With more people staying home than ever before due to the global pandemic, screen time has skyrocketed. People are scrolling through Instagram, creating TikTok accounts, and watching YouTube videos more than ever before. With that extra time, comes greater awareness, as well as scrutiny, of social media influencers.

The rise of influencers, who are known to document their lives with videos and photos while also they advertise for products ranging from makeup to mattresses to meals, has completely changed the way many consumers shops. Influencers can be anyone from well-known names like Kylie Jenner, down to niche accounts focused on fashion, beauty, organization, tech, wellness, and more. Influencers have the power to make or break a product launch and even sell it out in seconds.

According to social media analytics firm HypeAuditor, companies spent an estimated $5.2 billion on influencer marketing on Instagram alone in 2019. That number is expected to reach up to $6.5 billion in 2020. While influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere,  “cancel culture” is trending with influencers under scrutiny given the current social climate. Many have lost thousands of followers and have had to post tearful apologies for misusing their influence when it’s come to the global pandemic and the Black lives matter movement.

Are all influencers bad? The answer is no. There are many who are using their influence to do good. Mandy Ansari, the founder of Girl & The a lifestyle blog created to help the modern girl chase everyday happiness, has leveraged her social power to make a positive impact in 2020. Mandy Ansari, who has over 300k followers on Instagram and even more monthly visitors to her blog, takes the responsibility that comes with influence very seriously. After stumbling upon a viral post she created about the downfall of  “performative activism,” I knew I had to talk to her about how and why she’s urging her followers to swipe up on petitions more than affiliate links that generate personal revenue.

You have a very engaged following online. How did you build your community?

I have been working with startups to multi-billion dollar brands for over a decade, helping them share their stories to connect with their target audiences. Through this, I organically built a community online. I had toyed with the idea of building a space online to better connect with them, but it wasn’t until my best friend lost her battle with lifelong depression and took her own life that I made a move. She loved the Internet—whether it was a hilarious meme, career advice, blogs, inspirational quotes, or self-help—it provided her with joy and inspiration to persevere through the daily. The thing we don’t often realize about depression is that the people struggling with mental illness chase happiness harder than anyone else. I wanted to turn the intense pain and grief I was experiencing without her into a legacy that could live on, but also help others feel less alone and more understood on their journey of chasing happiness. It’s important to me that I share the good, great, bad, and ugly moments online. The more I did this, the more my digital footprint grew. I believe the single most common cause of depression is feeling alone and misunderstood. It’s important that every single thing I post helps someone feel more confident, a little lighter, less alone, and a bit more understood. This could mean taking that dream trip you never thought you could afford or gathering the guts to ask for time off from your intimidating boss…or simply wearing a rainbow sequin jacket because you’re feeling a little grey inside.

What role do you see influencers playing during the age of pandemics and protests? How important is it for influencers to be engaged in current events?

The truth is, we all have influence—whether it’s over your home, your tight-knit circle of friends, family members, or co-workers. It doesn’t matter if you have 25 or 10 million followers, everyone has a sphere of influence. I am passionate about the internet’s ability to make the world a smaller and connected place. We’re seeing technology’s power leveraged in powerful ways this year. I am constantly asking myself, what am I influencing people to do? Am I influencing them to prioritize their mental health? Am I influencing them to be kind to themselves and others? Am I influencing them to reach a level of unattainable beauty, that therefore makes them feel insecure in their own skin? Am I influencing them to champion equality and public health? When my audience scrolls past one of my posts—does it make them feel better or worse? Am I challenging them to stop and think?

Right now, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic that is hardly being contained, slews of people are unemployed and we are coming together like never before to fight injustice, brutality, and systematic racism. I would argue that now more than ever, it is important to mobilize and unify people to be the change they wish to see in the world. The mirror selfies can wait, there is so much work to be done. I am hopeful that this very eventful year will lead to more authenticity, action, philanthropy on the internet—especially amongst those who have a lofty sphere of influence.

You have been able to rally your followers to sign petitions and raise funds for a number of organizations recently. Tell me more about how and why you did that?

 If I’m not using my voice for the things that are important to the overall happiness of humanity, what am I even doing showing up online daily? When we have a global pandemic that is taking the lives of innocent humans daily, shuddering the doors of small businesses, people losing their jobs while facing a financial crisis and feeling unsafe in their own country simply because of the color of their skin—you have no choice but to rally together to works towards change. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. I have been so energized by my community—my highest performing Instagram posts of all-time are about flattening the curve and the Black lives matter movement. Knowing they’re double-tapping more on a post about ending racism than they do a photo of designer shoes, makes me feel incredibly proud.

While many decided to mute their content during the BLM movement, it was important for me to use my voice during that time to truly amplify Black voices and the causes supporting the movement. During that time, I posted two videos that raised over $23,000 in personal donations from my community, as well as funds I matched to meet their contributions. We also had 77,981 people sign George Floyd’s petition for justice, as well as Breonna Taylor. There is so much power in technology and using your voice. The truth is, there are many lanes on the highway towards lasting, systemic change—I feel responsible to occupy the lanes that need support in areas of social power and technology.

You’re a very positive and colorful person, has it been difficult pivoting your focus to heavier topics this year?

 I like to say that I use topics like style, food, travel, and beauty as gateway drugs. Once I’ve landed a spot on your feed, I then share the serious stuff. Nearly 800,000 people die by suicide in the world each year, which is roughly one death every 40 seconds. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in the world. I am passionate about lessening those statistics—even if it’s by one person. Life is really stressful. Stress can turn into anxiety and anxiety can turn into depression and depression can lead to suicidal thoughts. When I show up on someone’s phone, I want to make sure I use that moment to make them smile, laugh, feel a little lighter, less alone, excited to make future plans, empowered, encouraged, or understood. Everything I post is inspired by this mission.

It's why I created a Virtual Pep Talk Generator that delivers a daily dose of positivity and encouragement straight to the subscriber’s phone. With anxiety at an all-time high right now, the Virtual Pep Talk Generator has seen a spike since the COVID-19 outbreak and currently has over 5K subscribers who have signed up to receive daily text messages.  I also created a version for Instagram stories, it’s an interactive filter that offers up a mantra to give you that pep talk you so need. The filter has over 5.3 million impressions to date and counting! Strengthening our mental health and working towards finding positivity is vital right now.

When COVID-19 came on the scene, anxiety quickly swept across the globe. And now, an estimated 15-26 million people participated (though not all are “members” of the organization) in the 2020 Black Lives Matters protests in the United States, making Black Lives Matters one of the largest movements in U.S. history. Everything that is happening right now is important and has an effect on our mental and physical health. I can’t imagine focusing on anything else. I am an eternal optimist and naturally a more positive person, so while the world is a heavy place right now, I still find joy in color and chasing happiness. In fact, I think we have to chase happiness even harder right now—not just for me, but for all of us. We’re in this together, after all.