Is chivalry dead? Over a third of Brits would rather get 10,000 followers than go on a date

What’s going on?

Who can resist the thrill of going on a first date? According to a recent survey, 34 per cent  of us would rather gain 10,000 followers on our social media account than get asked out on a real date. The research conducted by Influencer – a new web platform that allows brands to collaborate with social media stars, or ‘influencers’ – also found that, one in 10 Brits would sacrifice a promotion at work in favour of gaining an increase in followers.

Over half of us (51 per cent) admit to using social media to interact with a love interest, with one in 10 preferring to get a ‘like’, ‘comment’, ‘regram’ or ‘retweet’ from someone we fancy than receive a compliment in real life.

It’s no wonder that brands are clamouring to work with social stars, many of whom can command fees of up to £5,000 per sponsored post. An influencer, with one million followers, posting three times a week for a year could earn over £750,000 just from collaborating with brands, and an influencer with only 10,000 followers could still earn close to £25k.

Having cottoned on to the earning potential of social media influence, 63 per cent of 18-30 year olds wish they could jack in their jobs and earn a living from social media alone.

Influencer, as the name suggests, works seamlessly to broker the collaboration between brands and influential content creators on social media.

Ben Jeffries, the 21-year-old founder of the new web platform, commented: “It’s no surprise that influential individuals on social media are monetising their social feeds – they have been doing so for some years now – but it is always surprising to see the impact social influencers’ can have on people’s lives. In this Influencer age we are making day-to-day decisions based on what are favourite social stars have recommended and to an extent, the power they can have is immeasurable.”