Gossip Girl hit cable TV in 2007, right when the world was beginning to learn about social media. Twitter was just invented in 2006, Facebook was being accessed by all ages and not just the college crowd anymore, and the world was taken by storm when this group of teenagers hit the our TVs. It was an age where in real life, people were becoming more digital without even realizing it and Gossip Girl took it to the next level.

The premise of Gossip Girl was a website that people could submit gossip to. The focus of a lot of the gossip was on a group of privileged, wealthy Manhattan teenagers including BFFs Serena Van Der Woodsen, played by Blake Lively, and Blair Waldorf, played by Leighton Meester. These teenagers were the wealthiest in their class, children of the wealthiest people in Manhattan, and had access to anything they wanted including sex, drugs, and alcohol. There were characters in the show, the Humphries, who were not a part of that world, as they weren't born into privilege and wealth, but were living day to day with these characters, cursing that they couldn't have all that they saw others did. It was scandalous and filled with drama, pulling in viewers of all age groups to watch, but with the twist that no one knew who Gossip Girl was or who ran the Gossip Girl website, but all that mattered was that you were on that website and being talked about.

Gossip Girl gave way to the idea that if you were popular on social media, you could be popular around the world. It gave viewers the idea that they could be living the life of the rich and famous by simply making something of themselves and by being talked about on the internet. Gossip Girl gave an entire generation a dream of boozy brunches and expensive travel and little responsibility, all because you were simply popular on a website. Gossip Girl ended in 2012, but in 2010, Instagram hit the scene.

No matter where these high schoolers went around the world, Gossip Girl seemed to catch up with them and they just couldn't get away from it. At the same time, Instagram was hitting the college crowd and everyone wanted to be involved. Just a few short years later, if you had enough followers on IG, you could make a ton of money with the sponsorship and ads that came along with your page. All you need to do is snap a photo and promote yourself and boom; you could be living the lifestyle of the rich and famous, being followed everywhere you go.

Gossip girl gave way to the social media influencers that are around today. It helped pave the way for social media to make someone famous, as long as you stay relevant and are being talked about. Someone with 200 followers who posts every three months won't get nearly the amount of attention that someone gets who is posting and promoting themselves almost every day. To put it simply, as long as people are following, liking, commenting, and talking about your page, you're set. Just like in Gossip Girl, as long as you're being talked about, you were a target for the site to make you even more famous. Social media influencers live a hell of a life, almost like that group of teenagers that hit the scene in 2007.