In the early 2010s, the Kardashians were the talk of the town, teenage girls were dominating YouTube, and Instagram had just become a popular social media app. Celebrities still managed to maintain their status within society as influencers and trend setters. With more people becoming influencers and the era of social media that we’re in, social media influencers have begun taking up the space in pop culture that celebrities previously had.
A sign of the era of celebrity coming to an end was the 2025 super bowl, during which the Superbowl businesses spent millions of dollars to secure a time slot to run their commercials during the most viewed sporting event of the year. Brands like Carls Jr, Cerave, and Gatorade employed the services of social media influencers to star in their advertisements. In previous years advertisements starred well-known Hollywood stars, the move to using social media influencers just shows that these companies trust that viewers will recognize these faces and believe in their ability to sell and influence.
People are longing for reliability in the age of influencing culture, reality TV stars and more traditional celebrities live lifestyles that the average person could only dream of. Influencers come from all walks of life in all different forms, there’s a niche for everyone on social media. The idea of an average person being able to make a sizable living off their creativity and personality without having to go through the barriers they would face in a more traditional media setting. The accessibility in influencing is also a part of the reason we’ve begun to see an influx of influencers, all you need is a phone and editing software. The ability to curate your social media feeds to what is relatable and relevant to you is what has given social media a leg up over traditional media.
Celebrity culture has gone from being a lifestyle where all personal business was public knowledge to celebrities taking the steps to maintain more private and secluded lives. Glitz and glamour at unattainable levels used to sell. Without the Paris Hiltons, Kardashians, and Nicole Ritchies of the world, we wouldn’t have the Alix Earles, Monet McMichaels, and Nara Smiths.
The definition of being a celebrity has come to change, in the past celebrities had the power to influence the masses effortlessly through clever marketing built into their brands. Celebrities such as Ariana Grande having young girls across the world buying cat ears in 2014, Taylor Swift and her signature bright red lip, Hayley Williams and her bright orange hair. These celebrities all had looks that were unique and synonymous with their images at the time, which in turn made them the representative of that group of people at the time. Being unique and bold is not celebrated the same way it used to be, the lack of niche and originality has killed the era of celebrity. The general population wants to be able to place everyone in specific categories, categories that go on to define their image and likeness.