Maybe I’m too old to understand this, but what the hell is an “influencer” and do any of my fellow Gen X care what they say or do?
Posted by Interesting-Web3737@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 582 comments
I cannot think of anything from the 70s 80s or 90s that was as useless or self-serving. Is this just an outgrowth from reality TV? It seems like it’s the popular rich kids from school (I was neither) monetized.
loungesinger@reddit
Yeah, the Silent Generation, famously “characterized by extreme frugality, shaped by growing up during the Great Depression,” taught the Boomers to be extreme consumerists.
lovebeinganasshole@reddit
Nope outgrowth of extreme consumerism. Basically the thing our baby boomers parents were fighting against.
loungesinger@reddit
Baby Boomers fought against extreme consumerism, you say?
lovebeinganasshole@reddit
Yes that was their whole thing especially music. Very much against it. The hippees still following the dead, and working towards green energy and conservation. Most musicians wouldn’t even appear in commercials or lend their music to commercials until sometime in the 90s.
loungesinger@reddit
Two things:
The hippies of the ‘60s represented a minority of the Boomers.
As you say, by the ‘90s these hippies had grown up and sold their souls to Corporate America. That was 30 years ago. As in, for at least the last 30 years the vast majority of Boomers have been all about consumerism. Moreover, they’ve been in charge of the country for the last 30 years, which is why our public policy has been beholden to consumerism all these years. I mean, if the Boomers, who have had a stranglehold on federal and state governments for over three decades, aren’t responsible for American consumerism, who is? Gen Z? There are probably less than 100 elected officials nationwide (at all level of government) who are Gen Zers.
lovebeinganasshole@reddit
I’d say silent gen since they’re the ones that sold the boomers on it.
thejunkmanadv@reddit
The_Latverian@reddit
😂 oh my God...the Generation that thought Reagan was a good idea was "Fighting against extreme consumerism"
apotheosis24@reddit
They're like Max Headroom.
Pandy_45@reddit
With longer nails
Intelligent-Monk-426@reddit
An influencer is a content creator whose content is themselves/their image/their life. I find limited overlap between those two ideas (influencer and content creator). Content creators often produce stuff people really like and get a lot out of but (as I see it) they themselves are not at the center.
ancientastronaut2@reddit
My great grandfather was a "Huckster" and I think of influencers as the modern day equivalent.
btstphns@reddit
Can you tell me what a "huckster" was and what your grandfather did to be considered one?
(I know i could Google this, but I'm curious of your take)
ancientastronaut2@reddit
He drove a truck around with random merchandise (some of which was surely stolen) and drove around trying to sell his goods in a very obnoxious manner like a snake oil salesman.
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
Could care less. They all seem to be dying as well
Dorkinfo@reddit
It’s could not care less. By saying you could care less, you’re saying you care to some degree.
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
And, don’t correct my English, thank you. You need to care less
Dorkinfo@reddit
Sounds about right, how dare you actually learn something. Keep on being wrong.
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
I have a PhD in clinical psychology and a PsyD in forensic psychology so I think I’ve learned some things.
Dorkinfo@reddit
So, you think you know everything? No more learning, you’ve got degrees!
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
Oh wow, you are far too affected by me. This is about something else.
Dorkinfo@reddit
Nope, literally about you using the wrong phrase and doubling down.
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
Well actually it is not a wrong phrase “could care less“ is a colloquialism. Look it up. I’m not sure what you wanted me to learn from this.
Dorkinfo@reddit
It’s just sad now, man.
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
No, it’s okay. I get it. I lose my mind when people put ”at” at the end of a sentence. A proposition doesn’t go at the end of a sentence, ex: ‘where’s the party at?’. It should be ‘where is the party?’ right but no one cares anymore and it has become a colloquialism 😍
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
No I know my feelings. I wouldn’t state that unless it were true for me. I don’t find it authentic so I don’t find it interesting for me.
Sepsis_Crang@reddit
It's a job.
StanleyQPrick@reddit
It’s a job like prostitution is a job. Not sure why this is more respectable.
Sepsis_Crang@reddit
I'm answering the OP question is what is an infuencer. It's a job in the streaming age. I made no judgement as to how valued it is or not.
StanleyQPrick@reddit
The same is true of my comment.
NoUniqueNameNeeded@reddit
Maybe job should to be in quotes? That's the old man in me talking as some make a shit-ton more than I do at their 'job'.
flourdevour@reddit
Human commercials.
Texas_Crazy_Curls@reddit
They are human spam mail.
Interesting-Web3737@reddit (OP)
🤣
Fluffymanolo@reddit
Influencer is kind of the "old" title. Now they are going as "content creator".
It used to be a pretty face telling everyone what products they use or what is the latest hot spot. They'd sometimes get paid for influencing others into following their lead. But they've been drug through the mud as the most vapid career choice in the last couple of years that now they are trying to rebrand to content creators. The vapid ones are doing the same thing, but others are creating original content in the hopes of getting popular enough to get paid sponsorship.
ColdObiWan@reddit
Best comparison I can make for our generation? Martha Stewart.
Why is she famous? She wasn’t an actress, a model, a politician, or a sports figure. She ran a catering business, and used that experience to publish a book about entertaining in your home. A few more books followed, then tv guest spots and shows and sponsorships.
Influencers are similar. They use something they know as content for their instagram feed, and hope that their content attracts enough attention to get them sponsored.
The other overlap is that they’re both selling a lifestyle. Martha’s was a very cozy / fancy home, at a time when many of our parents were looking to create or project that very thing; she focused a lot on crafts to let you project that vibe for a small investment or money. Modern influencers are much more about travel and leisure, at a time when the folks they’re influencing can’t buy a house but could (or think they could) fly to some off-the-beaten-path cheap-but-beautiful vacation destination.
Ok_Kiwi8071@reddit
I believe Martha was a model when she was younger but still an adult.
ColdObiWan@reddit
Huh! Wikipedia says you’re right; she modeled as a teen and to help pay for college
Doesn’t look like her time modeling has any connection with her later career, though.
Ok_Kiwi8071@reddit
I agree. I don’t believe it had any impact on her later career either. This is also just one of those random facts that I happen to be aware of. Kind of a useless fact, lol
Buckeyebornandbred@reddit
Joe Namath in pantyhose.
Guy_Fleegmann@reddit
Influencers are advertisers. We all happily consume massive amounts of advertising, and our purchase decisions, our life choices, are influenced by them whether you admit it or not.
Younger generations don't consume the same media we consume, and don't respond to the same advertising in the same way. Influencers are a newer form of advertising that younger generations respond to more.
Guess what we respond to, like lemmings? Product placement. Every show you've watched, podcast you've listened to, everything, is riddled with product placement and brand recognition and we don't even see it anymore - we just go buy more honey nut cheerios.
Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios - best selling cereals hands down - that's us. Genx buys cheerios like they're a food staple. We even forced the next generation to embrace cheerios. We feed our babies cheerios.
That is 100% because of advertising, a large piece being product placement. We've all seen the commercials where they taught us cheerios were 'better' and 'good for your heart' - what we didn't see as clearly or obviously - cheerios on EVERY breakfast table of every TV family, on the shelves of every store in every show, they placed Cheerios in hospital scenes to bolster the heath messaging, they stuck them in comedies to remind people how much a part of their day to day lives cheerios are... genius product placement, and it worked.
Cheerios brand recognition is off the charts. 63% of American's trust the brand, in a 2022 survey, Cheerios ranked the #1 trusted food or beverage product. It's even more trusted by people who identify as 'healthy eaters'.
CobaltJade@reddit
I hate Cheerios.
R86Reddit@reddit
I have no idea why, but I am absolutely buying some Honey Nut Cheerios today. Such a great product! Delicious and healthy too! Part of a complete breakfast!
Guy_Fleegmann@reddit
Love it :)
octoberhaiku@reddit
As person who tried lots of cereal, I buy them because I like the taste and consistency.
Lucky Charms, however, that’s because of the mythology.
Guy_Fleegmann@reddit
Yes, we tell ourselves that a lot. It's an important aspect of successful advertising that we feel that we made the purchasing decision ourselves. Otherwise we feel manipulated.
That's actually part of why genx doesn't respond all that well to talking head youtube influencers - we respond to celebrity influencers. We trust celebrities more than younger generations. They trust 'non-celebrities'. They are all celebrities of course - just different versions. We think their celebrities are 'dumb' and they think our celebrities are 'shills'. They're all shills.
I'm guessing you saw a lot of the 'Crunch' campaign in your formative years. That one focused on the "incomparable taste and consistency of Cheerios". :) It was for us, our folks were getting heart healthy ads, or "Cheerios Builds Families" campaigns - we got the 'Crunch' campaign.
I agree, I like Cheerios because they taste toasty and oaty, and they sort of both crunch and melt away. Those are tag lines from the crunch campaign. Still like em, still say the same thing you do, they taste better.
Genx are the largest consumers of advertising to ever exist. We made it what it is today. We are SO influenced by advertising we actually seek it out now. We go out and find advertising to help us make purchasing decisions.
It's not bad. A lot of people see advertising as evil and manipulative and just... bad. It's really just the system we built to tell each other about the cool stuff we're doing, making, selling. 'Bad' advertising is advertising that hurts someone.
Cheerios is really not bad, the cereal is good, the heart health claims are exaggerated, sure, but it's not really hurting anyone to buy and eat Cheerios in any meaningful way. They didn't run ads saying 'ignore your cardiologist and eat Cheerios instead!' That would have been an epic campaign though.
I like lucky charms too - trix, and honeycomb was big too - but that honeycomb didn't stick? GOt no nostalgia for that one. Trix taste weird now, they don't taste right. Lucky charms are still, pretty much, the same I think? Cheerios though, rock solid, same as they were 40 years ago.
patawpha@reddit
Man, when did we get so soft? I thought we didn't give a shit about dumb things like this.
It's going to be okay. The influencer isn't going to hurt you.
