Intellectual influencers?

Influencer has become a popular term nowadays. Trendsetters, icons, role models, or any definition that comes to your mind. But the questions remains: what are influencers and how do they actually ‘influence’ our lives?

Lots of people are beginning to question the real role of influencers in our day to day lives. Or not. But the reality is that they are shaping the evolution of a big part of our society. But before questioning whether this is inherently good or bad, one needs to understand the context behind it.

I belong to Facebook’s generation (although according to experts most of Facebook users are +45). And after that, Instagram. Snapchat never attracted me and Tinder felt fake, I always liked more to meet people face to face and have a real conversation. I used Twitter for a little while but quickly abandoned it because its extreme speed was too much for me. All things aside, the reality is that if you’re reading this you probably use some type of social media outlet. Whether it is to express your thoughts and feelings, share what you’re interested on or ‘like’ something. Social media, with its ups and downs, is an incredible way to communicate and connect.

If you made it this far it means you’re really focused. That’s good. You’ve probably looked at your phone at least once, or changed your browser’s tabs a couple of times, or remembered the endless to-do list you have for this week. But you’re still reading, and that’s awesome. Its incredible how our attention span is is constantly decreasing, so standing ovation to your neurons that are keeping you from dropping this piece and go do something else.

Ok, back to the important stuff. Social media and influencers. When social media arrived to our lives, we suddenly had the possibility to follow and view the everyday lives of those people whom we most admired, whether they were celebrities, models, photographers, designers or entrepreneurs. All of a sudden we all became talented photographers, always looking for the perfect angle for the perfect shot. But we became obsessed. From sharing our travels to sharing EVERY moment. And although I am highly critical of this, of course I do it myself. But many times when I stop to think of what I’m doing, I feel weird. It’s a strange feeling.

As time passed, some people started to have lots of followers. And when I say a lot, it’s a LOT. Like a soccer stadium full of followers. Or even more in some cases. And this leads us to think about the power of the messages we spread on social media. And their responsibility. And hence I think, where are the intellectual influencers? What about the young leaders of our generation? (and although I don’t like labelling, yes, I’m a Millennial). We need more young people talking about politics, culture, art and literature. We need more young people to speak up about what’s happening throughout the world, and for young people to get involved in building our future. We need young people to guide others into connecting with nature and the outdoors. We’re not a generation of useless dreamers as many people like to name us. We are sensitive to what’s happening in other parts of the world, we dream big because we think big, we think globally.

So this is me asking intellectuals and influencers who have the power to communicate, to do so with a conscious. Express what you think, communicate values. Question the systems you’re involved in, question culture and question values. And be a leader in the change we need as a society.