Lesson video

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

Today's lesson is called Why Do People Become Influencers, and it fits into our unit called Media Influence: How Can I Evaluate the Truth Online? I'm really looking forward to teaching you today, so let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain why influencers create content and why some may lie or exaggerate online.

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

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

Laura says that we need to listen to others.

It's okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

When we disagree with someone, we should make sure that we challenge the statement and not the person.

Andeep says we need to respect each other's privacy.

We can discuss examples, but we shouldn't use names or descriptions that could identify anyone, including ourselves.

Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or join discussion.

We should never put anyone on the spot.

And Jacob says we need to not have any judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without fear of being judged.

We're now going to go through the keywords for today's lesson.

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

Influencer.

This is a person who uses social media to influence the behaviour of their followers.

Attention.

This is when you focus your mind on something or someone.

Financial.

This means relating to money.

Today's lesson is split into three learning cycles.

The first learning cycle is called, what are the benefits to being an influencer? The second learning cycle is called, how do influencers get money and fame? And finally, our third learning cycle is called, why would someone lie or exaggerate online? Let's make a start on our first learning cycle, what are the benefits to being an influencer? An influencer is someone who creates content online, which has the potential to influence other people's behaviours.

They may influence others to buy certain products or services.

This is done through the promotion of products and services on social media.

Here we have an influencer who has posted an advert online.

We can see from the hashtag at the bottom of the screen that this is a paid promotion by Glasses 4 U.

Perhaps because the influencer can influence their followers to also buy from this brand.

Influencers can also influence other people's opinions, set trends, and change public opinion.

Their personal style or viewpoints can inspire followers to make similar choices.

Influencers can use their voice for good and support causes that they care about.

For example, they could use their voice to speak up about environmental issues.

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

Is this statement true or false? Influencers can change public opinion.

What do you think? Pause the video.

Tell your learning partner or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true.

It is true that influencers can change public opinion through posting online.

Well done if you got this right.

There are many benefits to being an influencer.

People can often enjoy the attention that they receive on social media, for example, likes and comments, due to the dopamine release it causes.

Dopamine is the reward hormone in our body.

Therefore, when an influencer has a large following, their attention increases and so does the opportunities for dopamine release.

Influencers can focus their content on things that they're passionate about, meaning that they get to dedicate their work to doing something that they enjoy.

This can also be positive for their followers as their passion can encourage others to explore new hobbies similar to their own.

Influencers have the potential to make a lot of money through their content.

Once they've become established with their audience, influencers can advertise company's products and even sell their own products or services, like courses, merchandise, and books.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Is this statement true or false? Being an influencer is just about attention.

What do you think? Tell your learning partner or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You may have said that although many influencers enjoy the attention that comes with their online presence and content, influencers can also make money through their content and raise awareness for issues that matter to them.

Well done if you said this or something similar.

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

With your learning partner, I'd like you to discuss the benefits to being an influencer.

In your discussions, I'd like you to consider influencing others, earning money, hobbies, and attention.

Pause the video and in a couple of minutes we'll have a look at what your answers may have been.

Okay.

Let's have a look and see what you may have discussed with your learning partner.

You may have discussed that influencers are able to positively influence other people's behaviour and opinions through their promotion of causes and issues that matter to them.

Influencers are able to earn money through adverts for companies and potentially through their own merchandise and products.

Influencers are able to dedicate their work to their favourite hobby, for example, by making money through gaming content.

Influencers may receive a lot of attention, for example, views, likes, or comments on their content, which they may enjoy due to the dopamine that's released by these social media interactions.

Remember that dopamine is the reward hormone that's produced by our body when we experience a social media interaction, for example, a like or a comment.

We're now going to move on to our second learning cycle.

Well done for your fantastic hard work so far.

Our second learning cycle is called, how do influencers get money and fame? Influencers can make money and become famous for the content that they produce online.

To do this, influencers will create content that appeals to a target audience.

For example, an influencer might promote a new football computer game to followers that have liked football-related content before.

The more appealing this content is to a particular audience, the more engagement and money the influencer can make from their content.

Influencers have to be knowledgeable about what their audience are interested in.

Algorithms will promote content to social media users that relates to content that they've looked at before.

Andeep tells us that algorithms are rules that determine how a computer system works.

On social media, algorithms determine which content is shown or recommended to users based on their habits online.

We're now going to go through an example of what this might look like in real life.

So David has seen that lots of people enjoy watching scary games online.

Because of this, David is going to stream himself playing a popular scary game.

The algorithm is now going to promote David's stream to people who've previously looked at this game, and as a result, David gets lots of new viewers.

