Influencers and the Decay of Social Networks
Have influencers finally laid bare the ultimate end state, the grand attractor, of current social network platforms?
An Attractive Proposition?
I tend to view pretty much everything in my life as a complex system — one that evolves from an initial state over time to some kind of final form. My ‘lens on life’ coming mostly from my background in fractal systems, now some time ago, and it’s become a judgement methodology that has stayed with me and grown over time.
I recently came across an article on the BBC News website that made me think about social networks — “‘I’m sick of influencers asking for free cake’” regarding the professional chef and baker Reshmi Bennett who was tired of getting free requests from influencers for her cakes.
The general influencer modus operandi, that I’ve seen reported many times before, is one whereby a social network user, the ‘influencer’, proposes a transaction to a creator whereby they receive either free or discounted material in return for a (promised or usually) favourable review.
Currently the most popular social network that supports this kind of activity seems to Instagram. The self-styled influencers usually showcase their number of followers, previous numbers of likes on their posts, and suchlike as a kind of…