Vonnegut_butt@reddit
Well, I would argue that influencers have had a massive negative impact on the film and media industry. Fashion and beauty brands used to hire crews of 20 people who made a good living to produce a commercial for lipstick. Now, they hire an influencer to film themselves talking about said lipstick for one minute. No lights, no special equipment, no director, no editor. I know more than 20 Gen Xers who are struggling to feed their children because their industry has been wiped out by influencers.
patawpha@reddit
Keep worrying about those mean old influencers then, I guess.
Dorkinfo@reddit
You got an intelligent response on how influencer culture bleeds into other areas, and this is your response?
patawpha@reddit
Yep. The world changes. It sucks but industries are in constant flux. I know plenty of people who have been impacted by this and other changes.
It's not 1985 anymore. It's never going to be 1985 again. Things are going to change and the things you hold dear, including jobs, are going to change.
Again, I would ask when we got so soft? Why do I have to care that you can't watch what you want to watch anymore and that no one is showing up for the things you used to enjoy?
Not understanding what an influencer is, not realizing they are just the same old thing in a different package, is far more concerning to me than the fact that it's not our world anymore.
It's going to be okay. The influencer hasn't hurt you and isn't going to hurt you.
Dorkinfo@reddit
I think you’re confused.
patawpha@reddit
I guess I'm very confused but I do comprehend what an influencer is. The word influencer is dumb and annoying but it's nothing new. If you could have been an influencer in 1985 you would have wanted to be one. You're not too cool and enlightened to hate money.
It's going to be okay. The influencer is not going to hurt you.
UpURKiltboyo@reddit
Influencers = load mouth nobodies who think they're somebodies with the knowledge bases of a bannna. Do we care......really?
MansSearchForMeming@reddit
People are being too dismissive. I think people are mostly responding to the fact that "influencer" is a stupid and vaguely cynical term. Another term for the same people is "Creators." Creators generally don't think of themselves as influencers. They consider themselves a Youtuber or Streamer or Tiktokker or blogger or whatever. A creator who's been so successful online they can get advertisers becomes an influencer. This is not new. The advertising model for news and entertainment has existed for decades and decades.
I watch a lot of Youtube. I find some channels valuable, some entertaining. I want the creators to get paid so they can keep making content.
Summerie@reddit
Yep. I've noticed that there are a lot of comments in here that seem to consider "influencers" to be anybody with a social media channel, but there are plenty of channels that many find to have educational or entertainment value. Advertisers is how they can support themselves while working on content full-time.
When I think of "influencers", I think of the people who are first and foremost advertisers. They aren't just accepting sponsors to pay the bills, pushing products is the entire business model.
The ones that really blur the line between pushing information and advertisements are product review channels. Unfortunately I think a lot of "content creators" who initially intended to provide a service by honestly reviewing products eventually morph into influencers. I know that there are plenty that seem completely genuine and unbiased, but it's not very hard to convince the public of that, while quietly prioritizing companies that pay out better.
Snoringdragon@reddit
Im a real things artist. I make things that exist in reality and you can hold in your hand. I hate it when they call themselves 'creators'. You create air. Your 'creation' needs equipment to be used. And its too close to religion for me to use even ironically. Its like me saying I AM AN ARTISTE! with a French accent. I also love watching artists make things on YouTube. But I have yet to see one be referred to as a 'creator'. Its a pretentious label and Im calling it out. Not you, Mansearch, not at all. Just words matter, dammit...
PomegranatePlus6526@reddit
It’s no different than someone who creates your favorite TV show. Just because it’s something you can’t physically touch. There are plenty of really good content creators that have very useful information. It’s not all jackass people with nothing better to do.
Hedonistic_Yinzer@reddit
I see a lot of comments here being dismissive of influencers and likening them too. SnaSnake oil salesman and Comma Artists. Both of which are relatively true. Also, the truth is they are personalities on social media who hold sway over the thoughts and opinions of younger people. They influence, not because they have facts or research or are intelligent, but because they have a mass following on the internet. For younger generations, this perceived popularity lends Credence to the ideals. they dispell.
Take, for example, Greta thundberg. She gained notoriety as a climate activist as a teenager yet had no degree in climatology or science or anything for that matter. She gained attention because her parents were wealthy enough to afford her jetting around the globe giving sound bites. You never heard her talk at length on climate change because, quite honestly, she isn't that smart. Despite this, call her a climate expert. This happens across the spectrum. People without children or degrees give child raising advice that young people listen to. These are just two examples of influencers and how they actually work.
Illustrious-Grl-7979@reddit
I would not call GT an influencer because that label is the lowest level of accomplishment. She is more of an activist who utilizes social media. A large number of "influencers" today are simply narcissists advertising themselves using filters, etc for escort and yacht services. They particularly target the athlete and rap demographic and often do not have any actual brand deals, no matter how many followers they have and designer products they rent to pose with.
Ancient_Solution_420@reddit
Nut unless it is woodworking, bbq or brewing.
LAKingSteve@reddit
No, I absolutely don’t care and quite honestly avoid the content.
jnp2346@reddit
This right here. I understand what they’re doing. I do not understand why people assign value to their role.
I especially don’t get those that merely open products, unboxing they call it.
LAKingSteve@reddit
My daughter’s roommate is an influencer and she has boxes and boxes of free stuff delivered to their house all the time. Mind you, her family is absolutely loaded and she doesn’t need any of the stuff she gets for free. She just likes the attention I guess. The other thing that cracks me up is the “hacks” people post. It’s not a hack, just a weird way of doing something we’ve been doing fie decades that you suddenly think is a better way (and never is).
darkest_irish_lass@reddit
Reaction videos are another one. Video of someone reacting to a song. Whatever, man.
Nice_Psychology_007@reddit
Influencers are people who cannot walk past a mirror without being enchanted by their own reflection.
No I don’t care a bit.
ku_78@reddit
My existing hobbies (poker, finances, and camping) have a lot of content creators I follow on YouTube. Not sure if they qualify as influencers, but they are helpful and entertaining.
New hobby (off roading) will be interesting. Trying to discern good ones from bad ones.
Sintered_Monkey@reddit
I follow such people for my hobbies too. I guess I don't think of them as influencers really, because they are helpful and entertaining. I don't find influencers to be either of those things.
ku_78@reddit
The only social media I’m on is Reddit so I don’t get exposure to them.
zapjeff@reddit
This is what it grows out of, I think, in the best cases. Well-meaning people sharing genuine passion for something, who then realize they can monetize that passion as they grow in popularity…some get ruined by it, some turn into genuine Internet personalities, but then shysters imitate the success and wreck it for everybody.
Minute-Frame-8060@reddit
They're snake-oil salesmen at worst. At best they are advertisers.
largos7289@reddit
Influencer is the new term for i have no job but i try. I have no idea how people think it's a thing but people do make money at it.
Barcelona_McKay@reddit
sgtmilburn@reddit
Influencer = the internet version of the old school door-to-door sales person.
ErnestBatchelder@reddit
Oh. I 100% believe it is going to be how we get dragged so far backwards, societally and otherwise.
In terms of medical or mental health advice, geopolitics, basic financial literacy, and history, the absolute worst Black Mirror episode has already happened. Hell, I look around other subs even on here, and huge amounts of disinformation go unchecked & any comment that goes against the sub's cognitive bias will be downvoted.
Some dude who is a prepper influencer also happens to be an expert about the politics of the Middle East, confidently and with zero facts? 500,000 followers. A trad wife with great yogurt recipes is also a "medical coach" can help you cure cancer with nettle root. Reach? 1M. Real-life politicians are trying to get the approval of a nihilistic twitch streamer on the left, and an ignoramus podcaster on the right.
Influencers, foreign gov't-backed bots, AI, phone addiction, post-pandemic mental health = the kids are not alright (including some Gen X). I assume we already live in a weird combo of having lost the Cold War and a Tech Oligarchy that prefers us dumb. Ok, I feel like I just rewrote the lyrics to We Didnt Start the Fire
Luckily I also do have real life hobbies. Whatever.
rodeoboy@reddit
It's a new term for grifter.
side_eye_auditor@reddit
Influencers from Gen X era include Rush Limbaugh, Oprah Winfrey, Howard Stern, Jerry Springer, Terry Gross and the like. They had different formats- tv talk shows, FM/AM radio, Op Ed pieces in the papers.
Different era now with different medium. They are self aware to the degree that they named exactly what they are: making a buck by making people care about their opinion.
Some are corporate backed creations of a committee like some boy band- those would be more of Charlie Kirk, Prager U, Ben Shapiro types. They came pre-packaged with a tons of money behind their “influence” So the tradition has been around longer than us. It just has been rebranded.
WinTraditional8156@reddit
.... same useless talentless hacks from back in the day... didn't pay attention to them then, don't pay attention to them now
Chemical_Author7880@reddit
Someone with little talent, a lot of ego, and a good phone filter.
And, no, I personally pay no attention.
Gamestonkape@reddit
A narcissist with a support system
Summerie@reddit
Some of them are just content creators that actually put forth something of value.
chitoatx@reddit
Bam! The Food Network was the first “influencer” so you are already very familiar with what they do.
Used to be your local travel agent for a nice family vacation. Now they are online.
Interested in how to drywall your house your self? There is a drywaller out there making how to videos. They may use a particular brand of tools.
Interested in buying a new a Toyota? There is a Toyota mechanic doing deep dive under the hood and chassis reviews of the latest models.
Etc, etc etc…
battery19791@reddit
Joel Olstein and Billy Graham come to mind.
tcrmorrow@reddit
I initially thought of George Foreman selling grills
RW_McRae@reddit
Oh my god, these are two of the most successful influencers of all time
ATLCoyote@reddit
I don't follow any specific influencers, but I don't have a problem with what they do. Instead of hiring a professional model or spokesperson, brands hire more relatable people online that offer far more in-depth reviews of products or give advice on things like health and fitness, hobbies, etc. I tend to learn more from that than I ever did from some ad in a magazine or even on TV.
Phranc68@reddit
Think of them as buskers looking for clicks.
JfPickups@reddit
and to sell a line of products for a billion smackeroonies.
Competitive-Push-715@reddit
Could not give a rat’s ass.
flying_data@reddit
If it's related to my Hobbies I watch them, but at the end I judge for myself if I follow their advise or not. It's nice to have different opinions on things but very often it's just crap. I see more and more AI content that is worthless.
