's bought or being healthy and fit.

Can you remember what the type of influencer is if they do these things? Well done if you said that that would be aspirational.

Or she might post about a problem, her thoughts and opinions, funny situations or what her day looks like.

Can you remember the type of influencer that would post these kinds of things? Well done if you said relatable, this would be if Holly was trying to be a relatable influencer.

Well done if you've got any of those ideas or maybe you had something similar.

We've now come to the end of our first learning cycle.

You are doing an amazing job so far, so keep it up.

Our next learning cycle is called Why do influencers make content? Online Influences are normally motivated by passion, popularity, fame, or money.

And they can be motivated by one or more of those things.

So they might only be motivated by something like passion or they might be motivated by passion and money.

So some influencers might really enjoy posting on social media and they might have a real passion for posting about a certain topic, for example, gaming or fashion.

And some might enjoy the feeling of being popular.

For example, they might like the feeling of having lots of followers and lots of people engaging with their posts.

Some influencers might really want to be famous, and this involves being very well known and earning lots of money.

Even influencers who are not celebrities are able to make money from posting on social media and they work with companies to promote their products and they earn money by doing this.

So even if an influencer isn't necessarily a big celebrity, they might still be earning money from being an influencer.

Some influencer's motivations will change over time.

So sometimes an online influencer will start making content because of passion, and this might mean that they then become popular.

Once they become popular, this might lead to them becoming famous.

And finally, this might mean that because they're famous, they're now earning a lot of money.

We are now going to do another check for understanding.

Which is the missing motivation for why online influences make content? We've got passion, popularity, and fame.

Which one is missing? Can you have a think? Well done if you said money.

Money was the missing motivation for why online influencers make content.

It can be quite difficult to tell why influencers producing content and if they're telling the truth or not.

Sophia tells us that they might really enjoy posting on social media, so they might be motivated by passion, but Lucas tells us that it might also be their job.

So they're producing content just to earn money or because they want to be popular and famous.

And it can be difficult to tell why an influencer is producing content in the first place.

Sometimes influencers can post content for lots of different reasons.

So Holly tells us, I started posting fashion and beauty content online because I enjoyed showing people my style.

Now I still enjoy it, but I get paid by companies to promote products.

So it's my job as well as something I enjoy.

From what Holly has said, can you pick out the multiple reasons why she's motivated to be an influencer? Well done if you said passion and then money.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Is this true or is this false? It is always easy to tell why an influencer posts online.

What do you think? Pause the video.

Have a think.

Tell the person next to you or tell me, is it true or false that it's always easy to tell why an influencer posts online? Well done if you said false, but why? Let's have a look and see what I put.

And you can say if you've got something similar.

It's difficult to tell the motivation behind an influencer posting content.

An influencer could post online for more than one reason, such as passion, popularity, fame, or money.

Well done if you've got that right.

We are now going to put your learning from this learning cycle into practise.

Can you give two reasons why Jacob is incorrect? So Jacob says that we can always tell what motivates an influencer to post online.

Influencers are only motivated by passion for posting online.

What do you think? Give two reasons why Jacob is incorrect.

Pause the video, get your worksheet if you need one, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the answers you come up with.

Okay, let's have a look and see what I put.

And you can see if you've said something similar.

So you might have said an influencer could be posting for reasons other than passion.

For example, they could be motivated by popularity, money, or fame.

An influencer can post online for more than one reason, and these reasons can also change over time.

So what motivates them at the beginning, might not always say the same.

And we can also say to Jacob that it's really difficult to tell what motivates an influencer.

Well done if you got those right.

Let's move on to our final learning cycle.

You are doing a fantastic job, so keep it up.

We're now going to look at how do I know if a post is authentic? Can you remember what this word means from our keyword list? So influencers are not always authentic when they post online.

Andeep tells us that someone who is authentic is genuine and honest about who they are and what they like.

So well done if you said something similar.

Aisha tells us that influencers may not always be honest about what they post if they're being paid to say it.

A post may not be authentic if it's an advert or an ad.

Companies can tell an influencer what to say and post online if they're paying them.

So Holly tells us, and remember, she's our influencer from earlier.

Holly says that she can be paid to say that she likes a product even if that's not true.

And Aarnav is also an influencer.

He says that he can be paid to video himself playing a game even if he doesn't like the game.

There are ways you can tell if an influencer posts an advert.

So on the screen you can see that Holly has posted an advert.

Holly has posted an advert saying, I love this new shampoo.

It makes my hair so shiny.

And can you see what's underneath Holly's face? There is a hashtag saying ad and a hashtag saying advert.

And that tells us that what she's posting is an advert, so she's being paid to say it or to post it.

So influencers should make it really clear that if they're posting an advert, they should label it with something like ad or advert.

And this can make it easier to tell that they've been paid to post what they've posted.

In a video, influencers should also say that what they're posting is an advert and they should make this really clear.

So for example, Aarnav's posted a video and he has said, thank you to today's sponsor for sponsoring this video.

And if a company sponsors a video, this means that they're paying for the influencer to post the video.

So what Aarnav's saying in this video might not necessarily be authentic.

The company might have paid Aarnav to say certain things, so we can't always trust what he's saying in this video.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're getting on.

How can we tell if a post is an advert? A, the influencer says it's an advert.

B, the influencer says they'd like a product.

And C, the post is labelled as an advert.

What do you think? Tell the person next to you.

Tell me or just have a think to yourself.

How can we tell if a post is an advert? Well done if you said A and C.

