Influencer or Expert: Who Should We Trust?

We are in the digital era, and by 'digital era', I mean the digital age, a time where basically almost everything is done via digitalisation, from content creators to digital skills and the like. The digital age presents a new way for people to make money, one of which is content creation. And to make content that gains massive attention so they can be paid big, we've come to see a lot of people delve into all kinds of content that just can't get what they want; some of such is giving advice in different fields like health, education, investment and the like. But should we as a people, because someone has a massive following online and shares things, be the truth over actually professionals in that field? Find out my take on these below.

To be honest, I'd be lying if I said I've not come across such content creators that now tag themselves as influencers and make content saying they're enlightening people; meanwhile, they aren't even qualified to talk about the things they talk about, but because of their massive followers, people might think they're the real deal, and sometimes they'll go as far as believing them over what the actual professional is telling them physically, but is that ideal? Of course it's not, and I've seen this for a long time on multiple occasions; in fact, not too long ago my wife displayed the same thing when she was pregnant with our daughter.

Like we all know, you tend to be curious about what's happening to you and your unborn child while you're pregnant, and this curiosity will lead to you finding information from almost every corner, including the internet. I remember my wife would watch many influencers who claim to be experts in maternity-related topics, and they'll begin to share different forms of advice.

During such times I usually tell my wife not to take those people's words over what the doctor told her and thankfully I'm not the only who usually does that, her sister's also use to tell her the same, because we've to be very careful when talking advice over the internet, this guys will literally say anything just to get paid, they might even promote a product that's harmful to us because they're a brand ambassador, but that's isn't the case for actual professional who knows what their jobs is all about and why they must do it diligently.

But then, I hope we'll also come to understand that not all influencers on the internet are experts in the things they share. We have influencers like Nurse Ojuolape here in Nigeria, who often shares advice, guides and the like for pregnant women, and from her videos you'll see she's not only a content creator but also a professional who just records and posts every activity and advice she shares with her patients during maternity and the like. There's also Aproko Doctor and several others, to name but a few. I'm saying this not to whitewash every influencer on the internet, but for you to make your own findings and, most of all, make enquiries from your actual professional offline and not take the world of influencers to do anything.

And that's because the rise in content creators being a source of income has led many to share anything just to get paid, be it legit or not, and these have given rise to misinformation and allowing harmful things to be presented to people like the real deal. So we must be mindful and always prioritise getting information from professionals over what's posted online.

All photos are generated using ChatGpt.