Impact on Society by Social Media Influencers

Social Media Influencers: Defining Trends and Impacting Society

Social media influencers are a new breed of professionals who use the internet environment to define societal trends through rigorous engagement with the public via social media channels. Given that most people spend a significant amount of time on various social media habitats, brands and businesses opted to capitalize on the potential market. Businesses, individuals, corporations, and brands have redesigned their marketing plans to incorporate social media influencers. Influencers are those who have a huge following on any of their social media platforms. Yet, other brands become influencers by their activity outside of the internet sphere, such as charity, music, film creation, and so on. Such influence uses social media to promote private courses and market their brands. The objective of this essay is to study a social media influencer and their impact on society through their social channels. The research will also analyze the state of current social media use for the said influencer and outline future recommendations, social media goals, content, amplification of influence and metrics for success and failure.

John Legend as a Social Media Influencer

John Roger Stephens professionally known as John Legend is singer, songwriter, musician, and actor who has recorded numerous platinum records and sold music worth millions of dollars. John Legend commands a huge following on social media and is one of the most active celebrities on the internet. John has dominated four major social media channels namely Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

John Legend Facebook Influence

9,356,556 people like the official Facebook page of John Legends which goes by the name "John Legend." ("John Legend," 2017). Primarily, John uses Facebook to engage his followers on his new and upcoming music, market his brand and promote various noble community courses. For instance, on May 22nd, John posted his new music video "surefire" on his Facebook page which received viewership of about 129000 people and reactions from more than 4000 people ("John Legend," 2017). In the same instance, the music video links to other social media channels like YouTube that offer a variety of products by the singer. In the same page on June 28th, John engages his followers on the topic of mass incarceration in America where he posts a video urging people to support the initiative to stop mass incarceration that affects the poor and disadvantaged in the society and promotes social justice reforms. Apparently, John’s status as a social media influencer reaches not just the fans who want the thrill of his personal life and music, but also the top leadership that would lend him a platform to discuss issues such as justice reforms. For instance, while campaigning for justice reforms on mass incarceration, John met and spoke with leaders such as Senator Cory Booker who admitted to listening to John’s music on a regular basis (Booker, 2017). Essentially, having an influence across the board is what separates socialites on social media from social media influencers. A look at John Legend’s earlier Facebook posts in 2014 and 2015 show that he also promoted a campaign dubbed “Show me” that sought to ensure that every child in America receives a quality education (Aquino, 2015). From such campaigns and activities that do not benefit him personally, John Legend personifies the qualities of a real influencer that is authentic, accurate and respectful while remaining an active social media user that has ensured steady growth of followers through proper content.

John Legend Twitter Influence

John Legend’s Twitter presence is more profound than on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. With a following of 9,472,072 as of July 10th 2017 under the handle "@johnlegend," the Grammy award-winning musician keeps his fans and followers engaged in his personal life, his schedules, and issues affecting the nation ("John Legend (@johnlegend) Twitter Statistics," 2017). Most people prefer to use Twitter due to the ease of use and speed of engagement with followers and other Twitter users. It is faster and more convenient to get a message across on Twitter that it is on Facebook because Twitter provides a platform for short, precise and direct messages. In a technological error where people prefer what is first, fast and easy, social media influencers like John Legend use Twitter to pass the most urgent messages with the aim of reaching the largest audience. For example, as is evident from his Twitter timeline, John Legend updates his followers on various engagements such as appearing on late night shows of different Television networks. For instance, he once tweeted about appearing on NBC's the Voice show just minutes before the show began ("John Legend Verified account," 2017). As an influencer, John can read the environment and know which social media channel to associate with particular activities. Also, an influencer knows when to opt in and participate in issues that are not self-sponsored. Therefore, Twitter offers the most efficient platform for participation in other people’s topics through the ability to retweet, like and quote tweets by other people. In respect to opting and participation, John retweets and quotes tweets where he gives his opinion on various issues especially about the state of the nation while at the same time responding to his fans and critics in a respectful manner that does not compromise his standards.

John Legend YouTube Influence

Youtube undoubtedly John Legend’s greatest channel of influence on the online space. Given that John is a professional singer who has made a name through quality music that resonates majority of the population, his licensed Youtube channel, John Legend, has the most traffic in a day compared to his other social media accounts ("YouTube: John Legend," 2017). There are several factors of social media influence that arise when one considers using YouTube as the means of communication. First, of all the social media channels, YouTube offers social media influencers the best metrics of success or failure. Primarily, individuals visit various channels on youtube to watch video content that ranges from music, comedy, movies, lessons, tutors, etc. The number of views and likes for a video determine the success of how much a video or audio clip influences the visitors of a channel. For example, John Legend's music video “All of me” produced in 2014 is considered as one of the most successful work by the musician yet due to the high number of views of the video on YouTube coupled with discussions on the same on other media channels. “All of me” currently registers more than one billion views and therefore considered a success ("YouTube: John Legend," 2017). Secondly, the message changes according to the media channel in use. For example, it is rare to find information on John’s personal life, current engagements or fashion styles on YouTube. Instead, John uses YouTube to promote his career through producing quality music videos. Therefore, a social influencer should know what message to share in which channel and at what time to reap maximum benefit for their intended purpose. Thirdly, YouTube casts a light on the debate on whether the number of social media following equals the level of influence. For instance, John Legend’s YouTube channel has only over 82000 followers, which is less compared to his Facebook and Twitter accounts ("YouTube: John Legend," 2017). However, a closer analysis shows that John has more influence on YouTube that on either Facebook or Twitter owing to the large viewership of his music videos. Therefore, one would argue that the quality of content and metrics for success are better factors for measuring success on social media as opposed to the statistics of social media following. Also, other quotas would argue that influence is still valid as long as one can sway the opinion of their followers.

