If you go into the comment section on any given influencer’s social media posts right now, you’re bound to find messages calling on them to share a statement about ICE.
Many people who are outraged by the killing of American citizens by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, the separation of families, and the detainment of people (including children) are calling on content creators to use their large platforms to denounce violence and mistreatment.
But many influencers aren’t doing this; instead, they are posting as usual or sharing apathetic, apolitical and often aesthetic statements that don’t address the situation directly. In fact, there’s one common theme that keeps being repeated: This account is supposed to be “light.” I don’t “do” politics.
Therapists say it’s only natural to feel angry and disappointed by this type of statement or a lack of action right now ― even if you don’t personally know the creator you’re following.
“Your relationship to an influencer in the psych world, we kind of think about it as a parasocial attachment figure,” said Emma Shandy Anway, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in California and owner of ESA Counseling Services. “These are people that we don’t really actually know, but we trust them and we admire them.”
