MYOspace

Every year, Time magazine releases a list of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World.” This year, Rihanna made that list.

On Time’s website, Stella McCartney wrote that Rihanna was an incredibly hard worker, which is something I truly believe. She’s only twenty-four and already has made eleven number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart—the youngest artist to do so.

But, I don’t think hard work merits a spot on “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” list. Most musicians put incredible amounts of money and effort into recording, packaging, marketing and selling their albums, not to mention touring and guest appearances. And many of those artists don’t have the negative buzz that’s been surrounding Rihanna lately.

After the 2009 Chris Brown assault, many people sympathized with Rihanna. She was victimized in a brutal and completely unlawful way. She did not deserve that attack; no one deserves to be hurt like that.

However, the artist recently released a series of new music tracks featuring Chris Brown. This sets a bad example for victims everywhere. If someone harms you in any way, you should not simply invite them back into your life. You are potentially putting yourself at risk. If one of Rihanna’s fans saw her so easily reconcile with Chris, they may be inclined to do something similar, and that could put them in serious danger.

Rihanna has also been tweeting up a storm about… her drug use. She often mentions using marijuana, and just last month she tweeted a picture of what looked like cocaine. That’s not influential; it’s irresponsible and completely ignorant. Not only is the young singer using drugs, she’s bragging about it through her social networking site. I don’t know what Time magazine considers “Influential,” but they should reconsider putting women on their list that exhibit such irresponsible behavior.