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Introduction

We've seen influencers on social media posting about all sorts of things – lifestyle, fashion, sports, travel, gaming and music... the list is almost endless! But did you know that some social media influencers are trying to get involved in politics? Beth and Pippa discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary.

This week's question

How many Instagram followers does footballer Cristiano Ronaldo have?

a) 6.7 million
b) 67 million
c) 667 million

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

Vocabulary

turned off
uninterested; repulsed
 
super (+ adjective)
very, extremely, more than usual
 
shape the narrative
have a strong influence over how something is presented or understood
 
branch out (into)
start doing something different from what you usually do
 
pushback
negative reaction to something new that has happened
 
dig up
search for hidden or forgotten information, often details that could damage someone's reputation

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript. 

Beth
Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Beth.
 
Pippa
And I'm Pippa. Everywhere you look online, from gaming and fashion to music, travel and culture, you'll find social media influencers. These social media influencers do what they're famous for: influencing and creating trends. Do you follow any social media influencers, Beth?
 
Beth
Erm… I don't follow any specifically, I would say, but I do see influencers on Facebook and Instagram – things like that.
 
Pippa
Well, the most successful influencers have millions of followers and, not surprisingly, this has caught the attention of another group of people trying to get their message out to the public: politicians.
 
Beth
Politicians using the media to win elections is nothing new but, in this episode, we'll be finding out what happens when social media influencers become politicians themselves. As usual, we'll be learning some useful new words and phrases, and remember – there's a transcript of this episode to read along with while you listen. It's available now on our website: bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Pippa
But first, I have a question for you, Beth.  The most followed Instagram account of 2025 belongs to footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, but how many followers does he have?
 
a)    6.7 million,
b)    67 million, or
c)    667 million?
 
Beth
Ooh… I'm going to go down the middle: 67 million.
 
Pippa
Well, we'll find out the answer later in the programme. Around the world, politicians are realising that they can reach a lot of people through social media influencers. There have even been allegations of politicians paying for the support of influencers in places like Colombia, Argentina and Indonesia.
 
Beth
And one place where politics has become a big topic on social media is Nigeria.
 
Pippa
Nigeria is a country with a huge, young population. There are around 200 million people in total and 70% of them are under 30. Many of these young voters are turned off, meaning not interested, in traditional media, but they do follow social media influencers.
 
Beth
Adline Okere is BBC Igbo news editor in Lagos, Nigeria. She spoke with BBC World Service programme The Fifth Floor about the situation there:
 
Adline Okere
Influencers are super important to shaping the narrative of these young people. Some of them started in, you know, activism. Some of them started out with lifestyle and then branched into politics.
 
Pippa
Adline thinks influencers are super important in Nigerian politics. She uses super to mean very, extremely, or more than usual. For example, if you say you're super happy about something, you mean you're very happy about it.
 
Beth
In Nigeria, influencers are shaping the narrative of elections. If someone shapes a narrative, they have a strong influence over how something is presented or understood. Influencing things, of course, is exactly what influencers do, but now, more and more social media personalities are branching outinto politics. When you branch out, you start doing something different from what you usually do, such as a new activity or job.
 
Pippa
So, what happens when influencers become politicians themselves? Here, Adline Okere explains more to Faranak Amidi, presenter of BBC World Service's The Fifth Floor:
 
Faranak Amidi
What about in Nigeria? Is there a pushback against these influencers who got involved in promoting political parties?
 
Adline Okere
Absolutely – a huge pushback! They will also go back and dig up information about these people from their personal lives and then publish them on social media.
 
Beth
In Nigeria, there was a pushback against social media influencers turned politicians. A pushback is a negative reaction or rejection of something that has happened.
 
Pippa
In fact, the public reaction was so bad, people started to dig up information about influencers who promote politicians. If you dig up information about someone, you try to find details about them. We have a similar phrase – dig up dirt on someone, which means trying to find information about someone which could damage their reputation.
 
Beth
So, social media can be a powerful tool for politicians but getting involved in politics doesn't always go well for social media influencers. OK. Pippa, isn't it time you revealed the answer to your question?
 
Pippa
Yes, I asked, "How many followers does Cristiano Ronaldo, the footballer, have?" And the answer was c) 667 million, at the time of recording. That's a lot more than I have, Beth.
 
Beth
And me... wow!
 
Pippa
OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with the phrasal verb turned off, meaning uninterested.
 
Beth
When super is placed before an adjective, it means very or more than usual.
 
Pippa
Social media influencers who shape the narrative have a strong influence over how something is presented or understood.
 
Beth
If you branch out into something new, you start doing an activity or job that is different from what you usually do.
 
Pippa
A pushback is a negative reaction to something new that has happened.
 
Beth
And finally, the phrasal verb dig up means to try and find information. This is often about a person and their private life in order to try and damage their reputation. Once again, our six minutes are up, but why not head over to our website, bbclearningenglish.com, to try the quiz and worksheet for this episode? See you there soon, but for now, goodbye!
 
Pippa
Bye!

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