We could tell if the post is an advert if the influencer tells us that it's an advert, and they might have labelled the post as being an advert and that can tell us that they've been paid to say something.

If we look at B, the influencer says they like a product.

Just because an influencer likes a product, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's an advert.

So it's important that we look out for those clues.

So for example, that they've labelled an advert or the influencer telling us an advert.

And this can be helpful if we want to know whether a post is an advert or not.

We can also make a guess about if a post is authentic by noticing how we feel when we see it.

People are more likely to engage with content that makes them feel angry, shocked, or sad or worried.

The influencer could have posted the content which makes us feel a really strong emotion so that they get more likes and comments.

Let's do another true or false.

Influences can post content that makes us feel angry, shocked, or upset as a way to get more likes and followers.

What do you think? Is this true or is this false? Have a think.

You might want to tell the person next to you or tell me.

Well done if you said that this is true.

Sometimes influencers post content that makes us feel a really strong emotion because they know that that could be a way to get more likes and followers.

Influences can also lie, exaggerate, or do something controversial to get more likes and comments and become more popular.

To exaggerate means to make something sound worse or better than it is, and controversial means that they might do or say something that many people disagree over.

Say for example, someone could say, did you see what Henry said on his new video? I can't believe he said that.

And then someone else that they're saying it to could say, what did he say? I'll watch the video now.

As a result of Henry maybe saying something quite shocking or controversial, someone else is going to watch the video.

This might mean that Henry, an influencer gets more likes and followers.

Aarnav says that he's trying to become more popular online and he's noticed that when he exaggerates about something, the content that he posts gets more attention and he gets more followers.

Henry also says that if he posts something controversial, more people share it and he gets a bigger audience.

Influencers could also lie about something to get more attention, especially in something like an advert when they're getting paid to promote something.

So in some cases, the influencer might get paid more money depending on how many people engage with the advert.

So the influencer is motivated to try and get as many people as possible to engage with the advert as that will mean that they'll get more money.

If the advert gets more attention by people online, more people are likely to buy the product, and this means that both the company and the influencer themselves is more likely to earn more money.

In order to get more likes and followers and to get an advert more attention, influencers might also claim to have done something quite risky or quite dangerous.

However, they might have only edited a video or image to make it look like they've done this or they might not have done anything dangerous at all.

Because of this, if we see any risky or dangerous content online, it's really important that we don't copy it, as this could cause us harm.

They might not have even done the behaviour in the first place.

Let's do another check for understanding.

You're doing a fantastic job so far.

Let's keep going.

Why might an influencer lie, exaggerate or post controversial content? Is it A, to get more likes and followers? B, to reduce their audience or C, to get more attention on an advert? What do you think? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done if you said A and C.

An influencer might lie, exaggerate or post controversial content in order to get more likes and followers or to get more attention on an advert.

Well done if you've got that right.

Alex says that influencers look like they have perfect lives.

They always look amazing and they're always posting about the fun things that they do.

Is this realistic? Many influencers have teams of people working for them to create popular content and increase their audience.

By making their life look perfect and posting all the fun things they do, they tend to get more people engaging with the content and more people follow them online.

So in order to respond to Alex's question, this is not always realistic.

As influencers have teams of people who work for them in order to make sure that they get a big audience.

Influencers and their teams can manipulate what their life looks like in order to gain more likes and followers.

So they can do this by editing their photos and videos.

They can be selective about what they post, and selective means that they only post things that fit with their influencer brand.

So this might be being really fun, being really exciting, or being really healthy.

So they might choose to not post things that don't make them look like they're fun, exciting, or healthy.

Let's do another check for understanding.

True or false An influencer's real life is exactly the same as how it looks online.

What do you think? Is this true or is this false? Well done if you said false, but why? Influencers and their team often manipulate what the influencer posts online in order to get more likes and followers.

So what they post is not always the same as their real life.

Well done if you said something similar.

Now, let's put your learning from this learning cycle into practise.

I'd like you to give two reasons why this video may not be authentic.

So Henry is saying that this video is sponsored by OakSkates.

Their skateboards mean that I don't need a helmet.

Watch me skate down this hill.

I'd like you to give two reasons why this video that Henry's posting might not be authentic.

So it might not be genuine and it might not be honest.

Okay, off you go.

Let's have a look and see what I've put.

And you can see if you've got something similar.

So you might have said that the video is sponsored, so the company is paying for Henry to post the video, meaning it could be less authentic.

And Henry is also showing some risky behaviour by skating down a hill without a helmet.

This could be edited to make it look real and this could make the video less authentic.

Well done if you spotted these two reasons.

We are now going to summarise the learning from today's lesson.

Today, you have learned that online influences are typically motivated to post online content by passion, popularity, fame, or money.

Online influencers use a wide range of tactics in order to gain likes and followers, such as pretending to be a certain way or posting content that makes you feel angry, shocked, or worried.

Influencers can sometimes lie, exaggerate and do controversial things to get more attention, and this can lead to more likes and followers.

We've also learned that there are ways you can tell if something an influencer posts is an advert, as it should be clearly labelled as an advert.

For example, in a video or in a post.

In today's lesson, we covered some quite tricky topics.

You might find that you want a bit more support or someone to answer any questions that you have.

You should always go to a trusted adult if you have any worries or concerns about anything and anything that we've discussed in this lesson.

There are also some organisations on the screen who are there to help you if you need it.

I've really enjoyed teaching you today, and I hope to see you again soon.