HermioneMarch@reddit
I’m with you. Hard eye roll.
WasLeftUnsupervised@reddit
If you want to know who the first "influencer" was, watch The Fifth Element again. Although set in the future, the first true influencer was, of course, Ruby Rhod
Green?
CrumblinEmpire@reddit
They are mostly talentless young people who happen to be good looking.
pocketdare@reddit
Mini celebrities, self-appointed trend setters. Anyone can try to become one on social media but few actually succeed. These are people who actually gain followings because some people value what they have to say for whatever reason.
britlover23@reddit
it’s just people creating content without a 3rd party gatekeeper. theres lots of shows on Youtube and Instagram/Tik Tok/Twitter content that are excellent. its not a bad thing. when TV shows show commercials that’s advertising sponsored too no different than being monetized by YouTube.
Expert_Tomorrow_3915@reddit
Wasn't Don Lapre an influencer who talked about taking out little classified ads to make tons of money via him making money on people buying the ad money making program??? 😆 🤣 What about Juicy Jay Kordich with the Juice Weasel?? Lol. Did he influence you to start juicing??!. Maybe he was an old school influencer. 😆 😆 🤣
PumpkinSpiceFreak@reddit
I don’t take peeps seriously who take themselves that seriously 😆
ElectricMayhem06@reddit
If you like someone with a large social media presence, you probably think of them as a "content creator." Lots of GenX creators out there, some of which I follow and enjoy.
If you don't like someone with a large social media presence, you probably call them an "influencer" and think they got famous just by trying to shill products.
But the younger generations tend to think of creators and influencers as the same thing.
Peas_Are_Upsidedown@reddit
I do know what an influencer is, and I could not care less what any of them have to say. A large majority that I have come across I'm surprised can even produce coherent sentences with the dumb things they spout.
PumpkinSpiceFreak@reddit
Haha this 💯
thejunkmanadv@reddit
Here is a GenX influencer.
pocketdare@reddit
Exactamundo!
ApprehensiveWash7969@reddit
IMO Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern were some of the influencers in our days.
CharleyDawg@reddit
It is beyond me. People monetizing themselves on the internet. Money and fame is the draw and no talent required. I get why kids want to do it (the way many kids wanted to be famous for sports/acting/music when we were kids).
What I completely don’t understand is why anyone pays any attention to what some random moron says or does? I hate YouTube and TicTok. Most social media annoys me but here I am. 😂
draaz_melon@reddit
More boomer every day...
Current-Lobster-44@reddit
You are too old to understand it
MadDAWGZ71@reddit
They were called spokesmodels in our day. It was even a category on star search.
DickWhittingtonsCat@reddit
A much more concise version of my rant. Its not like “don’t wear the band shirt to the concert” was bolt out of the blue or an original thought.
People need to be so for real. There have always been contrarians but the vast majority was being influenced all along.
Influencer just means someone that more subservient minds defer to.
Media is more diffuse and naturally a 50+ individual should have different influences than their kids, grandkids and nephews.
MadDAWGZ71@reddit
Never wear the band's shirt to their show! Iron Maiden is the only exception to the rule. Lol
R0gu3tr4d3r@reddit
Back in the Punk rock days the worst thing you could be was 'influenced' by someone else. It was all about being individual. Guess we're 180° round the circle.
Kershiser22@reddit
Yep, being a "sellout" is no longer a negative thing - it's a goal.
Hinhan-osnite@reddit
Nobody was an individual back then every one wore the same attire down to their “battle jacket”, with patches of the same bands. Lol just joking that’s what my kids said to me looking thru my teenage years pictures!!
ganshon@reddit
To me, they are basically hyper spokesmodels. For the most part, I don't really follow too many, but you can't avoid them if you use YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc. It takes a lot to get me to follow one, and it's usually they have a lot of videos that I want to watch, and my thoughts align with them. I follow mostly tech ones because I need to know what's going on various subjects, and there are some that have saved my ass enough that I figure I should follow them.
fyodor_mikhailovich@reddit
think of it like this: This Old House and hgtv people are influencers.
ms_directed@reddit
there's GenX influencers on YT!
___MrT___@reddit
Couldnt care less and they occupy zero space in my head.
Tigress_Solaris@reddit
Nope, they are just shilling shit in exchange for getting paid. I don't believe they use it, like it, or would honestly recommend it. I do follow some women around my age but it's mostly for content not because I want anything they are selling (most don't even do that anyway).
How anyone enjoys the content that that shrill fake BAHston accent havin' Mikayla on TikTok puts out is beyond me.
L_wanderlust@reddit
I couldn’t care less what people on social media and YouTube say or do like products or antics. I’m always researching things and will decide based on that.
Winter-eyed@reddit
At risk of angering the mod, what we called them back in the day were “attention wh@res” but with the internet it’s mot just a school or neighborhood they peddle their tripe at it’s unlimited internet strangers who can’t see the behind the scenes artifice.
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
If you have a question or concern, contact the mod team directly and do not post in the sub.
knowlessman@reddit
Short version: It's public television personalities, in a post-TV world. Think Carl Sagan or Jeff Smith, but with no barriers to entry.
Longer version:
Before youtube, there were gatekeepers limiting who could put together a "TV show", and the people who ran the shows hired hosts, actors, personalities, or whatever the particular show called for. Those people had job titles like "presenter" but their actual job was to influence people. Their pay was, at the end of the day, a product of their ability to cause people to buy things because the model was based on advertising revenue. Even public television needed corporate sponsors so public TV cooking shows were all using equipment given to them by companies that wanted to sell the equipment.
When youtube etc came along, it created a free market where rather than a few gatekeepers deciding whether a show would be made, it's a personal decision. You can decide today to start making youtube videos and putting them online. And, if what you make is engaging, people will watch your videos and you'll make money.
If you make videos people watch, companies (especially those with products related to the videos you make) will recognize that you have the potential to influence potential buyers. So they'll offer you send you free stuff. Or they'll offer you pay you to do reviews or whatever. And now rather than a single revenue stream (ads) you have two (ads and sponsors).
A successful youtube creator can make millions of dollars a year. Which means people want in. And, because there were no gatekeepers , you have something playing out in public that you never saw with TV: All the wannabes.
The end result is actually positive. It's better that the influence (which exists either way) is spread around and there is a way for people to get in without convincing gatekeepers first.
CapitalParallax@reddit
"Influencer" just means on air-personality for the internet.
The_Latverian@reddit
The whole thing as it currently stands is bizarre to me. I can absolutely accept the idea that someone is an influencer, what I don't get is how someone describes themselves as one.
I figure if the world at large is describing you as influencer, you are one.
IF you have to tell people you're one, you aren't.
kludge6730@reddit
Don’t care about those people, what they have to say and will likely avoid whatever they are trying to sell.
Hatty_Girl@reddit
Just a fancy term for "Advertiser." Personalities in paid ads that the younger generations buy into.
Frequent_Cut_1251@reddit
Can’t say. The only three things hearing about these people I’m influenced to do is 1. Never be in a situation I have to see or hear about them 2. Punch them in the throat 3. Weep for the mental fragility of anyone who can be influenced by vapid, narcissistic, talentless fucktards
Kershiser22@reddit
"Influencer" is just a dumb word to describe a social media star.
davesaunders@reddit
An influencer is the equivalent of a game show host from the 60s or 70s when they would plug Geritol in the middle of the show. The respect and authority they had questionably earned as a TV show host made those endorsements valuable to the companies. The equivalent of an influencer can easily be traced back into the age of Radio as well. Any celebrity plugging a product can be considered an influencer by the context of their times.
Weird-Girl-675@reddit
I can’t stand them. If an influencer recommends something I’m less likely to use it.
theanoeticist@reddit
Before individuals could create multiple forms of documentation (audio, video, etc ) and upload them to a "World Wide Web", we had the major media outlets that began to define the 20th century with radio and television. THEY were influencers. You saw commercials in the 1970s on TV so I know you understand this extremely basic point. Prior to mass audio visual media, there was the printing press. One of the earliest instances of mass reproduction having an effect on the populace in terms of influencing public thought, or creating a public to have thought, in my mind, at least in the Western hemisphere (what became Mexico actually had the first printing press on this side of the world), was the unbridled, uncensored pamphleting that led to the execution of King Charles 1 of England in the early 1600s. As long as there's been media and people to understand or receive the media either in written or visual form as long as that medium could be mass produced. There was a public to receive it. A public by definition is created by The dissemination of information through a mass medium. As long as that has been happening as far back as you can trace it, there have been influencers. The medium is the message. (Marshall McLuhan)
Alovingcynic@reddit
Been non conformist all my life, am inclined to be suspicious of authority, distrust most people in general, and most especially armies of shallow feakazoids preening into iphones.
Uffda01@reddit
Ehh - remember when athletes had huge endorsement deals and people (mostly younger people like us) wanted to buy those brands because we were fans of the athlete? Like Jordan, Andre Agassi etc etc?
Well - what's happened since then is that individual users can make content now - you don't need a huge production budget to get things onto youtube or tiktok....so a lot of these major brands have outsourced their advertising to basically freelancers or influencers who get small rewards from the companies they promote for "organic" advertising...that's gone as you can expect: poorly - people are clamoring to survive and trying to get promoted as influencers (so they ask the companies for free stuff) and you get actual marketing/advertising professionals that are out of a job because the company isn't held to a contract.
Its basically the enshitification of advertising (which was shitty to begin with)
Sorchochka@reddit
As a marketing person, no they are not putting us out of work (that’s other things). You still do the traditional marketing and advertising in other channels, this is just one of them.
I remember when the idea of using influencers was a new thing and people were really excited about it because it was like word of mouth from friends. That’s, unfortunately, not how it turned out.
TheEvilOfTwoLessers@reddit
Imagine if Ron Popeil was a hot young woman selling less useful but more expensive shit to younger women and men, mostly with the false promise they could be hot too. Then imagine your infomercials are available 24/7 on every channel, not just at 2 am on UHF channel 50.
That’s an influencer. More or less.
brinehart-cincy@reddit
Well said.
vagabond65@reddit
Essentially it's one idiot who gets freebies telling other idiots, who want to be like the first idiot, the freebies are great.