If an influencer receives lots of engagement on their content, they may be paid by companies to promote or advertise their products or services.

Here we've got Holly who creates and uploads content.

Holly's content may reach a wide audience and receive lots of attention.

As we can see in the illustration, we can see that Holly's photo has got 14,000 likes.

Companies may then pay Holly to run adverts or promote their products and services to her audience.

Some video streaming platforms have subscription services which allow influencers to offer exclusive content to paying fans.

For example, game streamers might offer exclusive avatars or badges that fans can use in stream chats.

Streamers will promote this subscription as another way to make money.

For example, in this illustration, we can see that David is saying, "Become a subscriber to unlock exclusive gaming content." To encourage his audience to become a subscriber by paying money, he's saying to them that he's going to offer them exclusive gaming content.

This shows another way for him to earn money, other than promoting products, some streaming platforms also allow fan donations.

This means that viewers can send money directly to the influencer themselves.

Influencers with a large platform can make lots of money through direct fan donations.

For example, in this illustration, we can see that one of David's followers, Emily, has donated five pounds.

He's now going to say her name and say, thanks for the donation, Emily.

This direct communication with his audience could also encourage other people to give direct fan donations so that they can get a shout out from David.

This is another way that David can earn money through being an influencer.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you are doing with this learning cycle.

I'd like you to decide who is correct.

Aisha says that "Influencers only make money through paid promotions," but Jacob says, "Influencers can make money in lots of different ways, including adverts and donations from fans." Who do you think is correct? Pause the video.

Tell your learning partner or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that Jacob is correct, but why? You may have said that influencers can benefit financially in lots of different ways.

If they have a large audience, they can promote services and products for brands and even get donations and money directly from fans.

Well done if you got this right.

If an influencer starts to become very popular, they might even create their own products and services.

This can allow them to make more money and be more financially independent.

By doing this, influencers can become more financially independent as they're not necessarily relying on brands to earn money.

For example, they could produce their own themed merchandise.

Popular influencers may be invited to attend or host events, like conferences, parties, or brand launches.

They can receive payment for their presence at these events as it can publicise something and earn someone money as a result, for example, a brand or a company.

These paid engagements can help them to also reach new audiences and add to their own income.

It can benefit both the brand or company and the influencer themselves.

Influencers who gain attention online may be invited to collaborate, which means work with establish celebrities or appear on TV, in magazines, or on podcasts.

Again, this is another way that influencers can expand their fame to audiences beyond just social media.

They can also be paid for these appearances, showing that it's another way for them to earn money.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Why might an influencer want to appear on TV? Is it A, to become less popular online, B, to get a bigger audience, or C, to make more money? What do you think? Tell your learning partner or have a think to yourself.

There might be more than one correct answer for this one, so think carefully.

Well done if you said that B and C are correct.

An influencer might want to appear on TV because they want to get a bigger audience and they want to make more money.

Going on TV is likely to make them more popular, as opposed to less popular, so it's unlikely that an influencer would want to appear on TV in order to become less popular.

Well done if you got this right.

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

Well done on your fantastic hard work so far, you are doing a brilliant job.

In this practise task, Emily wants to become a famous makeup influencer and she wants to make money through her content.

I'd like you to give three pieces of advice to Emily about how she can make money with her content.

Pause the video, and I look forward to seeing you in a couple of minutes when we can go through some of the answers you might have had.

Okay.

Let's have a look and see what some of the advice that you could have given to Emily includes.

You might have said that Emily could look at popular content that social media users are engaging with and make content based on that.

You could have said that when Emily becomes more popular, she could promote a company's products or services on her page.

Emily could also offer exclusives to people who pay to subscribe to her content.

She could also make merchandise based on her content and promote it to her followers.

Well done if you said any of these pieces of advice or if you had something similar.

We're now moving on to our final learning cycle, why would someone lie or exaggerate online? The internet has millions of sites that want our attention.

This means that influencers sometimes use questionable tactics to grab our attention and make us interact or engage with their content.

They may do this through exaggerated claims about products and services, exaggerated posts about their lives and experiences, content that appeals to people's biases, faking social interactions or charitable work, or posting things that intentionally upset people to get them to interact with the content.

Influencers often make money from promoting products or services.

Therefore, they might not always be honest in their reviews, as that could affect whether companies work with them in the future.

Some companies will even pay influencers to give a positive review, which means that they may exaggerate or lie about how good a product is in order to get paid.

Here Holly is promoting a pair of glasses.

She says that these are the best glasses ever made and that you need these.

As it's a paid promotion or advertisement, we can tell that Holly is being paid to promote this product.

However, it may also be the case that she's been paid to say something positive about it, so we don't necessarily know that this is Holly's honest opinion.

