Influencers as role models

Abstract

ABSTRACT The claim that celebrities have special duties to be good role models is prominent in the philosophical literature on fame. We investigate whether these arguments can be extended to social media influencers. According to the role model argument, the fact that celebrities are widely known and admired gives them a high degree of influence over others’ behaviours. This gives them strong moral reasons to act as a good example to others. While celebrities have a right to privacy, this is forfeited when they choose to open their private lives to the public or present themselves as role models. Influencers seem to be paradigmatic examples of celebrities who have strong duties to be good role models; they are the focus of high levels of attention and admiration, and offer their private lives for public consumption. However, we argue that influencers do not have stronger duties to be a role model in comparison to traditional celebrities. Influencers generally do not present genuine versions of their private lives to the public, but rather curated public personas. Influencers should be entitled to the same privacy protections as other celebrities, provided they are transparent about the accuracy of what they represent as their private life.