“I’ve got a text!” Love Island is back for its eighth series and we’re once again cancelling our evening plans in favour of hot girl summer in Majorca. It can be so easy to be sucked into the low-stakes drama of reality tv, especially when the rest of the world seems to be on fire, dedicating weeks of our time to tuning in and turning contestants into celebrities overnight. 

Where we once saw islanders with “real” jobs – doctors, office workers, hospitality – we’re now increasingly seeing content creators, models and influencers taking over. While content creation is undoubtedly a full profession that requires real graft, the Love Island-to-influencer pipeline is one that can’t be ignored and has real implications on the wider world of influence. 

It’s no secret that islanders become instant internet stars who come home to hundreds of thousands of new followers, one example of this is 2022 Love Island contestant Gemma Owen, whose Instagram followers have jumped up by 385,110 (an increase of 132 per cent) over the past 30 days.

Historically, islanders have used this newfound clout to secure brand deals and sponsorships, turning a summer of fun into a career in the limelight. For example, 2018’s Dani Dyer has seen success with Surf (“perf with Surf,” anyone?) and 2019’s Molly-Mae Hague is now the creative director of PrettyLittleThing, reminding us that we have the same 24 hours in a day as Beyonce. 

Beyond the stereotype of the Love Island influencer

While starring on Love Island is a surefire way to become an influencer, it’s important that we don’t hold all content creators accountable for the sins of the islanders – much like how Love Island is not reflective of society at large, it’s also not reflective of the majority of content creators. It takes a certain type of person to grace the Love Island villa, but the world of content creation is a lot more diverse. 

Back in the ‘wild west’ days of influencer marketing, Paris Hilton and the Kardashians were the be-all-and-end-all of the industry. These days, the dial has shifted to one more focused on authenticity than living vicariously through celebrities. Influencers and content creators are now viewed as a crucial content stream for advertising and a legitimate element of brand strategy.

We look to influencers for clout within the audiences they inhabit, and these online communities can be as diverse as the influencers themselves. Whether working within health & wellness, fashion, food & drinks or something a little more niche, there will be a person of influence within these spheres. Who we work with is no longer limited by the ‘perfect life’ Instagram aesthetic, and brands should not limit themselves to these outdated ideals.

Today, people of a diverse range of age, size, race, gender, disability and religion are celebrated online, and it’s important that influencer campaigns are reflective of people rather than a strict notion of what a person should look or act like. When planning influencer campaigns, it’s crucial to be aware of the unconscious (and conscious) bias that may be present – take a step back from your influencer plan, does everyone you’re putting forward look like you? If the answer is yes, it’s time to reconsider. 

No one size fits all solution

As marketers, it’s our responsibility to ensure that the content we put out into the world is inclusive and diverse, and this extends to the content creators we choose to work with. The solution isn’t to drop Love Island stars as influencers and ambassadors, the solution is to realise that islanders are not the only content creators of value. 

Working with a diverse range of people allows for representation to flourish, which is especially important to younger consumers. As society moves further away from the highly-curated Instagram heyday, instead favouring platforms like TikTok and BeReal, it’s putting more emphasis on being your authentic self than ever before. As people are drawn more to the “real” side of social media, they have less and less time for the old style of creator. 

Today, mid-size fashion has taken over social media alongside tutorials for embracing natural hair and the more standardised use of captions for accessibility. If brands and the creators they work with aren’t willing to be agile enough to move with the times, they will doom themselves to irrelevance. 

In short, the islanders are here to stay, and their impact on pop culture coupled up with their newfound status will continue to land them sponsorships, but it’s on the brands to ensure that representation is as diverse as their consumers. When it comes to working with influencers, each tier offers a unique benefit to brands, nano and micro influencers are viewed as the most authentic, mid-tiers are seen as the strongest content creators, and macro and celebrity-level stars offer their reach and status, but a holistic approach can’t flourish without representation across tiers. The same is true for the diversity of its creators.