Influencers perceived as digital super peers? Outcomes of adolescents’ use of social media influencers for socio-political information

Social media influencers (SMIs) are nowadays often adolescents’ main information source for socio-political topics, acting as an extension of young people’s real-life social network. To explain this phenomenon, we propose the novel concept of digital super peer (DSP) perceptions and study its consequences on adolescents’ peer discussions about socio-political topics and their attachment to influencers. This three-wave longitudinal survey with adolescents (12–16 years; NW1 = 1,419, NW2 = 1,019, NW3 = 799) found that adolescents who are more often exposed to socio-political content from their favorite influencer are more likely to ascribe DSP perceptions to them. While influencers seem to complement rather than replace peer group discussions about socio-political issues, our findings also point to some risks, both on the between- and within-person level: Adolescents who perceive SMIs as DSPs experience higher fear of missing out, which might be detrimental for their long-term well-being.