What exactly are influencers influencing?

So, I was thinking… what exactly is an influencer?
It almost feels like this is a kind of new profession lately, but is it?

The normal thing to do is google “definition of influencer”.
Of course you get Merriam-webster.com and dictionary.cambridge.org in front and than suddenly influencermarketinghub-[dot]-com in third place right before dictionary.com!

Ok, I wasn’t surprised and I know what that damn word stands for in 2019. It’s still interesting to analyse further.

All three dictionary sites had two definitions, one being the classical understanding and definition of the word, and the other the modern variant.

Let’s start with the classics:

1. One who exerts influence, a person who inspires or guides the actions of others.

Example: The old theme of laziness and mellowness runs counter to today’s influencers, who are businesspeople and upscale inspirational promoters of a go-getter way of life.

2. Someone who affects or changes the way that other people behave.

Example: Young people are increasingly influencers on their parents’ decisions.

3. A person or thing that influences another.

Example: He was a champion of the arts and a huge influencer of taste.

Beautiful explanation and some great examples! Good old days…

So according to these definitions, influencers are people who inspire, guide and change how others think, more often in a good way. Quite a noble thing to be.

Here’s a quote of a real life influencer who’s work has affected our lives without driving clicks up and with a pretty terrible reach at the time of writing it.

And here is what it means today:

1. A person who is paid by a company to show and describe its products and services on social media, encouraging other people to buy them.

2. A person who is able to generate interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media.

3. A person who has the power to influence many people, as through social media or traditional media.

First thing coming to mind was — ahhh marketeers, but that’s not true. Marketeers are paying influencers for promotions and to access their followers/fanbase. So at best they are assistants or even tools for marketeers.

Sorry if I’m being rude, and I definitely don’t want to offend anyone but lets face it, this is how you’re denominated when people see you in numbers on spreadsheets and not as a person.

Some may be mannequins so that consumers can imagine how clothes, tennis rackets, wearables and other products look like on a real life person. But that doesn’t help much when that person isn’t really you, does it? Besides, it does not apply to all use cases and we still need a more general explanation of what they influence.

There are also people being motivational advocates of fitness and wellbeing, aesthetics and arts and all sorts of other things. That’s fine, that’s why we have social media, right?

But the moment these people or accounts (by the way, there’re quite a lot of artificial ones) become influencers, they convert.
They convert to salespeople, not good ones though.

A new definition I’d add to the dictionaries would be:

influencer — a person, often impostors with fake online characters, manipulating others with exposing them to their opinion or style to buy goods and services

What are bad salespeople associated with? Bad deals and sometimes fraud. Impostors are by nature con artists. Not a nice picture, I know.

So what are influencers influencing then?

I guess people to binge-watch stuff, let’s call it non-essential content at best. Most of it is like the worst TV shows — no plot, bad acting and cheesy settings.

It drives me crazy when I see/hear — “I want to influence people in a good way”. Even the best content on social media is not influencing in a good way, but in the worst one. People just scroll and click and watch more of it…

So if you’re a motivational influencer, which is contradicting with the official definition — don’t give your followers eye candy, make their eyes bleed (not literally please) and make them throw that damn phone away for a few hours.

This needs to go away. I know, I know… there’s this stigma of free markets and then there’s freedom of speech.

Still, it’s time that influencer marketing gets regulated and it can only be regulated by YOU!

Stop following if you don’t see something truly inspirational. Make it go away (at least for yourself).

To wannabe influencers

There was a time when all we did on the internet was blocking and banning people — ok, most of the time.
In my opinion it’s how a real sense of community is created. You find people you share common interest, and you have them around you. It’s a private place where private conversations can be had.

This rat race for clicks and followers isn’t helping anyone.

People would know, and you would freely tell them, everything you do and open doors to potential emotional havoc when someone disagrees with your view or you get badly trolled.
Consider your chances of being accepted at all times, and your opinion, by any number of people higher than 15–20, which is kind of the max of real friends and close and nice family members a person gets. Now consider your chances with 5,000. You get the idea.

Actually the greatest people I personally know are terrible at social media. Could there be a relation or do I simply suck at finding cool friends?

Imagine this. You get instafamous, you start earning money, you live well and have a fabulous pretend life online.
The market changes, tech changes, marketing strategies and media changes… it goes away and you have no clue on how to get back to not being a celeb wannabe and earn a living. Not a good but very real perspective.

Don’t believe that? Remember the hype of Facebook apps a few years back which aren’t a thing for marketeers anymore, it’s just one of many examples.

Or alternatively, things just play out badly for you and instead of instafamous you are simply remembered as the weird fool. People tend to remember and share embarrassing stuff more than they do with great and positive content. So I guess chances aren’t even 50:50 then. Assess the risk!

Stop chasing that fame, do something meaningful and the rest will come if you deserve it.

Conclusion (sort of)

Finally, worth saying that social role models are important. These people are not influencers though, not in the sense of what the word is used for nowadays.

The world, and probably your hometown needs real leaders, the ones not ashamed of themselves and their real lives. People who stand up for the things they value, not for the things they get paid for.

Don’t be a bad salesperson, just be a person, please.

Now can we please go back to old school advertisements, with professional actors and film crews? This whole thing we influencer marketing is creeping me out, really.

If you like this article, give me a smile next time you see me.

Peace out. No-follow, remember and come back some time.