“No(r)way that’s a real picture!”
With technological advances growing in every industry, it’s no surprise that tech for social media is making it harder to differentiate between what is real and what has been enhanced and what is completely fake when we’re scrolling through our social media.
As the popularity of social media has grown over the last decade, the possibilities of what can be done on these types of platforms is endless. Often used for marketing and advertising, social media platforms can be used for promoting events, people and brands as the world moves away from traditional marketing techniques of the past. One of the biggest successes of the world of social media is Instagram. There is not a platform like it in terms of the power and influence that it has over it’s users.
When Instagram’s popularity rose, the creation of influencers also began to develop, and now this type of- almost ‘celebrity’- can be seen on all of the social media channels. Over the years, as the increase of influencers has grown, so too has the number of issues that have come from the pressures that are presented through this type of media. Influencers are typically individuals with a large number of followers, and therefore given a wide audience to share their content with, and ultimately influence -hence the name.
More than a typical or traditional celebrity, influencers are believed to be more trustworthy when recommending or promoting a product, as they are seen as real people with genuine feelings on the product or brand, rather than a celebrity who may be being paid a larger amount of money, influencing their decision, based on money. This perception of influencers being role models or aspirational, has led to an increase in the amount of pressure that particularly young women feel to look, act and live a certain way. And as a result this pressure then relates back to the influencers to continue to give the perception of this almost idyllic life.
Notoriously, influencers on social media are known for enhancing their images through filters and image altering apps. But now, in Norway, new laws have come into place to ensure that there is no illusion of what is real and what is fake. On paid promotion posts, influencers must state clearly what they have done to enhance or alter their images or videos. The hope is that this will reduce the pressure that young people- especially girls- from comparing themselves to unrealistic images and believing these to be the expectations of beauty.
The new requirements were passed as an amendment to Norway’s Marketing Act, with The King deciding when they will come into effect. Norways’ government website states that the aim of these new regulations is to reduce the pressure on society caused by “the idealised people in advertising”. The duty of influencers to mark retouched or manipulated content in advertising moves away from the reality of body image and beauty. The hope is that the influencers, actors and singers of Norway will almost feel a level of embarrassment with having to admit to the touching-up of their social media content leading to the reduction of this overall.
A study by UK MPs last year (2020) found that only 5% of under 18s in the survey said that they wouldn’t consider changing their appearance by doing things like getting surgery or dieting. Now influencers in the UK are asking for similar regulations to be in place to ensure that this number increases and the societal pressures created by this type of work is reduced. It can be hoped that if changes like this continue to be made, that the world of social media will become a more honest and healthy environment in the future, as it is clear that social media is going nowhere fast.
