If you scroll consistently on social media, chances are you’ve seen a teen influencer. Maybe they’re doing a cute TikTok dance or showing off the newest hot item as part of a brand deal. Perhaps you’ve seen them and thought ‘I want to do that.’ While teen influencers appear to live an ideal life, chances are they probably don’t.
If you open the comments on one of those posts you’ll likely see support at first. However, as you scroll farther down, you’ll start to see rude comments, and worse, remarks sexualizing these minors and their bodies. These comments are far more likely to be seen on girls’ posts rather than boys’, but they still occur regardless of gender.
One example of a famous teen influencer is 16-year-old Salish Matter. Her rise to fame began around 2019 when she began making videos with her father Jordan Matter. Jordan Matter began posting photography challenge videos in 2006, but when he added his daughter to the channel he switched to videos such as ‘How Long Can We Secretly Live in a Theme Park’ or ‘My Daughter’s Emotional 16th Birthday Surprise.’
While Salish Matter’s life may sound ideal, it’s highly likely that it isn’t. Many hateful and creepy comments can be found on her Instagram posts. Matter has also been ‘shipped’–an internet term that means pairing two people together (most likely hoping they will start a romantic relationship)–with 15-year-old Nidal Wonder since 2019, and while her father seemingly dislikes this, he routinely adds the hashtag ‘Nalish’ to his posts and brings up a lot of conversation around this, likely for the attention.
Matter recently dated and broke up with 15-year-old Kaido Lee Roberts and more hate followed their relationship. One user commented, “I hate [you] for dating Kaido.” Another user wrote “Kaido deserves better,” and yet another person wrote “I don’t like Kaido Lee Roberts.” Other users have written more explicit things, and it’s likely not everyone who has said those things has been a minor.
Many teenagers date multiple people throughout high school as they try to figure out what they’re looking for in a relationship. This is already a tough situation, but when you are extremely famous, your relationships get put under a microscope.
These are only a few downsides of being a teen influencer. While these benefits can be alluring, if you are interested in pursuing a future as an influencer, you’ll need to think long and hard about the lesser-known downsides.
