What do you think of when you hear “influencer” uttered? Do you think of MrBeast ( I hope not) or Like Nastya (too young for you, I hope)? Or do you imagine a bevy of people on YouTube trying to convince you to buy “the most comfortable sneakers ever”? Maybe this is you, scrolling through the YouTube rabbit hole after a long slog.

These influencers could be experts, artists, gamers, fitness gurus, beauticians, teachers and parents. (Understandable if you are averse to watching your teacher on screen.) Being engaged with an online community can boost their sales or . . .provide more views on their Twitch account?

How did the influencer trend start? Why, with Beth Moncel! In 2009, when she began work at Whole Foods, she was a fresh college graduate. Long story short, her blogging adventure was born when she blogged about recipes. Over a decade after her website launch, she has since retired from it.
In the past decade, with the global growth of Instagram and Pinterest, people have documented their lives through video and photo footage. Memory lane . . .

Influencers make their money through ads, paid posts, subscriptions, sponsors, and affiliate links. It is their goal to influence mindsets, as well as behaviors, take action, and purchase the products they promote.

Relatable, young people want to earn money by doing something they love. A survey from 2023 found that 1 in 4 in the Gen Z era aspire to make a career from influencing. The life of one is being invited to events and getting things for free; it sounds appealing enough to become a professional in this, does it not? You document your life each day (even the most mundane parts). Hours are spent each week making content to then upload to whatever social media accounts you use.

With more and more influencers turning up, social media gets bombarded with seemingly everybody joining the content creator crowd. It comes with consequences, like anything in life. Such as where a chunk of one’s followers are actually bots.

My take on this industry: I hate influencers. The idea of your life revolving around how many views you receive. It’s something I understand but mostly don’t. Relying on followers to pay you. Spending endless hours creating content so to please those who watch you. For me, it isn’t just how involved it is in the process, but the title! A professional influencer? Of what, pet food? Isn’t that what the Farmer’s Dog is for?😁

I imagine a situation where a creator (one of few synonyms found for describing such a person) experiences technical difficulties to the point where their device has to be serviced at the store. They’re rushing the tech expert to hurry up to find the issue because “I need to upload another video by tonight.”😲 Relying on your audience will bring unnecessary pressure and disappointments, I assume.