Hashtag, hashtag! – When Coco (left) first posted on Instagram, she was just twelve years old. (TVNOW / Vitamedia)
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Gone are the days when social networks were mainly used to keep in touch with old friends and to share pictures of sunsets. Today, social media is a billion-dollar industry. What happens on the private channels of many users hardly seems relevant anymore. Instead, influencers share their everyday lives with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and earn sums in the four to six-figure range with advertising deals. But where does the interest in people come from, whose purpose in life seems to consist mainly of those social media? For almost four hours on Saturday, May 8th, from 8:15 pm, under the title “The Power of Social Media – How Influencers Change Our Lives”, VOX wants to get to the bottom of questions like this.
A year in the life of the influencer
Enrico Elia is still at the beginning of his career. His goal: to become a successful fashion blogger. (TVNOW / Vitamedia)
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For a year, the broadcaster accompanied various people who earn their living on platforms like TikTok or YouTube – or at least try to do so – for the documentary “The Power of Social Media – How Influencers Change Our Lives”. One of them is Enrico Elia, who with almost 14,000 Instagram followers is still at the beginning of his career. Born in Wolfsburg, he is one of thousands who want to gain a foothold in the influencer business.
A 14-year-old from Berlin, for example, has already achieved this. Under the name Coco, the daughter of a cosmetic surgeon entertains more than 200,000 Instagram users. She uploaded her first post shortly after her twelfth birthday; the minimum age to use the platform is 13. The question of what kind of people these are who follow the life of a young girl on a daily basis remains open.
92-year-old Lizbeth Kömer and her 25-year-old grandson, Christian Krömer, have long been superstars on TikTok and Instagram. (TVNOW / Vitamedia)
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Internet star at 92
Lissi, who became Germany’s most famous TikTok grandma as Lisbeth Lizzy, is 78 years older than Coco. Together with her grandson Christian, the 92-year-old uploaded videos in which she baked pancakes, took part in dance challenges and had her eyelashes inked. “Our site is in a good mood,” says the grandmother and grandchildren’s Instagram account together. Below: a link to Christian’s merchandise shop.
Together with other influencers like Nina Suess, who has over 300,000 Instagram followers, Enrico Elia wants to expand his reach. (TVNOW / Vitamedia)
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Carolina Noedig is also one of the online stars who accompanied the report. The 29-year-old is an actress (“Köln 50667”), won the 2013 “Miss Germany” election, has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and has been running her own fashion label for some time. Together with her friend and fellow actor Daniel Peukmann, she takes VOX and her around 280,000 followers on an “Instagram trip” – a paid vacation.
With reach comes power
Former teacher Sally Özcan became famous on YouTube with cooking and baking videos. Today everything is very professional with her. (TVNOW / Vitamedia)
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The documentation allows numerous influencers to have their say, some with a followership of more than a million, others with a few thousand. They all understood the potential of social media and are more or less professionally exploiting it, most of them are not averse to fame and money. However, by far not everyone seems to be aware of the power that such a long range brings with it. But this page also illuminates the report and speaks to critics such as Oliver Pocher, who sees himself as the greatest opponent of the influencer world – and is only too happy to post on social channels.
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