Role Models in The Internet Age
From the time that we are born, it’s in our inherent nature to explore the characteristics of the people we are surrounded by and to emulate them. When we’re babies and little children, parents are the ultimate arbiter of everything that life has to offer because it’s all we know. They’re our role models, super heroes and everything in between. As we grow older, we include more people in this selective cohort. People that we believe to be worthy of admiration and inspiration; otherwise known as role models. They are an essential part of an individual’s growth and it makes sense — if somebody has been in this world much longer than us and/or they are much better than us at a skill, it would be smart to imitate them! Couple that with us being the social creatures we are, this process naturally occurs whether we know it or not.
Before going into why this matters in our time more so than the past, I’d like to touch upon a special ability these people have: their ability to captivate people. They have the power to capture a human mind either through their graceful articulation, physical prowess, genius intellect, photo editing, or some other quality. People tend towards the qualities that they aspire to have in their own lives and so, their role model becomes more than just a man to their followers; they become the ideal to work towards, the destination to reach. As mentioned before, this process may be undergone without the conscious mind aware of what’s happening. That is the potential influence of one who can exert their identity such that a perceived ideal is created for others.
In past times, we had little to no connection to people that may live in another town. Everybody lived in their own bubbles, had defined role models, and did what was expected. In our age, we have pretty much flipped the script upside down. With the advent of the internet and smartphones, we can watch, listen, and talk to anybody around the whole planet. Naturally, the floodgates of new candidates for role models have increased in the millions; everyone and their mother have joined in on this. And suddenly, those special people (who would’ve been confined to a town previously) that have just the right skills, right articulation, and right platform can now reach millions of people more than they ever could’ve at any other point in history.
The danger of entering this territory without caution and contemplation cannot be understated. They have the ability to take a hold of other people’s mind and now their potential sphere of influence is essentially the whole world. And since we have a tendency of putting our role models on a pedestal, their followers may overlook or justify any wrong that they do and support them no matter what. What the role model says is taken as the truth, end of story. Anybody with half a mind can see the scary implications of this reality which is why it’s so important to inspect our own thoughts about these “role models” and consider why we like them so much.
The effect that these role models have on others can be akin to magic. That may sound over the top but just look at video where one person has a hold of a crowd of thousands. When it comes to an artist, people become entranced with what is said and how it’s said. When it comes to an influencer, they become entranced with what is shown and how it’s shown. Those that are top of the class at their respective skills have numerous people “under their spell” — whether they know it or not.
To clarify, having role models is obviously not a bad thing and I think there is a lot of potential benefit through the internet. It becomes dangerous when people are in awe of other people and give them an open door into their brain. With all of the manipulative ways that are out there, it is all the more important to be careful with the content that we consume. And it is arrogant to assume that you won’t fall for it; you’re just as human as the next person. The best we can do is spend our time online with intentionality and scrutinize every person we may find ourselves taking a liking to.