I am not a social media influencer myself so I am making some assumptions and generalizations about people who do this as their main source of income. This is a growing trend that many young people want to participate in but many don’t know the consequences of.

Benefits

There are obvious benefits to being a social media influencer. Below are some of the few:

• More money in a short time frame
• Reason to travel/spend money/have experiences
• Popularity/invitations
• Free merch/gifts/brand deals

Downsides

These are some of the downsides that I’m not sure people take into consideration before pursuing an online presence:

• Lack of privacy
• Image to maintain
• Lack of certainty for the future
• Bad reputation is difficult to repair
• Have to stay relevant/short-lived careers
• Trouble in personal relationships