John Legend Instagram Influence

Instagram is mostly used to send information about the personal life of an individual. For example, John Legend posted a photo of his daughter for the first time on Instagram on April 2017 and thus heightened the assertions that he and wife Chrissy Teigen are officially a Hollywood power couple (Lewis, 2016). The most relevant principles of social media that apply to Instagram are regular updates and patience to grow the social following. For example, John Legend uses the Instagram platform to update his fans on his personal life regularly but rarely about issues affecting the society such as the ones discussed in the Facebook section. Therefore, his influence on Instagram depends on his ability to keep the masses engaged with new content on a regular basis. Also, being social takes time, and one can get a boost by adding variety to the information disseminated through the various accounts. For instance, a closer analysis of John Legend’s Instagram account shows that he gained a substantial following after posting a picture of his daughter and also every time he releases new music and advertises on Instagram.

Recommendations

Different social media accounts have various modes of operation. For instance, while smartphones and other mobile devices are convenient for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, the same could offer a challenge when used to operate a YouTube account due to the high file size of YouTube products. A computer is best placed to manage a YouTube account. Therefore social media influencers should employ different mobile technologies, and by extension on different channels of communication. Also, the goals of each channel and each social media influencer are different. From the analysis above, John Legend uses YouTube and Facebook to sell his music and private initiatives to the people respectively i.e. for professional purposes. On the other hand, John uses Twitter and Instagram to engage his followers on a personal level which enables him to get feedback that he may not receive on other accounts.

A key recommendation for John Legend, to increase the already huge media following, is to engage followers on the latest social channels such as snap chat. According to McGrath (2017), John is not a regular on snap chat which could be costing him a huge fan base of the young generation of teenagers who are interested in new and upcoming technologies as opposed to perceived aging technologies like Facebook. Also, John can tap into LinkedIn where he may engage many young people in search of jobs and careers placing him in a position to discover new talent, which is another good course. Evidently, a social media influencer of John Legend’s stature can be busy and lack adequate time to engage their followers on social media. Therefore, it would be wise for social media influencers to have a team of communication that would keep looking for opportunities that the person can be involved in to increase opt-ins and participation. John’s social media influence is well regulated except on media like snap chat, LinkedIn and Google Plus.

No matter the social impact, a personality always looks for fresh and new ways to deliver content with the aim of gaining more followers and keeping the current fans. Evidently, John Legend has kept the masses hooked to his influence through regular content upload and production of quality music coupled with engaging in great courses. However, during the analysis of the Facebook account, it is clear that there are extended periods of time when John does not post much and even when he communicates, it is minimal introductory content that leads to other channels through a link. One can gain more following by producing content tailored for a particular media channel since some people may not prefer to visit YouTube due to the high bandwidth requirement to watch content. In the same breadth, it is crucial to link different channels to encourage navigation across different accounts on different platforms i.e. Android, iOS, Windows, etc.

The most relevant recommendation for the social media influencer in the case study concerns the protection of the brand. With regular cases of cyber-crime and cyber bullying in Hollywood, John should protect his brand jealously. First, it is important to promptly respond, especially to negative reviews or criticism in a respectful manner (Agrawal, 2017). A response shows that a brand is attentive and takes responsibility. Secondly, it is crucial to leverage employees and keep in touch with them to avoid self-destruction from the inner circle (Agrawal, 2017). Thirdly, and most importantly, an influencer should be social. Taking the time to engage the audience on various issues create a good rapport that sees the current followers pass messages of the influencer to their social contacts on different social media channels. John and other influencers can protect their content by installing recent and up-to-date security technologies that show a threat before it becomes a crisis. For instance, there are software programs that send signals when various layers of the firewall to a system get breached which allow enough time for pre-empting the threat (Agrawal, 2017).

Conclusion

Social media influencers are a new breed of professionals who use the online space to define the trends in society through rigorous engagement with the masses through social media channels. From the case study of John Legend, social influencers impact the community through their daily activities and allow a glimpse into their personal lives that most people emulate. Different social media channels serve different purposes and accomplish different goals. The various recommendations offer better opportunities for those who create brands online by gaining more followers, retaining followers and protecting their products. Overall, social media determine the trends in society.

References

Agrawal, A. (2017). 5 Ways Your Business can protect its Online Brand. www.entrepreneur.com Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [www.entrepreneur.com/article/287303]

Aquino, T. (2015). 11 Celebrities Who Use Social Media for Good. complex.com Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/10/11-celebrities who-use social-media-for-good/]

Booker, C. (2017). John Legend's Fight for Criminal Justice Reform. www.townandcountrymag.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [www.townandcountrymag.com/society/a9586173/johnlegend-interview/]

John Legend. (2017). facebook.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [www.facebook.com/johnlegend/]

John Legend Verified account. (2017). twitter.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [twitter.com/johnlegend?lang=en&lang=en]

Lewis, R. (2016). Chrissy Teigen, John Legend Introduce Daughter Luna on Social Media: See Their Adorable Photos. www.inquisitr.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [www.inquisitr.com/3025002/chrissy-teigen-john-legend-introduce-daughter-luna-on social-media-see-their-adorable-photos/]

McGrath, M. (2017). John Legend's Snapchat Name, So You Can See If His Skills Live Up To Chrissy Teigen's. www.bustle.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [www.bustle.com/p/john-legends-snapchat-name-so-you-can-see-if-his-skills-live-up-to chrissy-teigens-48737]

YouTube: John Legend. (2017). youtube.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017, from [www.youtube.com/channel/UCEa-JnNdYCIFn3HMhjGEWpQ]