WatchStoredInAss@reddit
It's a new career for narcissists.
Impossible-Driver69@reddit
I could give a damn less what they think or say. They are just scam artists trying to hawk whatever junk they have been paid to hawk.
chamrockblarneystone@reddit
Let’s not get too crazy. Remember Tim Taylor’s Tool Time? A lot of “influencers” are no worse than that. The better ones have some decent advice and fun shows, the worst ones enrage and divide us.
Mort-i-Fied@reddit
Pet rocks were equally pathetic.
Most-County8735@reddit
Yeah I’m old and not influenced easily. I’m sure not paying anything for some talking head to tell what they think is cool. I like quality, durability and usefulness in most things. Have the stuff I like and rely on and when I need something I’m not familiar with I spend the time to research it. Verify with a range of sources it will meet the need and then buy it.
detail_giraffe@reddit
The closest thing to an influencer in traditional media is someone who becomes famous FOR being in a set of ads so they're hired to do more ads. Think, like, Flo from Progressive - insurance commercials are particularly good at this, maybe because the actual product is famously boring. Although the actress that plays Flo (Stephanie Courtney) did have an acting career before that, she is mostly famous for being Flo, a character who exists only to sell things but whom people have grown fond of so they will watch ads with her in it. Being a successful influencer is a DIY version of that. People create a character (sometimes it aligns with their real character, sometimes not) and try to make that character entertaining enough that they can present products to people in a way that they'll voluntarily watch. It's sometimes like that, it's sometimes more like the restaurant or movie reviewers who used to work for print media, it's sometimes more like sports or entertainment figures endorsing products, but it's all some version of someone using entertainment or cultural clout to capture attention and then using that attention to sell something, which has been the model since mass media began. Soap operas are called that because they started on the radio literally as a way to get people to listen to soap ads. Since print media effectively doesn't exist any more and traditional TV watching with ads is also dying out, it's just another way for entertaining/beautiful people to make money endorsing products. I think the thing that makes it seem different is that the initial barriers to entry are much lower (ANYONE can make an influencer-esque TikTok video) and that makes it seem like it's easy to casually make heaps of money for doing basically nothing, but the people who make heaps of money are generally very good at being entertaining or skilled or otherwise holding attention.
merkthejerk@reddit
An AI can help you summarize that.
detail_giraffe@reddit
I'm getting paid by the word, man! I can't use one where two will do!
merkthejerk@reddit
TL;DR
Influencer marketing is just a DIY, lower-barrier version of what advertising has always been — entertainers using attention to sell things. Soap operas were literally named for soap ads. The only thing new is that anyone can try, which makes it seem easy, but the successful ones are still genuinely skilled at holding attention. Also: ads work on everyone, even people who think they don’t.
JJQuantum@reddit
Leeches from social media create accounts specifically to use and abuse particularly young people so they can make money off of them by influencing them. Influencers suck.
S99B88@reddit
I think our cohort tends to be less influenced than others.
Serious-Mongoose-387@reddit
i used to watch a few youtubers doing woodworking and home improvement stuff, but when they got popular enough companies sponsored them and they turned into infomercials pushing tools instead. no thanks.
same thing happens in every industry.
Without_Portfolio@reddit
Influencers generate clicks, clicks generate revenue.
Substantial_Way296@reddit
Life was much better before smart phones.
CAH1708@reddit
MostThingsSuck@reddit
They are Ron Popeil without a toll free number
ErstwhileHobo@reddit
I can put it in terms you can understand. You remember Mr T?
Mr T would come on TV and tell us not to be bullies and to say no to drugs. Remember that? Well, Mr T was an influencer. He used his unique personality and charisma to influence the youth. But, more importantly he used his influence to get wealthy.
Today, the medium has changed. Now, instead of TV shows and commercials, people watch TikTok and live streams, and there are a new crop of Mr T’s who want to use their personalities and charisma to influence the youth.
Where Mr T had a specific message about empathy, this new group is mainly focused on how to thrive in modern ultra-capitalist society by lacking empathy.
NihilsitcTruth@reddit
Remember the class clown? The attention seeker that wanted to be famous. Thats an influencer. They have a bigger net to gather people to pay attention to them.
Whole_Craft_1106@reddit
Its just people online who make $ from likes and attention.
wyohman@reddit
Remember the grifting twats on TV that sold garbage? They are the modern equivalent of snake oil purveyors.
AntiqueCandidate7995@reddit
I think it's very simple. Remeber door to door salespeople who would roll up with a vacuum or a set of knives or some shit? This is just the modern equivalent of that: The very lowest form of direct sales. But because the attention based social economy is still new to us, people haven't made that connection yet and put these idiots in the correct place they need to be in.
groundhogcow@reddit
Influences are people who a lot of people want to have sex with, so instead of working, they post things on social media and get paid to do so because everyone hopes to see them display a body part.
They often think your opinion matters more because everyone wants to have sex with them.
Strict-Square456@reddit
I hear RFKjr is launching a podcast : so everyone wants to have sex with beef jerky?
groundhogcow@reddit
Are you influenced by RFKjr?
We are talking about Influences not marketing.
DickWhittingtonsCat@reddit
I wouldn’t expect 55 year olds to listen to influencers for the youth. But so many people are naturally subservient they take their marching orders from someone. Influencers are simply people viewed as being insightful or smarter providing opinions to the submissive masses to claim as their own.
And yes, there were influencers all over. Media is just much diffuse, allowing some grass roots individuals build a following and get a seat at the table when dictating the cultural zeitgeist. Although that space is being captured back by AI which will decimate influencers will video schlock from ChatGPT scripts written from prompts from a bot farm.
Which they hope will be less expensive but has the same response.
What do you think celebrities, actors, athletes and conmen authors were back in day. Or those magazines GQ, the written crap in playboy, cosmo etc. It was tightly controlled influence but influencers none the less- you just ultimately didn’t know it was sexual predators selling pre-teen Millennial girls on Juicy Couture, Victoria Secret etc.
But it’s very for Gen X to get on their high horse when you still hear “Don’t wear the band shirt to the concert”- verbatim from a shitty comedy and low tier nepo-comedian Hollywood tried to push as a star.
Remember folks literally using music genres as a defining trait, which Millennials changed to “coffee” and “bacon” but basically did the same?
People need to be more self-aware. A vast percentage of your peers rely entirely on societal support groups and outside influencers to form their opinions. These views become entrenched and dogmatic. Gen X had no invincibility shield.
Possibly you hung out with contrarians- or simply had a dad who wouldn’t buy a VCR and were left out of the police academy Yamma Yamma Yamma chants- and formed an instinctive revulsion group participation.
d3nialov3@reddit
What?
SheriffBartholomew@reddit
The coffee scene is so weird. They're like "how can I take something pretty good and affordable, make it imperceptibly better, and pay a thousand times more for it?".
Meekanado@reddit
I’ve come across influencers while camping. One girl rolled up at a Valley of Fire campground across from our site.
She set up a tent, then cooked a whole meal and made the spread look fantastic. She snapped a bunch of photos and quickly ate. Then she cleaned up, took the tent down and rolled out. In a matter of a few hours. It was a beautiful place and she didn’t even look around let alone stay the night. 😭
I saw another kid do the same thing in the Sierra. Rushed through everything, snapped photos and bailed. It was a mountain lake and stunning scenery and they didn’t stay the night. Maybe the outdoors people do this stuff so they can capture extra content after filming the hiking trails idk.
I get it, they can make money and it’s totally okay, but seeing it live looks pathetic.
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
In the early days of YouTube, regular people would upload how to videos to help people. Everything from how to do makeup to how to fix a leaky toilet. Then some of them started getting paid for advertising products that they used to fix or do this or that. Now it’s a whole thing itself, these online personalities with discount codes to products. They’re pretty much advertising with extra steps. It’s nothing what it used to be. Can’t even watch a cooking video without, “oh by the way, this food I got here for dinner is from Hello Fresh”. Like stfu. I don’t want to watch an advertisement and then YouTube shoves even more ads in there. Ads on top of ads. I don’t even have TikTok. Never will. It’s like if Richard Simmons also had a meal replacement line. I guess they’re a more modern equivalent of celebrities pushing products on QVC.
TelevisionKnown8463@reddit
Yes. There is an element of sharing useful information, which (along with looks, celebrity etc) leads to followers. The followers lead to the ability to earn money by promoting products.
A good example is Vivian Tu, who has a podcast and posts content on Instagram. She provides practical financial advice with a female perspective. It’s good content, and she seems to promote products that are decent, like SoFi personal loans, that I wouldn’t have heard of elsewhere. (I don’t need one, but I’ve mentioned the option to others who could use it.)
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
Are you sure you are really Gen X and not some 95 year old living in a nursing home?
threedogdad@reddit
Lol. I'm regularly shocked at how old the people in this sub think they are. I assume not knowing about influencers comes from still watching cable and MSM. I despise influencers as well, but I haven't had cable or watched MSM for 30 years, anyone younger than Genx only knows that cable exists because that's where their internet comes from.
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
I watch cable and "msm" and I know what an influencer is. The term is not new.
threedogdad@reddit
nobody said it was, but good for you regardless
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
It was certainly implied to be by the OP.
threedogdad@reddit
yes, sorry I thought you were saying I was implying it was new!
Interesting-Web3737@reddit (OP)
I’m not sure Let’s see: constantly annoyed at boomers for fing everything up and at millennials for wanting a trophy for everything, check, cynical, check, receiving AARP offers in the mail on a weekly basis, check, can still eat solid food and drive, check. Stood in line overnight for concert tickets, check. Yep, pretty sure.
Sad-Reflection-3499@reddit
We got participation trophies in the 80s, gramps.
Interesting-Web3737@reddit (OP)
Maybe were you were but none of the places I lived went beyond 1st - 3rd although I only did archery and track. Maybe other sports were different.
Brullaapje@reddit
Are you aware that oldest Milennials are in their forties now. What kind of trophies they are getting these days? And again, who gave them these trophies.
Again you are showing me, why I as 49 f am hesitant to date, I am scared as fuck to end up with someone like you. Your bitterness is blinding you. You have an inflexible mind that cannot keep up with the times.
