Feeding the ego. The trivialization of influencers' content and its impact on young people's identity. Case studies in Spain and Chile

Abstract

Introduction: Social media are the most popular among young people: they identify with the content and feel they are part of a collective. We analyze the content of the main influencers in Spain and Chile to find out: 1) what they talk about and identify whether it is informational, educational or entertainment content; 2) determine its quality and whether it eventually leads to misinformation and tends to trivialization; and 3) reflect on the quality of the content and how it can affect the configuration of young people's media diet. Methodology: Twelve accounts of influencers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube were analyzed through 439 contents. A comparative content analysis combining qualitative and quantitative methods was proposed. Results: Influencers talk about a wide variety of topics, but they prioritize their personal lives from an entertainment perspective. The poor quality of the content is noted, which tends to trivialization. Discussion: Although the study on the impact of social media on the mental health of young people is extensive, less research focuses on analyzing the content of influencers and how they influence their followers. Conclusions: Identifying this trivialization of content can contribute to the development of public policies and training programs in media literacy and encourage the regulation and self-regulation of content on social media, due to the impact on the mental health of young people, who are building their identity.