In Influencers We Trust

Welcome to part 2 of media influence.

In today's blog, we will be talking about the two-step-flow theory, which is another theory of mass communication. (You can read my previous blog post about the bullet/hypodermic theory by clicking here.) This theory is when information passes through opinion leaders before being presented to a mass audience. This information is filtered by the opinion leader and only the information that is important and/or relevant is what makes the cut. The opinion leader's audience accepts this information as fact because they have built a connection to this person, and they trust what they have to say.

Not sure what any of this means? Well, let's dive in, shall we?

(Credit: Feedough)

An opinion leader is someone who is knowledgable about a specific topic, such as politics, fashion, music, etc. and those who have the power to influence others and impact consumer trends or lifestyle choices. These people are trusted individuals who are looked to for entertainment, news, information, and advice. These individuals can be social media influencers (beauty bloggers, fashion bloggers, etc.), politicians (POTUS, governors, etc.) or even Talk Show hosts (Stephen Colbert, Ellen, Drew Barrymore, etc.). Basically anyone who has any type of influence on another person can be considered an opinion leader.

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Below is an example of a social media influencer, beauty blogger James Charles, who is promoting SHEIN, an online fashion retailer. Being a professional in the beauty department, James Charles has a lot of influence on his community. I personally trust his opinion when it comes to beauty and fashion, and if he says something is worth spending money on, I'm going to believe him.

(YouTube)

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I'm curious to know: Do you follow any influencers on social media? Have you ever been influenced to buy a product that one of those influencers was promoting? I sure have... more times than I could count. Most brands that I purchase from today are brands that I have found from the promotion of social media influencers. I don't know about you, but I certainly am more inclined to purchase something that someone I know and trust is recommending, as opposed to a product that is being promoted on a TV advertisement, in a magazine, or from an anonymous review online. Let me know in the comments below who your opinion leaders are.

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When it comes to obtaining news, I usually find things out through Twitter. Very rarely will I put on the local or national news or read a newspaper. All news surrounding current events, celebrity news, or anything of that nature, all comes from social media. One specific account that I follow is @PopCrave on Twitter. This account tweets celebrity happenings, and anything related to pop culture. Everything I need to know about my favorite celebrities is posted on this account, and what's even better is that I get notified whenever they post. News is literally at all of our fingertips.

(Twitter: @PopCrave)

When it comes to sharing news, I am a big fan of retweeting on Twitter, reposting on Instagram, and sharing on Facebook. I look to the opinion leaders to share the information, and I feel confident and comfortable enough to re-share that information to my followers. I wouldn't consider myself to be an opinion leader, but that doesn't mean whomever is reading this consider me to be.

(Twitter: @chrstphrjsph)