• Listening, reading, writing

• Influence, social media, identity

• B2

• Individually, groupwork

• 95 minutes

Fancy dinners, the latest fashion, a perfect lifestyle… Influencers seem to have it all. Over the last decade, these social media stars have gained immense popularity, especially among youngsters. But are these images that influencers create of themselves always a true reflection of who they really are? In other words, does their feed align with their real identity? The article ‘Spinfluencers’ shows how easy it is to fake your own identity and manipulate your audience that way. Students learn and discuss about this particular phenomenon and put their newly acquired knowledge into practice by creating their own imaginary Instagram account.

Activities

Click here for the assignments.

This learning activity starts with assignment 36, in which students team up and discuss some questions about their experience with influencers and social media. Then, in assignment 37, students listen to the article ‘Spinfluencers’ and fill in the missing words. After listening to the article, students now read the article. Afterwards, two reading assignments follow. In assignment 38, students decide whether the statements made about the text are true or false, and in assignment 39, they decide who or what a word refers to. Assignment 40 focusses on the adjectives used in the article. Students learn to distinguish between positive and negative adjectives, think about opposites and fit adjectives in the right context. Inspired by the experiment discussed in the article, students carry out assignment 41. In this final assignment they boost their imaginary Instagram account by taking a couple of fake pictures and writing attractive captions for them. Who creates the most surprising and convincing feed?

This article was published in WaspReporter issue 18.4 (April 2020). Are you interested in purchasing a single issue or a year-round subscription? Click here.