As the dust slowly settles from the social media ban, which came into effect on Wednesday, industry leaders predict it won’t have much impact on the influencer market. Whilst the ban removed around a million teenage accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit, only “a slither” of these accounts were being targeted by brands and agencies running influencer marketing campaigns.
Fabulate’s chief product and strategy officer Nathan Powell told B&T there are only a very small group of creators aged under 16 who monetise their social media channels at scale.
“The ban may create headlines, but in reality it affects a slither of the market,” he said.
“Here is the part that often gets misunderstood. The creators who actually influence teenagers at scale are overwhelmingly adults. They may speak fluently to youth culture, but they are over 18, professionally managed and already operating within the existing brand safety and compliance ecosystem.
“So when we ask how many creators with substantial teen audiences are impacted, the honest answer is: very few. The content teens consume is driven by algorithms and interest signals, not by the creator’s date of birth. And with boosting now such a significant part of creator marketing, brands can still put their messages in front of teen audiences with absolute precision, regardless of who appears in the video.”
This tiny portion of the market shrinks even further when you take in consideration that a lot of agencies won’t recruit creators under the age of 18.
B&T‘s Creator Agency of the Year Social Soup said it has never marketed to anyone under the age of 18.
“Influence is incredibly powerful, and we’ve always believed it should be directed toward adults making informed choices and not children,” the agency’s founder and CEO Sharyn Smith said.
This was a view echoed by Powell, who said: “For most brands, agencies and platforms, this is a non-event. Professional campaigns already avoid under-16 talent entirely. At Fabulate, we only work with creators eighteen and over, so the policy sits completely outside how we run campaigns.
“Brands have already shifted toward adult creators who hold credibility with younger audiences. Youth culture is shaped by formats, humour, trends and shared references that transcend age brackets. The policy simply nudges the industry further down a path it was already walking.
“The ban may prompt brands to be more conscious of how their campaigns look, not just who is in them. Content filmed in school settings, teenage bedrooms or storylines involving minors may receive closer legal review. The creator can be twenty-three, but if the narrative evokes adolescence, some brands may rethink how it lands in the current environment.”
The social media ban may have an impact on emerging social media trends because around a million accounts are being removed from platforms, alongside their videos, likes and comments.
Smith said that while trends and the latest platform content are important, agencies need strong strategic insights and bigger picture thinking to drive impact.
“Learn the skills of marketing so anything you do is grounded in more than just buzz,” she said.
