In recent years, there has been a significant rise in the number of young people in Ireland, UK and elsewhere engaging with online influencers, including those who post motivational health and fitness videos on social media. Online influencers can have a positive impact on their followers by providing them with information (albeit of varying degrees of accuracy), entertainment and opportunities for learning and skill development. However, teachers and parents/guardians in Ireland, UK and elsewhere have become increasingly concerned about how young people, particularly teenage boys, are engaging with online ‘masculinity influencers’ who post content on social media platforms on issues relating to men and masculinity, some of which promotes harmful ideologies, attitudes and behaviours, including restrictive and oppressive forms of masculinity that are predicted on sexual and gender-based abuse, harassment and violence (e.g. Baker et. al., 2024; Ging et. al., 2024; Wescott et. al., 2024) (see figures 1-13). The discriminatory, hateful and often violent language of these online masculinity influencers is feeding a culture of prejudice, sexism and hate among children and young people (Weale, 2023; Wescott et al., 2024), which presents serious safeguarding concerns for schools, teachers and parents/guardians that urgently needs to be addressed.
This resource aims to provide schools, teachers and educators with guidance on how to address the impact of these online masculinity influencers on young people, particularly teenage boys (aged 13-18), via educational interventions and initiatives, which include having critical discussions with them about this topic. Although this information may not be directly actionable for parents considering one-on-one discussions about this topic with their child, the overall guidance may still be helpful for those preparing for such discussions. Critically, the guidance outlined in this resource recognises that the harmful ideologies, attitudes and behaviours promoted by online masculinity influencers are part of a broader network or ‘ecosystem’ of spaces in our society and culture that have historically maintained and reproduced gendered power dynamics and inequalities. In other words, they are not online only phenomena, but are rather current manifestations of these gendered dynamics and inequalities, which change over time. Therefore, discussions about specific online masculinity influencers in this resource should be taken as a proxy for similar content that may arise in our society and culture in the future. Moreover, this resource cautions against attributing the harms associated with online masculinity influencers solely to digital technologies and social media in discussions with young people about this topic. Instead, it advocates a balanced approach to these discussions, which acknowledges the potential harms and positive benefits of social media in ways that aim to support young people in safely navigating these spaces.