SheriffBartholomew@reddit
They're basically paid corporate spokesmen who promote products to their viewers all day long, or push particular political agendas. Why people watch them is beyond me. Hell man, TikTok is the most popular platform in the world and it is just back-to-back ads, all day long.
EarlyInside45@reddit
I've seen a couple of women who seem to make a living posting goofy TikToks (or FB or IG, idk) about being Gen X. Does that count?
mlokc@reddit
It's just someone with a chronic need for attention.
Altruistic-General14@reddit
I have a coworker that asks me about the newest thing that some random as fuck youtuber did and I deadpan an “I don’t fucking care” followed closely by an “out of all the conversations we’ve had, what prompts you to think that I would give any of the fucks I used to have for anything some online talking head has to say about anything?”
I know how that sounds to strangers, but we do this back and forth to each other. He’s about half my age and I’ll slip up and ask him about something he’s too young to remember and I get the same treatment.
Strong_Medium_6646@reddit
I can’t tell you how much I hate that term! Who the F cares about these people with super inflated egos? I’m glad I’m in my 60s and could care less!
Dorkinfo@reddit
It’s could not care less. By saying you could care less, you’re saying you care to some degree.
Strong_Medium_6646@reddit
lol, I know that and I still wrote it wrong!
Specialist_Energy335@reddit
My ex used to say it wrong and would argue with me when I tried to explain it to him. Just one reason he's an ex lol
Rory-liz-bath@reddit
Influencers are people that have thier own channels / tick tocks/ pages that influence people to buy the crap the are paid to sell ( beauty influencers that “rave” about a product because the line pays them) they usually have a million or more “followers” We had celebrities doing commercials to get us to buy stuff , sports dudes that were selling cereal , models using makeup and such, a dime a dozen and do not have to have any education to sell or talk about thier topics , many of them are charlatans and sell snake oil , I think Paris Hilton invented them as well as the Kardashians
And no I don’t follow any of them , when one is spoken about in the news , I have zero idea who they are
starship7201u@reddit
Influencers are social media BS. They SAY they influence but they don't do s**t but overpromise and underdeliver. Personally think its another online grift.
"In 2019, Instagram influencer Arii (@arii), with over 2.6 million followers, failed to sell 36 units of her clothing line, a requirement to launch the brand. This highlighted that follower count does not equate to buyer engagement, as she struggled to reach her followers with product sales."
Upstairs-Storm1006@reddit
It's called marketing
shaktirisingyoga@reddit
I'm with you on this.
xjeanie@reddit
Dgaf. 🤷🏻♀️whatever
Perplexio76@reddit
They're basically freelance pitch people.
Generally they create content on social media-- Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, etc.
The "influencing" is when the offer to promote products they come in contact with on their social media feed for a price or a free product donation. Basically they offer to "Get the word out" to their followers.
The size of their following usually dictates the level of compensation they request. Some ask to get paid, others just ask for 1 of whatever they are pitching to be comped in exchange for them plugging that product on their feed.
Rickk38@reddit
I guess our generation really is turning into a bunch of sour old Facebook Boomers. Just because we didn't have individuals on some digital social media platform advertising for a brand doesn't mean we weren't inundated by endless media streams trying to convince us to buy things we didn't need. Let me remind you of the blatant "influencing" that we saw back in the day:
MTV - They played music videos, provided to them by record companies. They were the very definition of "influencer" and everyone knew the DJs by name and face.
Home Shopping Network - It was the TikTok store of television. Useless crap that no one needed, pushed by overly enthusiastic "influencers."
Weekday Afternoon Cartoon Shows - G.I. Joe, Transformers, Go-Bots, Thundercats, He-Man, She-Ra, etc. Those were 30-minute commercials for toys, made by the companies making the toys. Just because Optimus Prime was animated didn't make him less of an influencer.
Teen Magazines - I don't think Scott Baio, Balthazar Getty, or Stacie Keanan were making appearances and talking about the clothes they wore or the makeup they used or their next big movie or show out of the goodness of their hearts.
happycj@reddit
Bob Vila from This Old House could be labeled an “influencer”, in that he is someone people look to for information and purchasing decisions because they respect his work.
“Influencers” are just marketing people. Trying to sell something for someone else. Nothing more.
HappyFatLabs@reddit
Not being condescending, but definitely trying to put it in terms that make sense to our generation. Walter Cronkite was an influencer. As was Johnny Carson. All in the Family and M.A.S.H. were influencers. Suzanne Summers selling Thigh Masters? Influencer. Orson Welles hawking wine? Influencer. Julia Child, Bob Ross, Fred Rogers, Richard Simmons, all influencers. The medium has changed, but trading celebrity for wealth (or at least relevance) because people believe what you say? It's as old as the printing press.
Bamalouie@reddit
But the people you listed were actually doing something - real jobs with a degree of creating something new - that ended up putting them in the spotlight, at which point they became role models aka influencers of their time. I think OPs post is more about the current trend of creating celebrities out of every day people who arent actually doing much or really anything in a lot of cases. I cant compare Bob Ross or Walter Cronkite to someone talking about a TV show while doing a make up tutorial or a rude teenager pranking people to rage in super markets.
HappyFatLabs@reddit
It's very much a matter of perspective. To the blue-collar worker on an assembly line, making a living by reading news snippets or painting calming trees in silhouette seems farcical and almost insulting. Being a *genuine* influencer usually requires significant research or experience with certain products or specific industries or skills. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is, in a very overt way, an influencer. It also requires getting known, which can be both a barrier and an invitation to create negative content to fill a void. Being frustrated with the idea of influencers reads like a tendency to dismiss everyone who tries to work within the structure of modern tools. A baby/bathwater sort of thing. And, yeah, the pranking stuff is annoying. LOTS of stuff is annoying. That says more about human nature than whether or not ANY influencer is making any real contributions.
Hungry-Compote-2306@reddit
The US president is an "influencer", and has been for some time. It's not new, just more visible, more accessible, and more inspirational for younger generations now. Most of us didn't want to grow up to be that because it was just another job, and not one we saw as clearly. For a lot of young people, it seems like a dream to be paid (ostensibly well, though like rock stars, only the top tier get good money) to film yourself having fun with new items you like, instead of suffering in this capitalist hellhole like most workers.
Kevin_St_Moron@reddit
Closest thing we had could be socialite.
LevelPerception4@reddit
Maybe bloggers were the closest thing to influencers, but they (usually) didn’t sell directly to their audience. Like now, Pamela Ribon is a screenwriter and author, but I remember her as an aspiring actress running a blog called Pamie in 1998 and starting a little Tae Bo trend amongst her fans, although she didn’t get paid for it. No one on the Billie Blanks marketing team had tools to monitor online product mentions; I can’t imagine what kind of janky online sales tool they used if they even had a website.
If Tae Bo was launched in 2008, maybe Billie Blanks would have responded to online buzz by advertising on her site; in 2018, maybe he would have sent her free products and sponsored some content; today, part of the pre-launch publicity would likely be making deals with fitness influencers to promote the products.
Some influencers suck, but people should be paid for their time and work, and a content subscription model has not been successful.
Cum_Fart42069@reddit
influencers are people who influence others. id say the most popular one ever was known as Jesus Christ.
Zedlasso@reddit
They are the snake oil sales folks of this version of the roaring 20s.
twodogstwocats@reddit
Conartists and I do my best to ignore them.
allaboutaphie@reddit
Influencer = grifter imo But, good for them making money off of others for nothing.
Mouse-Direct@reddit
I know of several Gen-X influencers on TikTok. It’s a hustle economy these days.
Stein070707@reddit
There are influencers specific to Gen X and a lot of them.
Soundtracklover72@reddit
But do we Gen Xers actually listen to them? I’m guessing not unless you’re on TikTok. I know I don’t care
Stein070707@reddit
Good question
-lousyd@reddit
As media has been democratized over the past couple of decades a lot of lamentable things have resulted. But also there's been some good.
It's cool that I can now seek out people who are experts in some niche thing that I'm interested in, but that commercial interests would not have thought to fund. For example, I follow ("follow") a woman who knows all about Victorian fashion. She explains the clothing they use in movies and TV shows, talks about Victorian vernacular text, etc. If some moneyed business person had thought to pay someone to do that, they probably would've dismissed the idea, and if they hadn't dismissed it, they'd have had a profit motive to consider and might have not had the freedom to do it the way this woman does.
I don't think influencers are entirely a bad thing.
coopnjaxdad@reddit
This is 100% the good part of modern media.
There is so much bad though. This isn't directly related per se but the money involved leads to some very unethical things. Take Meta who makes nearly $7 Billion a year pushing ads that they 100% know are scams. The fines against Meta for knowingly doing this are a measly $1 Billion dollars. That is not the worst part, Meta uses its expertise to serve up these ads to users most likely to or who have already fallen victim to scams. Predatory and wholly immoral behavior.
-lousyd@reddit
Maybe the problem is transparency. Whereas once upon a time you knew who was paying for something, in the age of influencers there's the veneer of scrappy individual which misleads people and conceals when someone is really just a mouthpiece for some organization.
brinehart-cincy@reddit
We used to call them "Famous for being famous."
EStreetCat@reddit
What is your definition of an influencer?
There are TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube accounts run people of all ages, with thousands to millions of followers. There's something for everyone. I follow mainly fitness, nutrition, cooking, and birding accounts. They can be entertaining and/or informational. Some content makers earn money off their accounts. They might get paid by the site they're on because they bring in viewers. Some do commercials for related products. Some are selling their own products. Good for them. If they're providing something of value to their audience, there's nothing wrong with their making money on it.
You're dismissing a whole medium because you don't understand what it's about, and don't want to learn. It's the typical, cranky "kids these days" attitude that this group embraces
Active_Collar_8124@reddit
People trying to influence our behavior and purchases isn't new. Before social media, these people would have been on TV/newspapers/magazines/etc. Being given those platforms by larger entities gave them the appearance of legitimacy. Some were legit, and some weren't (I'm looking at you, Dr. Oz), but now that anyone can give themselves that platform, it can feel less legitimate.
