Hey, Mr. Personal Finance Influencer, not everyone is a doofus!
Trying very hard not to rant about social media here…
I must admit, I do not belong to the social media world. At least not the one I see around. I am new to Instagram (yeah!) and have been mostly inactive on Facebook for the past few years. I looked at Pinterest when we were doing up our kitchen, and that was it.
So, now, when I wanted to take my personal finance blog interactions up a notch, the popular opinion was to take to Social media. I did so with a few timid steps and boy was I astonished.
Before I go down that road and a rant builds up, let me lay down what I am looking to do with my posts.
My epiphany can be found in this article. I realised that there was no avenue to learn about personal finance in regular education and normal corporate jobs. So, my intent was to contribute by helping people discover the basics of personal finance. To this end, I consider my reader to be educated and reasonably smart. I am consistently trying to avoid unnecessary dumbing down, at the same time trying to keep it simple.
Hopefully, this comes across in my writing.
Now, when I stepped into the world of the personal finance influencer, I was a little taken aback. To put it mildly.
For one, the world seems totally insidious. Influencers following influencers. Influencers commenting on posts by influencers. Influencers promoting influencers. I am sure there are some normal folks in there as well, but the drumbeat seems to be very much influencer led and followed.
This is confusing to me, I would have loved to see Joe Public commenting and discussing the nuggets shared. There is some really useful personal finance advice being shared by these influencers, don’t get me wrong, I am just wondering who is listening.
The other thing that struck me, and this was much more disheartening, was the tone in the posts.
Mr. Joe Public is not a dolt, he knows basic math and understands logic
Almost all of the posts around the personal finance building blocks seem to assume they are speaking to someone who is unable to comprehend basic math and logic. It is as if, had it not been for the influencer they would be sitting on the kerb dribbling and waiting to be fed. I mean seriously!! WTF!
Here are a few nuggets which get my goat –
“You cannot pour from an empty cup. You are going to be a better partner friend, parent, employee, etc. when you are your best self!! Carve out time for the things that bring you joy, not what others tell you you should do.”
“Don’t buy the $500 bag with nothing in it, buy the $10 bag with $490 in it” <eyeroll>
Then there are factually incorrect posts like: “95% of college dropouts know more about running a business than college professors”. This, with not a hint of survivorship bias. Hope that no one drops out of college reading such posts.
Dear Mr. / Ms Influencer It is not as if, people are whiling away their lives completely, sipping lattes and buying Gucci belts with their 3rd credit card. They are doing their best and working towards financial independence, they just need a little nudge every now and then.
They are not a doofus, they can understand the fundamentals of saving and investing. You just need to connect with them as individuals with sense.
But then, there must be an audience for what the influencers are doling out, right? Every post seems to be getting a zillion likes and gazillion ‘fire’ responses.
Maybe, I am just a dinosaur caught in a time bubble, but I am not going to stoop down to talking to my readers as if they don’t know their derriere from their elbow. I do hope you are one of those readers who will appreciate an honest tone that speaks to you like an adult.
However, if you strongly believe that I am wrong, then do drop a note and let me know why you think so.
