Political Influencer or Politically Influenced?

‘A Political View’ By Sherry Holliman

Some people see influence is a bad word. It doesn’t have four letters, but it can be associated with misuse of power.

Is influence a bad word?

What is an influencer?

An influencer is a person that has the power to affect decisions of others because of their knowledge, position, or relationship with an audience. Someone that can produce results by proving their action speaks louder than words.

Influencers are people that want to make a positive impact in society not that they are prone to negative biases and influences. Even in cases where influence is a good thing, people don’t like to think that they are an influencer. In our daily routines such as grooming, voting, or debating issues people don’t see themselves as influencer.

Just think: It is election day and you weren’t planning to vote, but you see other people wearing an “I voted” sticker, so you decide to cast your vote.

Political leaders have a very strong impact on the way people think, and the way people operate within a complex social and political system. Politics affect everything we do. The government has a direct influence on several aspects of the lives of many people that include land use, property taxes, laws, education, health care and the living conditions within neighborhoods.

The government also establishes and maintains numerous public services and addresses challenging real life issues like free speech, health care, religion, and immigration laws which are just a few of the things that influencers need to address in our society.

Voters need to be aware of just how much influence they have with the politics that affect their lives, and they should not vote for one side all the time, but in fact, they should research all the sides of the political parties and get to know everything that their political party wants to change and how it will directly affect them and their daily lives.

A political leader without an educated population about how politics works will rarely advance towards a greater good and will most likely lead to a corrupt government. There are times where being influenced is bad, but there are also times where being influenced is helpful.

Positive influencers will provide useful information that helps people make better and faster decisions.

Being a political influencer will force people to compare themselves to others, encourage one to work harder and be more accountable for their actions.

As influence can help, it can also hurt. Influence can be very powerful if votes are needed for a policy or issue. Making changes depends almost entirely on whether the influencer think that policy is supported by their party or the opposite party.

Influence has a large impact on how society votes.

Influencers are not people that conform or imitate others they are different. They want to be the same but unique. Political influencers walk a fine line between being similar but different, being part of group but not being totally bias, feeling supported, and validated for addressing challenging issues.

Some people consider being too similar as bad or too different also bad.

What voters need are people who will use their influence to help those who are disadvantaged regardless of race, gender, age, or social class. Do you think influence is relevant in addressing political matters?

Sherry Holliman is a concerned citizen of Crittenden County and has some views on a variety of topics that she wants to share with her neighbors. She serves on the Marion City Council.