Today you will look at influencers and content creators. These are people who build an audience online and make money from it, for example through brand deals, links that pay them for each sale, or payments from the platform.
This does not make them dishonest, but it does change how their posts are made.
You will take apart a made-up creator post, and then talk about how much to trust people who get paid when you keep watching.
A lot of creator content mixes three layers.
- Sponsored: a brand paid for the post or gave the product free. In Ireland, the post should make it clear that it is an ad, for example by using #ad, #gifted or Paid partnership.
- Opinion: what the creator really thinks, likes or recommends.
- Designed to keep you watching: things like cliffhangers, dramatic claims, like counts and pressure to hurry. These hold your attention whether or not anything is being sold.
Think about this first. Do you usually notice when a creator is being paid, or do you mostly notice whether you like them?
As a class, start with the NovaBite snack post in the activity below. The activity collects the tricks you find, which are ways to make you believe or buy something.
| Layer | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Sponsored | Someone paid for this to be here. A discount code, “gifted”, a link that pays the creator when you buy (an affiliate link), or an ad label tucked at the end of the caption. |
| Real opinion | What the creator actually thinks, including the bits that are not flattering to the product. |
| Designed to keep you watching | A hook in the first two seconds, a cliffhanger, “part 2 tomorrow”, or a question asked just to get lots of comments. |
“Use KYLA10 at checkout” is sponsored, because the creator earns from each sale.
“Wait for the end, you will not believe it” is designed to keep you watching.
Be ready to say which of the three layers each trick belongs to.
Interactive activity
Now you will make a sponsored post of your own for a made-up product. The instructions and the pictures you can use are in the activity below.
Each picture says whether it is free to reuse, needs a credit, or cannot be used. One picture will refuse to go in, and that is meant to happen, so choose another. At the end, open Credits and add a credit for any picture that needs one.
Your work saves as you go. Use the download button to keep a copy as a picture, and then press Send to Teacher under the activity. Your teacher will put some on the board.
Build the sponsored post
Influencers and content creators shape what you see by mixing paid promotion, their own opinion, and tricks that hold your attention. The skill is to tell which layer you are looking at, check whether the post says it is paid for, and decide how much to trust the recommendation.
Now think of your own trust rule in one sentence. When would you trust a recommendation, and when would you check it first? Be ready to say it out loud.
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