It’s 2021. In a world taken over by instagram, tiktok and cancel culture, our public perception of what a ‘celebrity’ is seems to have vastly changed. What once was a prestigious position that people fought tooth and nail for can now apparently be achieved through the acclamation of a couple of thousand followers.
Recently this year, a picture of the apparent seating chart for this year’s esteemed Met Gala was leaked (spoiler alert - it was fake, but influencers will be attending). Nevertheless, it struck up a fiery debate as to whether or not influencers such as Addison Rae and Dixie D’amelio deserve a place amongst these other esteemed celebrities who have spent years in the middle of the throws of Hollywood such as Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Lana Del Rey. Admittedly, it did seem slightly out of place (and terrifying) to have the Weeknd sit in between James Charles and Charli D’amelio. Upon catching wind of this, havoc was wreaked amongst the cynical, eagle eyed viewers of tiktokroom on instagram. Comment sections were filled with aggression and rage. People were furious at the idea that these young adults and teenagers had somehow managed to turn dancing in their bedrooms into floating around on a red carpet at one of the most important social events of the year with some of the most prominent people attending.
But, theoretically, if Anna Wintour was to overnight become part-dictator, turn around and throw out all of the “influencers” from the event, who would really be left? Would the Kardashians constitute as true celebrities or would they fall under the umbrella of Instagrammers?
Whilst we can (supposedly) distinguish between who is an influencer and who is a celebrity, we’re faced with another question. Do influencers
count as celebrities? For those of you already shaking your heads with an immediate answer of “no”, consider the fact that these are people with millions of followers, who are offered brand deal after brand deal and who have firmly established themselves as very well known. They may not have crawled through Hollywood struggling and desperately reaching for any job that would help elevate their status like other celebrities, but somehow they seem to fall into the same category. Is this a reflection of how our societal standards have slipped, or is it a reflection of how the media seems to be taking over?
Another question we’re faced with in our age of instagram, is do influencers have more relevance and status than “proper” celebrities? Despite not having the same eminence as celebrities, they certainly seem to be filling up young people's timelines and news sources a great deal more. They have easy access to television and are now filling up our screens as actors, singers and reality stars Maybe this is an indication of how in years to come our beloved actors, sports personalities, singers and models will fade out of existence and be replaced by overzealous tiktokers who will make their fortune by lip syncing to the best of their abilities.
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