Social media plays a big role in our lives today. But is it making a bigger impact than we realize? Recently, I have been paying more attention to my surroundings and observing the people around me; the things they say, how they say them, their actions, and the things they wear. I’ve thought about this a lot, and it seems like once someone becomes “famous,” others see what they did to get the fame and think maybe they will get that attention too.

Many youtubers and social media stars were just average high school students with a normal life, but once they got popular, they’re life changes. Most of them leave school or graduate early, make their own income so they can support themselves on their own, and live the life a lot of us want.

I know this life sounds pretty good to me, I’m not surprised at others wanting it too. But if everyone starts doing the things these “stars” are, there will be no individuality. I want to hear my peers opinions, their true thoughts on things, but all of the influencers opinions start to become other people’s opinions because they see how successful they are, so maybe they are right.

Social media stars share their life with their fans, the fans see how “perfect” their life seems and they want to be that. These “stars” promote individuality, but very few realize the impact they are making. Everyone wants to be them, and the influencers start to lose reality. It seems as if the fame really does get to them, and they change.

As a society, this has become a norm. We blow it off like it’s no big deal, but if you step back and look at the impact, everyone is changing. What happened to individuality? What happened to being who you are instead of trying to be someone you aren’t?

Most don’t think about it twice, seeing their favorite youtuber post a video or tweet about their next big announcement. They don’t realize they start to say the same things these influencers do, probably because everyone else says it too.

We hide who we really are in fear that we won’t be accepted and having this problem just makes it worse. It breaks my heart when I hear someone judge anybody for who they are. If they don’t have a body like Sommer Ray, if they don’t have a personality like Emma Chamberlain, or if they don’t have a house clothes like Ellie Thumann.

And most people say they know these things, but they don’t apply it. They know it shouldn’t matter, but it really does. No one takes the time to ask why someone acts a certain way or why something bothers them so much.

These influencers are successful, this is their job, but it’s hurting all of  us.