The social media society has grown significantly in recent years and will continue to develop in the upcoming generations. Faces on small platforms have become household names and grow in popularity after every post. These faces have been extremely reliable to bring content to people looking for fashion advice, celebrity updates, makeup tutorials, or even just a laugh. After millions of views, these faces have shaped themselves to become influential to their fans. Fans obsess over trends that influencers join or create which causes them to join in too. However, fans aren’t the only people recognizing the large increase in popularity… so are companies. Large companies and brands almost always find new creators to make deals in exchange for advertising their products. This is why it’s extremely important to not trust your favorite influencer when it comes to brand deals.

After watching your favorite influencer’s content numerous times, it’s understandable to feel like you know and trust them. They literally show you clips of their lives as random as their skincare routine. Why would they lie about it? Well, if you look closely, the posts are sprinkled with random products sent to them in exchange for advertisement. For example, when viewers see a facial product that the influencer with clear skin uses, they will want to buy it to try and make their skin clear. The catch is they really only use that product for the video and will usually resume their normal skincare routine once the video is complete and thousands of their followers have purchased the product. According to the media news website Mic.com, the average influencer can make anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 per year by promoting products like clothing, food, hotels, and even vitamin supplements on their pages. 

Megan Lokuta expressed her feelings that, “influencers should not be advertising products if it is bad because it can affect their reputation and fans may not trust their judgment”. If you are like Lokuta and want to stay updated with the latest trends, social media has you covered, but you need to know what to look for. This is easy as long as you don’t fall into the brand deal trap. Influencers often hint to their viewers if a product has been sent to them or if they genuinely like and use the product. Take this as a warning not to add any advertised products into your shopping cart and save your money.