Now, this is a misleading title, as I am not talking about every influencer on the planet. This is a prime example of what I am going to be discussing here; the abuse of power.
The best place to take this is to Instagram, where you will find most of the people everyone finds interesting. You got your A-list Marvel celebrities, plus your models and Youtubers. The all post their own individual content for you; the consumer, to consume. You have no choice in what the person posts, only if you react to it at all. But what would happen if something harmful was posted?
It is crazy to believe the only thing really stopping abuse happening on the internet is a bot. You would think a person’s thought of “Maybe I shouldn’t do this, nah I will post it anyway”. Once you get to a high level of fame, many people begin to either A: Be weary what they post, or B: post whatever they can because they do not care.
Most influencers will get opportunities to support other brands through sponsorships and brand deals. Take a look at James Charles’ promotion of pills that were not his best friends; he basically lost his job for a bit and millions of people unfollowed him. Due to the social media market being volatile, brand deals will be viewed as selling out or vital to survival, most times it is both.
So, what has been annoying me? The influencers who exploit their fans to make more money off them. Not naming names, but telling fans the only way they can be like them is to pay for a £500 course, that they only put 2 hours of work in. Not only when it surprisingly does not work their new friend bails on them, but they are no further forward but lost thousands.
Now, I know people have to make money, but when you have something really cool to offer, wouldn’t it be better to shar with everyone?
I could go into a lot more detail, but let us just say the influencers who get their fans to invest into NFTs and cryptocurrencies that participants make a small profit, but the influencer earns massively from. This is smart, but cruel to your fans.
Be honest, don’t sellout as you’ll lose what you stood for.