Instagram Influencers: Anxiety vs. Fame on Social Media
This paper examines two contrasting perspectives on social media's impact on influencers. Drawing on Jenni Gritters's reporting that Instagram fosters constant self-comparison, anxiety, and identity loss, and Cheryl Wischhover's findings that authentic, drama-driven content can propel creators to celebrity status and lucrative contracts, the paper argues that social media is neither entirely harmful nor entirely beneficial. Supplemented by De Vries, Gensler, and Leeflang's research on social media as a dominant communication channel, and Heather Murphy's account of real-world tensions between influencers and business owners, the paper concludes that the effects of social media must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis rather than reduced to a single narrative.
- Introduction: Two Sides of Social Media Influence: Thesis introducing competing views on influencer culture
- Social Media as a Dominant Communication Force: Social media's rise and real-world influencer tensions
- The Mental Health Toll: Gritters's Case Against Instagram: Instagram's psychological harms: anxiety and identity loss
- The Case for Authenticity and Drama: Wischhover's Counter-Narrative: Authentic drama content drives fame and revenue
- Comparing the Two Perspectives: Direct contrast of Gritters and Wischhover's arguments
- Conclusion: Multiple Truths About Social Media: All perspectives are valid; social media effects vary
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What makes this paper effective
- It structures the argument around a genuine tension between two credible sources, making the comparison feel substantive rather than superficial.
- Direct quotations from Gritters and Wischhover are used strategically to let the sources speak for themselves, strengthening the paper's evidence base.
- The paper resists the temptation to declare a winner between the two perspectives, modeling intellectual humility appropriate for a summary-and-synthesis assignment.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates source synthesis: rather than summarizing each article in isolation, it places Gritters, Wischhover, De Vries et al., and Murphy in dialogue with one another. Each source is introduced to add a new layer to the argument — from broad communication research, to a real-world business conflict, to psychological harms, to financial opportunity — building a multi-faceted picture of one phenomenon.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a thesis that explicitly acknowledges two opposing views. The body moves from establishing social media's cultural dominance (De Vries; Murphy) to examining Gritters's negative psychological findings, then pivots to Wischhover's positive counter-evidence. A comparative paragraph directly contrasts the two main sources before the conclusion synthesizes all perspectives and reinforces the paper's central claim: complex social phenomena resist single-sided explanations.
Introduction: Two Sides of Social Media Influence
In her article "How Instagram Takes a Toll on Influencers' Brains," Jenni Gritters argues that social media can have a negative impact on the way people think about themselves. Gritters states that influencers using social media are constantly comparing themselves to others and, as a result, their self-esteem can seriously decline and they can suffer from heightened anxiety. To put it in the words of Churchill, comparison is a thief of joy: the constant use of Instagram can foster negative perceptions about oneself the more one compares one's own profile to what others are doing. However, in a separate article, Cheryl Wischhover notes that social media influencers have created an industry all their own and have become celebrities in their own right, with lucrative contracts from major corporations routinely coming their way. Far from developing anxiety, these influencers are amassing followings, signing profitable deals, and generating drama to increase clicks and ad revenue. This paper shows how an issue is never one-sided or as simple as it may seem. Gritters may have a point about social media causing anxiety for some, but for others who are able to maximize its potential, it can be the pathway to stardom, fame, riches, and celebrity status.
Works Cited
De Vries, Lisette, Sonja Gensler, and Peter SH Leeflang. "Popularity of Brand Posts on Brand Fan Pages: An Investigation of the Effects of Social Media Marketing." Journal of Interactive Marketing 26.2 (2012): 83–91.
Gritters, Jenni. How Instagram Takes a Toll on Influencers' Brains. The Guardian, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/08/instagram-influencers-psychology-social-media-anxiety
Murphy, Heather. No, Your Instagram 'Influence' Is Not as Good as Cash, Club Owner Says. The New York Times, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/world/philippines-hotel-influencers-social-media.html
Wischhover, Cheryl. Meet the TMZs of Beauty YouTube. Vox, 2018. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/5/17937690/youtube-beauty-influencers-drama-channels-dramageddon
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