When we see an advert online, we should consider that the influencer may not always be telling the truth.

To stand out online, influencers may exaggerate certain qualities or experiences to make their lives more appealing and interesting.

People may crave attention and find that exaggerating their status or lying about their lives helps them to gain more attention.

Attention-seeking behaviours can be a way to cope with feelings of loneliness or insecurity.

Here, Jack has posted an image of him and his new mega mansion.

He may be doing this in order to get attention online, and this could be a way for him to cope with feeling quite lonely or insecure.

There's also the possibility that this may not even be true.

Jack could be posting this online in order to get attention, even if he's not telling the truth.

Some influencers may want to spread negative opinions and bias online.

People can often attract followers who agree with their viewpoint.

By sharing content that supports a particular bias or point of view, they can draw in people with similar beliefs or opinions.

This content is often misleading and it can contain disinformation.

This means information that isn't true, but has been created deliberately in order to mislead someone.

When people unknowingly spread this harmful content, it can cause prejudice towards certain people and groups.

Izzy tells us that influencers build trust with their followers, so if an influencer posts disinformation, their followers are more likely to believe it and potentially spread it.

Influencers can also exaggerate their impact on social issues in order to gain more attention.

For example, influencers may fake charitable donations or actions to appear more positive to their followers and attract new followers who are concerned about social issues.

In some cases, this is just to get more attention, more followers, and to earn more money.

Now let's do another check for understanding.

Have a read of what Alex is saying, and think about, is what Alex is saying true or false? Alex says that "All influencers are good role models." What do you think? Pause the video.

Tell your learning partner or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You may have said that influencers can lie or exaggerate in their content to increase their engagement, as the more engagement or interactions that they receive, the more attention they get and there is a bigger potential for financial gain.

Well done if you said this or something similar.

Some people may post intentionally upsetting, annoying, or offensive things online because they know that people will interact with it.

Andeep tells us that this is known as rage-bait.

Posts that spark anger are more likely to be shared, commented on, engaged with, and reacted to, as people often want to respond or defend their views.

Algorithms often boost posts with high engagement, pushing rage-bait content to more users.

Influencers can still make money on their content, even if it contains lies or exaggerations.

The popularity of an influencer's content is what determines whether or not it makes money, not whether it is honest, helpful, or authentic.

If an influencer's content receives lots of interaction and engagement, the more money that they will potentially be able to make from it.

In some cases, this could encourage the influencer to post whatever they like that will get high engagement, even if it is not true or helpful.

People can be misled by lies or exaggerations that are posted by influencers, as they can build trust in influencers and believe in what they post.

If you are concerned about something that an influencer has posted, it's really important to speak to a trusted adult so that they can help you.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Is this statement true or false? Influencers can still make money with their content, even if it contains lies or exaggerations.

What do you think? Tell your learning partner or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true.

It is true that influencers can still make money with their content, even if it contains lies or exaggerations.

In some cases, influencers will deliberately post a lie or exaggeration because they know that it will get a high engagement and they will therefore be able to earn lots of money.

Let's move on to your final practise task.

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

For this task, I'd like you to fill in the blanks using the word bank below.

In a couple of minutes, we'll go through what the completed paragraph should look like.

Pause the video, and I'll see you in a couple of minutes.

Okay.

Let's have a look and see what your completed paragraph should look like.

Influencers can be paid for their product endorsements and may exaggerate how good the product is.

People can make financial gain from their posts if they get lots of engagement from followers, and this can motivate them to make their content more exciting, even if this means lying.

Some people may lie to get more attention online, and pretending to live a certain way can give them more of it.

Influencers may also fake social interactions or charitable donations to attract more attention.

Finally, some influencers may lie or exaggerate online to upset or annoy people so they interact with their content, and this is known as rage-bait.

Well done if you put all the words in the word bank in the right places.

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

In this lesson, we've learned that people may choose to become an influencer for lots of different reasons, such as promoting a hobby or spreading an important message.

Influencers can be motivated by different things, like financial gains, their beliefs, hobbies, or desire for attention and dopamine bursts.

Due to an influencer's financial success being closely tied to how much engagement they receive, they may exaggerate or lie online to boost their engagement.

For example, pretending that they live a particular lifestyle or posting rage-bait to intentionally upset or annoy people.

People can be misled by lies or exaggerations posted by influencers, as they build trust in influencers and believe in what they post.

If you have any worries or concerns about anything that we've discussed in today's lesson, it's really important that you speak to a trusted adult so that they can help you.

There are also some organisations on the screen who are there to support you if you need them.

Well done for your fantastic hard work today.

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