What does it mean to be a female influencer in Kenya?
Kenyan female influencers are the most common on our social media, at least when it comes to Instagram and Facebook. Kenyan men prefer to be on Twitter, maybe it’s because most political debates take place on Twitter. But let’s talk about female influencers and why is it such a demonized word? The common word that we used to use before was “socialite” but now every new up and coming “socialite” is now an influencer, however, what do they influence? The standards to becoming an influencer are so low that when a lady actually does things the right way they are deemed as boring or old fashioned, but these mistakes some female influencers are making come at a huge price.
1. Dressing skimpy to get likes
I am all for “my dress my choice” but at the same time an influencer is not only promoting brands and talking about certain products but you’re also a role model to many other young girls. There are many young female influencers who believe that all they have to do is post many images of themselves half naked and then they will get likes, unfortunately this is true, they do get engagement plus followers but why are our standards so low? Having to dress skimpy to gain an audience is belittling to other women who don’t follow the same procedure.
2. Doing or saying controversial things to go viral
You’ll often find more women in controversial topics like Huddah the boss chick who is a Kenyan influencer who sometimes says things that are unnecessarily controversial. Akothee is also one who is known for her controversial tongue, my question is, are they genuinely like that or is for the number of likes and views they get?
3. Promoting many brands at the same time
Of course people have to make money, however, when you support two brands within the same category is seems too fake. For example: if you buy kortex which is a sanitary pads company and support another one at the same time, are you really being honest? When influencers start out, they are always honest about the brands they use especially when it comes to makeup and sanitary pads, then as time goes by their credibility drops.
4. Being super fake
Kenyan female influencers always seem like they are trying too hard to be something they are not. For one, they would rather have a fake accent, fake hair, fake everything but rarely promote being your authentic self, which then makes other women feel as if you need to be fake or look a certain way to be liked as people, is this promoting the right culture?
