麻豆社

Good Morning,

A woman who described herself as an influencer appeared in my Instagram feed, telling me she wanted to help me lead my best life. This sounded good. Until I wondered what my best life might be, and whether pulling a duck faced pout and sucking in my cheeks was how to find it.

But the recent arrest of Andrew Tate leads us to question whether all influencers are as bland or benign. Tate, known as the king of toxic masculinity, had four million followers on social media - many of them teenage boys impressed by his seemingly glamourous lifestyle.

The word influence comes from the Old French meaning an 鈥渆manation from the stars affecting one's fate.鈥� Today it is human stars doing most of the emanating. Usually by promoting products on the back of their celebrity. Kylie Jenner (apparently the 8th biggest influencer in the world) is said to have received 1.2 million dollars for a single post on Instagram. No wonder so many young see influencing as a valid career choice. The promise of instant fame and wealth never seemed so gettable. It鈥檚 a teenager鈥檚 dream: I can monetise my self-consciousness and never leave the bedroom.

This pressure on the young to bend their faces and souls out of shape in the pursuit of living their best life seems unhealthy. To have to prop up the illusion of a perfect self, post by post, must be addictive and wearing. Children may know how to use the technology, but that doesn鈥檛 mean they are in control of its consequences.

We are all under the influence of many forces. We have to discern which are authentic and which are sham, which lead to life and which lead to unhealth. I鈥檓 not sure the woman in my Instagram feed can help me live my best life. I suspect she鈥檚 unwittingly inviting me into what Rowan Williams calls 鈥榓 collusive fantasy鈥�, where I will be encouraged to be myself whilst simultaneously conforming. To quote The Life of Brian, 鈥榊ou are all individuals 鈥� yes, we are all individuals!鈥�

This world may seem in love with the idea of self-expression, but the idea of discovering the true self is a less attractive prospect. Better to curate a safer version of me. The virtual world rewards self-justification rather than self-scrutiny. It says you can be the person you want to be. If you follow your heart. And me.

In the gospels, Jesus 鈥� perhaps the most influential person of all time - said something different: don鈥檛 follow your heart. If you want to be the person you want to be, lose your self. It鈥檚 hardly appealing advice, and yet enough people still see him as a person worth being influenced by. His was a giving up of likes and life so that we can live our best life.

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