I also understand influencers can be seen as lazy for trying to support themselves without getting a 'real job'. Some of them work very hard to give good advice/recommendations/etc. Personally, I don't hold it against anyone who tries to support themselves by engaging with the activities and industries they're passionate about.
ancientastronaut2@reddit
Not all content creators are influencers. Influencers are content creators who are full of shit, claiming to like products for free merch.
EStreetCat@reddit
I don't agree. Not all influencers are out to rip people off
Remarkable-Flight990@reddit
It's the modern day equivalent of an infomercial
SRMPDX@reddit
Influencers are just people who influence a distinct population. Social media has opened up that to pretty much anyone, which brings in charlatans.
There have always been influencers, they've just been in more traditional sources, sports, TV, movies. It's George Foreman selling a grill. It was Madonna and Molly Ringwald. It was Princess Di and Oprah Winfrey (she's probably the closest to modern day influencers)
It was Richard Simmons and Michael Jordan.
OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit
"Influencer" is a self-appointed title that basically translates to "Pay attention to me and give me money and things because I'm popular on social media," the idea being that if companies use them to promote their brands, those people's acolytes will follow the herd and give their money to those companies.
As others have mentioned -- a huckster, shyster, a grifter, a fraud, and a phony. Many people love them though.
For a lot of late Gen-Xers, we didn't go in for that. We came of age when popular consumerism and celebrity brand endorsements were rejected trends of the consumerist '80s, so that's why "influencer culture" turns us off now.
In many ways, late Millennials and Gen-Z are the complete and total opposite. Embracing the appeal of online influencers, makers, and creators is part of that.
omfgwhatever@reddit
So, a famous person.
OreoSpeedwaggon@reddit
A famous person shilling for corporations and other companies with disingenuous zeal that their followers sometimes mistake as sincere, often manipulating viewership algorithms to their advantage with no content of substance to offer other than shameless plugs and sales pitches.
omfgwhatever@reddit
Honestly, I think it's just another word for "celebrity," but online. They get sponsors (commercials), and some are actually entertaining. Most are brain rot, just like most TV shows.
guy_n_cognito_tu@reddit
An "influencer" is someone who has a social media account. Full stop. No one gives a flying fuck what they say.
BigRudy99@reddit
Lol, tell that to their bank accounts. Enough people care to make a lot of them richer than you or I will ever be.
threedogdad@reddit
found their mark
BigRudy99@reddit
Yes. Recognizing that some of these folks make money automatically makes me a fan. Fucking clown.
threedogdad@reddit
ah, hahaha!
guy_n_cognito_tu@reddit
Only the smallest fraction of "influencers" are making real money. Most are just faking it. Just because someone has a nice car and a big house doesn't mean they actually making money.
Otakur42@reddit
You can rent a nice looking place and a fancy car for a few hours to do some filming.
guy_n_cognito_tu@reddit
Or, you can leverage yourself up to hell and back trying to look successful.
Brullaapje@reddit
I do, Charlie Follwos the yoga instructor has very sensible things to say when it comes to yoga poses for example.
Otakur42@reddit
Well. No one SHOULD give a flying fuck what they say. Sadly, a lot of people do and that is the problem.
MinusGovernment@reddit
I couldn't tell you the name of a single one of them because I don't look at TikTok and my YouTube use consists of looking up songs with lyrics that I'm considering for karaoke. I also only look at YouTube through my browser and it blocks all the ads without me having to install anything extra to do it.
ProfileTraditional28@reddit
I remember Joe Namath wearing pantyhose, and remember the shampoo "I told two friends, and she told two friends and so on and so on...". I had to have that shampoo!
Surfbrowser@reddit
OMG 😆 I remember this now.
jcmach1@reddit
They are posers and sell outs.
shavenyakfl@reddit
Even the term, "influencer" is obnoxious AF.
jf737@reddit
It’s a spokesperson. The difference is brands once used celebrities or someone recognizable to lend credibility to your brand. Modern “influencers” are people trying to skip the step of becoming famous first.
It’s mostly people trying to avoid getting an actual job while simultaneously have “main character syndrome”
fastballcdm2019@reddit
These are people that think they are more important than everyone else and have actually made money doing so. Anyone who puts influencer on their résumé is an asshole.
Migamix@reddit
Simply put.
Kentigearna@reddit
It is a person that doesn’t want to work but live the life of a billionaire. Makes beautiful pictures of food but can’t even do their laces. They most of the times have an aura of entitlement and a perfume that is as cheap as themselves. They also believe the word revolves around them and that everybody needs to know what their last shit looked like.
So all together nothing GenX would even get off the couch for.
JWBIERE@reddit
If you give me free food and merch I'll share pictures of it with my tens of followers. That's an influencer
BulljiveBots@reddit
The real ones don’t beg for free shit. I like the people who help businesses and people in need, and the people who are actual artists that create real stuff. Most are younger and seem like decent people. Everyone else who are just grifters can kick rocks.
JWBIERE@reddit
Overall they are a net negative on society.
BulljiveBots@reddit
Yeah well…I’ll take the good ones any day since there is so little to celebrate in this country lately
JWBIERE@reddit
You are not wrong, what a shit show.
jeffster1970@reddit
They have existed forever, but their careers are certainly different.
Think of Michael Jackson, the Pope, Christie Brinkley, Michael J. Fox, Molly Ringwald, Magic Johnson, etc.
These people we may have followed on TV and/or seen them on a cereal box. However, their main goal was to WORK for their PRIMARY money, rather than make random videos to influence people and make all of their money from those single streams.
I think people are just annoyed with many influencers because they come across as grifters and content isn't always top notch, just geared to certain people.
CooperSTL@reddit
Comparing Michael Jackson and the Pope (and the others) to influencers is really some next level delusion.
calculon68@reddit
I don't have issues with celebs, athletes, famous people having a "side hustle." But I wouldn't call it "influencing" per se. When Matthew McConaughey pimps for Lincoln, we *know* we're being sold to.
An influencer's "side hustle" is really the "main hustle." It's cloaked in personal narrative and infotainment content. But it's never not about the hustle.
I think influencer audiences lack that awareness that they are being pitched to. Or they don't care.
Aromatic_Revolution4@reddit
It's the term for popular social media "personalities."
I imagine no generation could be more ambivalent toward them, their hot takes, or their product recommendations than GenX is.
albert-cicconi@reddit
Not one bit… fake people doing fake things trying to look important.
savedbytheblood72@reddit
A lot of them, it's just a bunch of cheap philosophy and common sense stuff that we refuse to listen when our parents said it to us back in the day..
BigBabyWhale@reddit
Routine_Guitar_5519@reddit
Do not care. Not even a little. The YouTube TikTokers are a product of the technology. Just as we are of all things 70's and 80's. They influence people to buy, believe, act and say various things that ultimately lead to them creating a revenue stream. Imagine as kids, we were able to each make and broadcast our own television channel from our parents' living room. Then someone reaches out and tells you that they will pay you $XX.XX amount to put their product, belief system, or ideals on your channel because data show A LOT of children watch your channel. Ultimately, just like mediums of entertainment in the past, it is used to sell commercially. Since the invent of the radio show, printed flyers and stage performances, brought to you by Bayer.
ArthurBea@reddit
Remember those guys who always seemed to have their shit together? And lots of people liked them. They probably had an aura about them, some x-factor, charisma. Maybe they were athletes. Or really good at video games. Or hot shit among the goth kids.
But there was something off about them.
Before social media, they did whatever they did. They disappeared from our lives. Now, there’s a whole system for them to broadcast their personalities. They use it to make money.
AnastasiusDicorus@reddit
It's a new term for people that are known but not in movies or tv. Not hard to figure out if you really want to. I don't think you're really a gen x'er because we're smarter than that.
No-Decision1581@reddit
Couldn't give a shit. Fuck them. I know what i like and no one will try to tell me otherwise
blindside1@reddit
I follow certain chefs, some martial artists, a some nature educators. All of them qualify as "influencers," most hobbies have them these days.
Bk_Punisher@reddit
If you can be influenced by someone, you are simple minded.
All_Damn_Day@reddit
I am disheartened by how much my peers are on Instagram or TikTok. A gathering of certain women eventually lands on a story about buying a product seen on “social” media.
Bk_Punisher@reddit
I’m just glad I didn’t take that path. My last social media acct was MySpace. Gave up on all social media and now mainly use Reddit.
Bk_Punisher@reddit
If you can be influenced by someone, you are simple minded.
ChiCityTechNerd@reddit
When I hear “influencer”, I think “eww gross” but then I remember there are YouTubers I not only like but actively try to share with others:
Mark Rober, former NASA engineer, who makes fun and educational engineering projects. He has a line of science project kits for kids called CrunchLabs
Destin Sandlin, rocket engineer, who runs YouTube channel “SmarterEveryDay” and talks about physics principles.
Derek Muller, of STEM channel “Veritasium”
Simone Giertz, who makes useless robots for fun and education
But before all of them came Adam Savage from MythBusters
We took the kids to see Adam and Derek do fun science live at a show called “Brain Candy”
Sunsfever83@reddit
I don't give one damn what they think. Even the 'Gen X influencers' are pretty much full of crap. I have 4 influencers in my life. My wife, daughter, and 2 grandsons. Pretty much today, everything else is just noise.
sane-asylum@reddit
No different than any commercial ever really. Just trying to “influence” money out of your wallet.
drgath@reddit
Billy Mays was the OG influencer. Imagine that guy with today’s social media capabilities.
Alcohooligan@reddit
The original influencer was your friends stoner older brother that would try to get you to believe weird conspiracy theories and use some product they were selling out of their trunk.
sane-asylum@reddit
He’d be everywhere!!!!
RW_McRae@reddit
The word 'influencer' is just another way of referring to someone promoting products and doing ads. These days 'influencers' are youtube and TikTok celebrities. Maybe Twitch.
In our day they were celebrities doing commercials, cigarette ads, or writing opinion pieces. Ann Landers and Dear Abby were big ones, Wilford Brimley has done more influencer work than pretty much any celebrity from our era, etc.
