iStock How we're all being changed by influencer culture We don't really need a personal Instagram photographer, do we? -- -- There’s a curious trend you might’ve spotted sweeping through tourist hotspots, beautiful sandy beaches and mural-covered walls up and down the land recently: influencers and their increasingly elaborate photoshoots. -- -- photoshoots. The fact is, influencers, who can sometimes command thousands of pounds for a single sponsored post, are rapidly building a new, online economy. -- -- One company, which charges around £140 for an hour-long ‘flash’ shoot, matches influencers with snappers, who will follow you to your destination of choice to capture the perfect social media picture. -- -- wallowing in mud. Just personal choice. But these are far from the only examples of how influencer culture is influencing our behaviour. -- -- "quintessential icon for the Wanaka region through social media". So is this image-focused influencer culture affecting us for the better or for the worse? -- -- Dr Danielle Wagstaff, a psychology professor at Federation University Australia, told BBC Three that social media and influencer culture can sometimes lead us to “derive a false sense of what everyone else is doing” and that this “can definitely have a negative effect on our -- -- Essentially, she argues that we tend to compare ourselves to others on social media, which can make us feel like weʼre simply not good enough. This, in turn, can have a massive impact on our self-esteem and can increase anxiety. -- -- and can increase anxiety. The problem with influencer culture, she says, is that weʼre being fed a false view of what is normal, in terms of appearance and success, and that our regular old lives just canʼt compete. -- -- Sandeep Ranote added: "A lot of social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are all about posting images that can be changed. Theyʼre not real… the impact of that on young people is that it leads you to think thatʼs how you should look. -- -- and that can have an effect on your emotional health." Influencers can be a real force for good Psychology professor Dr Danielle Wagstaff -- -- “This stretches too to other types of body trends like fitness where we are seeing a spike in fitness influencers who very likely have no training or qualifications themselves. -- -- training or qualifications themselves. “Influencers often depict their ideas about health, eating, vaccinations or fitness as the new normal, and create an expectation that we need to be doing these things too if we want to keep up.” -- -- It’s not all doom and gloom, though, because the researcher thinks influencers can play an important role in spreading positive messages and increasing diversity. -- -- and increasing diversity. “On the other hand, we see influencers having great positive effects, promoting things like body positivity, spreading messages about speaking out against toxic masculinity, the #MeToo movement which has -- -- alone, other people understand what I’m going through’. “So I think in that sense influencers can be a real force for good." View this post on Instagram -- -- And if people think they’re suffering from the ill effects of social media and influencer culture, Dr Wagstaff recommends taking a break, educating yourself and reaching out to people who can help.