Scenario: Becoming an Influencer – Quick Bucks on the Backs of Followers?

Gudrun Schiedermeier, Carsten Trinitis,  & Franziska Gräfe

Ben’s a kid who likes attending school. It’s where he gets to see most of his friends—especially Chris, Lisa, and Emma. He hangs out with them outside of school, too. In their free time, they get into sports: jogging, swimming, biking, and skiing—depending on the season. Now that the school’s hired a new teacher for economics and PE, taking gym classes at school is okay, too.

However, the focus is on gaining work experience through internships for the next two weeks. Lisa and Chris decided to devote their time to social services—in kindergarten or retirement homes- but Ben couldn’t quite decide. Emma has found a slot working for an auto repair shop—her dream job, as it were. Ben gets his wish, too: he can put his media skills to the test by working at a marketing agency owned by a good friend of his father’s. Of course, he mainly just hopes he won’t make a fool of himself, but if all goes well, he’ll learn something from the pros working there.

Computers have fascinated him from the very beginning. And it’s no wonder—his father is just as geeky, and not only have they played many computer games together, but his father also taught him his first programming skills and bought him a computer. He enrolled in several computer classes at school to expand his knowledge base. One thing he thought was cool was programming Lego robots. He occasionally made video snippets of his hobbies, which went well with his friends and their class. Before long, he found himself specializing in creating and editing video content and audio.

His internship has gotten off to a good start. They’re making promotional videos for all products—from cosmetics and chairs to bikes and fashion. In a matter of days, Ben has already been brought up to speed and can lend meaningful support to the agency’s professionals. He’s having a lot of fun, and the staff is impressed by his ideas and competence in handling critical video and audio editing programs. The two weeks fly by, and he feels he might like to enter this business later. But the opportunity presents itself sooner than he anticipated. At the end of the internship, the CEO asked him if he would consider working on promotional videos for a fitness apparel line after school. The CEO would give him the sportswear, and he could keep it—beyond that, he wouldn’t be able to pay him any money at first. But that would come soon enough once sales and followers increased. This gear wasn’t sold in stores, only online; his videos would undoubtedly make the brand more marketable. After all, his social media following was made up of precisely the manufacturer’s target clientele.

Ben jumps at the opportunity and spends the following weeks immersed in creating promotional videos for sportswear. He’s decided to post the short clips on the internet. He’s not short of ideas—his mind is on this even during classes, and he outlines sketches in his head. Emma and Chris are thrilled with the clips; his fan base proliferates. Initially, it was just his classmates and their friends, but now he’s getting feedback from total strangers. Secretly, he’s a little proud that his video clips are so well-received and that, as an influencer, he can contribute to promoting the athletic clothing line. And he doesn’t mind having a little more money in his pocket, either.

He’s spending more and more time making videos. Of course, this doesn’t go unnoticed by his friends, for whom he has less and less time. His school performance also takes a resounding hit. Lisa, in particular, takes note of it.

She brought it up one morning after he fell asleep in class again because he was up half the night putting together a video. She asks how much money he’s making off this marketing gig and guilt trips him. It’s rather short-sighted to neglect his studies for so much effort and so little financial reward. Besides, he might want to consider getting some use out of the sportswear he’s so busy promoting: he’s been so busy working that he hasn’t had a chance to do any sports. Then, he could see for himself how worthless the gear was. It looks like crap after only a few washings. It’s not worth the money—you can get better goods for less at the Sports4You store down the street. There, you can at least feel the material and try it on. She’s fallen for other influencers before and bought expensive makeup that was no good.

Ben is shocked at first and defends his work. Lisa’s got it all wrong, and the clothing he’s marking is top-notch. Emma and Chris back him up and encourage him to keep doing what he’s doing. Before long, though, it dawns on him that he’s somehow being taken advantage of. And, now that he’s gone jogging and cycling in the gear a few times, he’s also noticed that it looks awful after a few washes. Now, he feels guilty for selling his friends a bill of goods. Now, he wonders how to back out of this thing with his integrity intact.

Still worried about him, Lisa turned to their economics teacher for advice. She’s immediately open to introducing questions about marketing, second-rate goods, and the responsibility of being an influencer in her lesson plans. A project on “Influencer Marketing” quickly takes shape. She has students form small groups, introduce their favorite content creators, and report on their experiences, both positive and negative, with products purchased at the urging of influencers. Then, using influencers selected by the students as examples, she explains that these role models work with online companies and earn tremendous amounts of money through product placement and advertising links embedded in their images and stories. This income comes not least of all at the expense of their followers because the products are usually second-rate and almost always overpriced. Ben sees parallels to the approach he’s been encouraged to take by the agency he’s interning with. Ben’s discomfort becomes increasingly apparent to his instructor as the lesson plan continues. At the end of class, she tries to talk to him and offers her help in clarifying the matter.

Questions:

1. How accurate is reality? To what extent do the images and reels in social media accurately reflect reality?

2. Is there a moral argument to be made for promoting an inferior product to make money?

3. Is there any justification for ad agencies to target young people specifically for this purpose?

4. What do you make of the fact that companies exploit young people to create targeted ad campaigns like this, and this at the expense of academic performance?

5. Shouldn’t young students be permitted to turn their digital competencies into a bit of pocket money?

6. To what extent does money matter more than morality, not only to the influencers but also to the marketing companies?

7. Should the school continue to advocate or even promote internships with this marketing company?

Published in Informatik Spektrum 45(4), 2022, S. 262–264, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00287-022-01463-2

— Translated from German by Lillian M. Banks