There are also plenty of influencers from our generation. Joe Rogan is a bit young to be one of us, but there are plenty of celebrity podcasters giving their opinions, writing opinion pieces, promoting products and services, etc. The actors from our era are now doing retirement, buying/selling gold, reverse mortgages, and health insurance ads. Bob Barker told us to spay and neuter our pets, and the Publisher Clearing House and QVC had their own influencers that people specifically got on to watch - the entire point was to sell things.
Don't do the old person thing of "Well the younger generation is shit because I don't understand the terms they use - we didn't do anything like that when we were there age!" We had our own influencers - every generation does. We just don't understand the ways that the new ones work.
philipks@reddit
I agree with you. Sometimes the old person energy displayed in this sub is quite annoying.
LadySiren@reddit
Yeah but as someone who works in the social media realm? Influencers are the bane of my existence. The true influencers don't go around advertising the fact; they just do their thing. The entitled, self-important, pick-me! ones are the cretins that I can't stand.
Useful_Humor_1152@reddit
Joe Rogan is at the beginning of Gen X born 1967
RW_McRae@reddit
Oh damn, I didn't realize he was that old! Nevermind then!
RevToy@reddit
They are annoying little twats that think their opinion is more valuable than others.
subterfuscation@reddit
That’s because people give them importance with their attention. It’s a public service that they so accurately call themselves “influencers”. I can’t imagine many X’ers being drawn to people who are openly admitting that they’re trying to influence you.
Dangerous_Patient621@reddit
Whenever I hear someone call themselves an "influencer," all I hear is "grifter."
AZAHole@reddit
Influencers are just leeches that contribute absolutely nothing to society.
StanleyQPrick@reddit
Some do real harm, too
claradox@reddit
Absolufuckinglutely.
BuccoFever412@reddit
This right here
oOBuckoOo@reddit
As a Gen Xer, the very first influencer I remember is Dan Marino trying to sell my Dad Isotoner gloves. Also, no, I do not care what they do or say.
claradox@reddit
Unfortunate memory unlocked.
TickingTheMoments@reddit
An influencer is a spokesman, a shill. And yes. It’s the popular kids showing how cool they are and “influencing” others to buy whatever they’re selling.
claradox@reddit
Just thinking about that tappy spirit fingers show-off move influencers do makes my skin crawl.
Influencer culture is an outgrowth of participation trophies culture and the start of reality tv, that’s my theory.
Great-Attitude@reddit
I couldn't care less about "influencers" They literally couldn't influence me on anything.
SenseNo635@reddit
I could not care less about what any so-called influencer has to say about anything.
Remmy555@reddit
And why all the 'just happen to be putting on my makeup' while talking about unrelated topic videos? It's giving George Costanza eating an apple while asking for a date.
Flimsy-Field-8321@reddit
This! Why on earth is this a thing??
gd2bpaid@reddit
MTV and the other music channels had our influencers.
Vioralarama@reddit
There are plenty of vapid influencers but I don't see any of them because my algorithm says no. Most of the people I watch are genx comedy. I also have alternative 80s music channels, horses, funny pet videos, and political commentators. A couple hair and one makeup influencer, a great lesbian couple, and a couple of entertaining transwomen willing to take the risk to tell their stories.
Beneficial-Age-4059@reddit
I do not
johnnybok@reddit
Funny to me, when we were of this target age, a sell-out would be belittled relentlessly. Now they celebrate them and call them influencers
ol__spelch@reddit
Agreed!!!
fakeprofile111@reddit
Think if MTV VJs had become millionaires in the late 80s and early 90s that’s pretty much our era equivalent
craftygardening@reddit
Lol, what about athletes and actors selling crap forever. This shit is as old as Jesus, just a different name now.
Entropy907@reddit
… and guys — she’ll like it, too ;-)
beermaker@reddit
Influencers get immediately ignored & blocked whenever possible. Their whole schtick reeks of narcissism & huckstership, willing to shill against their own interests for a buck.
Severe_Slide_9765@reddit
I swipe as fast as possible if one of them pop up.
Recyclerz@reddit
I'm old too but this is the way I see it. Gens Z and Alpha do not watch TV (Broadcast or cable) the way we did. Advertisers have to get their products in front of the young and gullible (hey, we were too) so they pay "influencers" with large social media followings to hawk their stuff. A few are extremely successful (eg. Mr. Beast), more can make a decent living but most are "influencers" the way our demographic were in a band, poets or "working on our novels".
I only learn the names or handles of influencers when they show up in the business or political press. And I'm OK with that.
Disastrous-Group3390@reddit
It’s sad. The terrestrial radio I used to hear current rock music on used to play ads for speed shops, waterbeds, beer, clubs, and cars. Now they play he same music (but much more limited rotation) and ads for ED doctors, snake oil like QC Quinetics or wtf-ever and rock concerts by the same tired bands (No, I’m not paying 2026 money to see GNR or Motley Crue.) So I ard BlueTooth to my old cars’ radios and stream…
Tree_killer_76@reddit
I actively avoid buying any product hawked by internet “influencers”.
madogvelkor@reddit
Some might. An "influencer" is very broad. If you have a hobby and there is someone on youtube you watch that posts videos about it that, you're watching an influencer. It doesn't matter if they're talking about games, fashion, food, hair, celebrities, travel, gardening, photography, knitting, cooking, cars, model trains.
NoUniqueNameNeeded@reddit
I see it a little different. If they steer you to buy something, are sponsored by, do hauls, et cetera, that's an influencer.
If Bob is showing you how to do something or wants to just talk about their hobbies, that's different.
peacefinder@reddit
I would define “influencer” in a broad sense as a person who intentionally becomes a role model or public educator and makes a freelance living from it, alternately with product to sell. Their fame might be self-manufactured or a legacy of a previous career.
Example from back in the day might be:
Euell Gibbons
Martha Stewart
Dr Atkins
Ron Popeil
A case could be made for Julia Child and Carl Sagan I suppose.
The modern twist I think is that influencers today tend to have many sponsors and speak on multiple subjects, rather than few big sponsors and a focused agenda.
mrdaver911_2@reddit
I think also people like Tony Robbins and our old friend Billy Mays.
I think they were both proto-influencers, but didn’t have tools like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram to put themselves in everyone’s hand.
peacefinder@reddit
I was sure there were better examples who I was forgetting. Those are a couple great ones, thank you.
SignificanceHead9957@reddit
To give them their due, a lot of young people are looking good, groomed and stylish. Women's make up has improved.
StanleyQPrick@reddit
So what?
spiderfighter1@reddit
I think plenty use filters
Chicagoj1563@reddit
It's the idea that you don't have to get your information from TV and the news anymore. Back in the day, many were influenced by TV shows, music, and pop culture.
Everyone can have a TV channel now. So, there are millions of niche topics that get attention today. And people are running businesses from it, so it usually has decent production quality.
It's just an upgrade. Instead of 10 channels from air TV, or a hundred or so from cable, you now have millions of channels covering many niche topics.
You don't have to be influenced by it or even tune in. But, it's a cultural shift is all. I think it's better this way.
People like Oprah or the NFL don't have exclusive rights to content anymore. Anyone can have a TV show now.
StanleyQPrick@reddit
Anyone can say anything with no responsibility to tell the truth and it’s a serious problem
Potential-Mail-298@reddit
Glossy peer pressure
Oldman_Dick@reddit
Zero fucks
mbgameshw@reddit
Agreed, Richard
x86_64_@reddit
It's a made-up title splashed around by social media corporations to give legitimacy to uncredentialed and/or ignorant nobodies who shill for their advertisers
B-Town-MusicMan@reddit
So glad I missed that boat... I hope it sinks
Tdot-77@reddit
they are glossy infomercial hosts
SheenasJungleroom@reddit
I asked my wife this very question recently, and that’s basically what she said. They are salesmen. It’s the new Home Shopping Club, or QVC. They get free crap from crap-makers, then they Ooh! and Aah! over it and sell it to the gullibles on their shows. Just like our moms used to buy cubic zirconia junk from Joan Rivers back in the day.
froction@reddit
An influencer is someone who is famous for being famous and for some reason young people respect their opinions.
Old_Association6332@reddit
I have never understood their appeal, and I'm on the younger side of Gen X. I agree with your assessment totally
Accomplished_Okra645@reddit
Naw, YouTube is to watch somebody fix their dryer that’s just like mine or realizing that you’ve just spent the last half hour watching somebody do yard work.
Both_Chicken_666@reddit
I did fix my washing machine with the help of YouTube!!! And the sound of a lawnmower has pretty much become white noise at this point.
MartyFunkhoosier@reddit
Influencer = unemployed person or person trying to start a cult following.
BrittaUnfiltered67@reddit
BrittaUnfiltered67@reddit
I posted this in the wrong topic, but I will let it cook.
ricperry1@reddit
I think the entire concept of "influencer" is horrendous. It's like people decided they weren't being influenced enough as it is, and decided to make an entire career out of it. I like to think I'm resistant to being influenced by an "influencer" because I really just don't give a fuck what other people are doing with their lives.
Vprbite@reddit
You dont know? Bruh. You are so not skibidi rizz, bruh. No cap, that's sus. Slay king. Hit the griddy. Dont be negative aura, Ohio bruh.
Hopefully that clears it up some.
dan_blather@reddit
Clock it.
Silver_Daikon6974@reddit
SYBAU
AgainstSpace@reddit
I don't think I'm in any influencer's target demogrphic, and that's fine.
GinX-@reddit
Like we could be influenced.
Fubardir@reddit
Sometimes I'm under influence, but never Influenced.
emmapeel218@reddit
Influencers are like the people who were in Tiger Beat or Seventeen added to the people who did infomercials.
junkdun@reddit
That's a good analogy. Thanks.
Brullaapje@reddit
I would consider Madonna, Micheal Jackson the influencers of our time.
These days it is easier to become one.
JimFive@reddit
I think that's a bad comparison. Michael Jackson and Madonna were legitimately celebrated for their talent and hard work. Their bodies of work were not centered around selling other products.
"Influencers", on the other hand, are all about selling eyeballs to advertisers.
Note that I make a distinction between "influencers" and skilled people making good content who aren't shilling product.
Brullaapje@reddit
You think it is easy to be an influencer? The succes full ones work hard and have some talent, even if I don't like it or them.
I mean I remember Stephen King being paid too, to write some line on a thriller, no matter how shitty it was. I remember him writing on some thriller "It is a good book for the weekend, but not when you are alone" (on the back of that book). I bought that book because he wrote that, turned out it was an incredibly shitty book and it was the day (as a twenty something) I learned that successful writers get paid to do that. Which I consider shilling as well.
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Prejudices & Hostility - No speech of any form targeting anyone, including but not limited to:
LeighofMar@reddit
Subscribe to my free 400.00 course and I'll break it down for you and how you can be one too 😜
VeryPazzo@reddit
Idk any GenXers who cares. But that’s on them
Ms_Anne-Thrope@reddit
Not one fuckin bit.
DivergentDad@reddit
Influencer = Professional, full- time social media user
bemenaker@reddit
We don't care what they say. We do care about the undo influence they carry over younger people for some stupid reason.
OldGrumpyRogue@reddit
They are for sheeple to follow, those of us who don’t care what others think are annoyed by then. The people who create content to educate others and are legit helping are not influencers
Jimmy-the-Knuckle@reddit
Some of you Gen Xers are just closet boomers: old in spirit and resistant to change even when it’s a positive. Quality influencers are awesome. The good kind are the ones who are skilled in particular areas. I follow Christian Thibideau, an athlete strength coach, Steffy DeGreff, excellent inside space designer, Karla Zazueta, Mexican food chef with a norteña focus. You have to be selective obviously but you are missing valuable expert insights when you choose to ignore the whole genre.
Dorkinfo@reddit
I disagree about influencers, but agree about the closet boomers.
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Prejudices & Hostility - No speech of any form targeting anyone, including but not limited to:
SmashEmWithAPhone@reddit
You're not wrong. Bashing and belittling influencers is akin to Boomers in the 70s and early 80s calling interest in computers a hobby for nerds.
Producing videos for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram... etc is a legit career option at this point. Though like any new industry, there are going to be significant hurdles to overcome. So much shady content out there makes it hard to discern who is legit
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Prejudices & Hostility - No speech of any form targeting anyone, including but not limited to:
ultimate_ed@reddit
Absolutely. The boomer energy in this thread is pretty disappointing. Sure, there are "influencers" that are just talking heads that happen to have a lot of followers.
But, there are also a lot of useful, passionate, and talented folks that are able to make a living by covering topics that might appeal to a few hundred thousand to a few million people. 40 years ago, such a thing wouldn't have been practical, but today, channels like Project Farm can exist and we're better off for it.
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Prejudices & Hostility - No speech of any form targeting anyone, including but not limited to:
GenX-ModTeam@reddit
Prejudices & Hostility - No speech of any form targeting anyone, including but not limited to:
Fit-Narwhal-3989@reddit
I don’t care. But my kids will want to try some dumbass thing because they saw it on the TikToks.
PuzzleMeDo@reddit
Plenty of people back in the day were 'influencers' - Oprah Winfrey, Mr T, Madonna, Prince, Michael Jordan.
The difference is that back then you had to be successful via traditional media before people started caring about your opinion on fashion. Now we've added social media to the ways you can get famous enough to be influential.
Tardislass@reddit
Sorry but there’s a big difference between influencers and talent. Celebrities actually had talent. Influencers on the whole-don’t. Like Brooklyn Beckham-bless him but him and his wife only have money. The talent gene skipped a generation.
I just don’t watch them and think it’s stupid. So I guess I’m a Gen X rebel now.
PuzzleMeDo@reddit
Modern influencers have talents - for making attention-grabbing videos, manipulating YouTube algorithms, creating parasocial relationships with their fans, etc.
(I can't say whether they have any creative talents, because that would require me to watch their work, and there's no way I'm doing that.)
SiroccoDream@reddit
They are the 21st century answer to Carpetbaggers, Snake Oil Peddlers, and Greasy Used Car Salesmen.
WhatRUaBarnBurner@reddit
When John Wayne was advertising cigarettes - that's an influencer
MortgageRegular2509@reddit
Evel Knievel definitely influenced me
Scoobysnax1976@reddit
I don't think that we are the target audience. They are after the teen to late 20s/early 30s group that will buy what is currently in fashion. As someone who came of age in the 90s, I am only a follower when grunge is back in style.
International-Ant174@reddit
We are no longer the target audience for current things. We are now being transitioned to boomer stuff like AARP and compression socks.
Knew it was happening when the grocery stores and elevators started playing the music of my teenage years.
Scoobysnax1976@reddit
Not a fan of the Muzak versions of Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana, or Metallica? lol
International-Ant174@reddit
Just doesn't hit the same way "Jazz-fied" :D
contude327@reddit
Hate them. They'll do and say anything for money.
Jaded_Fortune7642@reddit
I quite like the whole idea that anyone can have their five minutes (or fifteen minutes, Mr Warhol) by starting a YouTube channel or whatever…
But it sounds so exhausting. Just thinking about it! Everything must be so carefully curated. It must be rough on mental health as well - you will need the followers, face the trolls, you’ll have to be ‘on’ all the time.
Nope; very much not for me!
archedhighbrow@reddit
I follow one channel on Instagram that has a link to the influencer page. I checked it out, and it's informative. It's random watching, though..
RecognitionNew3122@reddit
I’d rather doom scroll fights and people getting arrested for being dumb. The worst ones are the ones who take someone else’s footage and film themselves commenting. F off with that. I’ll go and watch the original without their gurning stupid face in the way.
67alecto@reddit
The only difference between what those people are doing now versus what they were doing back in your rose-colored nostalgia days, is that they have a wider reach?
There have been, and always will be icons of fashion, culture, music, etc
oflowz@reddit
Icons of fashion, culture and music are not the same as modern day influencers.
In the past you actually had to have something substantive to gain that stature since there were limited wide spread media outlets.
Now any idiot with a phone can gain a following.
The difference being that there was more vetting before the internet which means there was more quality control.
BigRefrigerator9783@reddit
It's a glorified freelance marketing/sales person, and absolutely not.
Texiedokie@reddit
They sort of remind me of carnies.
BigRefrigerator9783@reddit
LOL, I can see that!
Tracyhmcd@reddit
I’ll do the opposite of what they suggest.
youngkpepper@reddit
Likewise, and it pisses me off when they “discover” something I and a bunch of other people have known about/used/done for years. Oh, so now it’s cool because some little bubblehead decided so?
I know it’s a big waste of energy.
Electronic_Lemon7940@reddit
Ron Popeil?
RecognitionNew3122@reddit
Nope. They can live in their world with their 500 followers who are 75% bots anyway.
KyotiKill@reddit
It's simply "main character syndrome", they all think the world revolves around them, that they're special, and whatever the fuck they are doing is something everyone cares about... It's honestly sickening.
A_Legit_Salvage@reddit
I'm gonna be straight with you. The question "what the hell is an influencer" has inspired me to just block this sub, because that's the most "boomer" question I've maybe ever seen in this sub and most (not all) of the responses have way too much of that sense of being locked into a certain time and not being able or willing to understand the present. I'm all for GenX nostalgia and it's fun to occassionally ponder "does anyone else remember rotary phones lol?" but appreicating the past doesn't have to mean thumping your nose at the present. Influencers have been around for years at this point, they aren't all popular rich kids, it's more of an outgroth of social media and monetization of those platforms and people being lucky and savvy enough to take advantage of it, and there were certainly self-serving low level "celebs" that found ways to monitize their name/image decades ago, but like a lot of things, it's just different.
MrBDIU@reddit
Only “Influencers“ from back in the day Bill Dance, Babe Winkleman or Al Linder…. lol
niff007@reddit
Influencers are a scourge. I loathe what social media has done to the human race.
Delicious_Plantain60@reddit
Absolutely not. Not one.
Ebemi@reddit
There have always been people being paid to sell you useless crap you don't need. The exact way it's dressed up changes but the core is always the same.
Top-Molasses7661@reddit
Exactly - we've always had supermodels/actors/athletes and all related hero worship plugging products and experiences. Now it's just a DIY situation. Good for them!
youngkpepper@reddit
I mentally sneer every time I see that word.
caryn1477@reddit
I don't care about a single one.
Oxjrnine@reddit
Remember the girl in high school who wore the first t-shirt ripped to fall off her shoulder? Or got the first perm? And then a week later everyone in school looked like Jennifer Beal?
Well her youngest daughter does that now for money and sponsors. And instead of the smelly halls of high school - she uses Tik Tok.
She also wants you to drink raw milk, and not get vaccinated
Interesting-Web3737@reddit (OP)
This! This is a cogent explanation!
oflowz@reddit
A person on the internet with enough followers the ‘influence’ public discourse.
Most are actually unashamedly corporate sell outs, peddling their influence to sponsors for money.
Since we live in an era of facts not mattering, many sell rage bait for clicks since negativity gets more responses than being truthful or positive.
The worst part is kids today raised on the internet actually believe what they say since the younger generation gets most of their information from social media.
Sinsyne125@reddit
What's weird to me is that a lot of GeXers will have nostalgia for something that happened when they were 20 -- no matter how inane it was -- but because the term "influencer" wasn't really around when we were kids, it's got to be brushed aside with the usual "kids these days" dismissiveness.
Jeez, all it is is just a new method for product endorsement. Is a lot of it bull**** and nonsense? Sure, but...
For example, I think back to junior high and how much Brooke Shields was an "influencer" regarding Calvin Klein jeans. After her commercials, those jeans exploded with the female population in my piddly little part of the world. It seemed like every girl in my classes started wearing them.
Was that s**t any different from today?
crashin70@reddit
I'm sorry I can't follow along with that because I consider there to be a large difference between an influencer and an actual model/spokesperson for a company.
Carrollz@reddit
They remind me of people that work for MLMs... can't trust anything about them and they desperately want to pretend to be your best friend.
crashin70@reddit
We had influencers back in high school... We just didn't have the internet and we called them the cool kids or the bad kids!
GeoHog713@reddit
Imagine if the popular kids in junior high started getting paid to promote products and make them cool.
That's about the gist of it.
No. I don't give a shit. Ive been bombarded by ads my entire life. I'm pretty much immune
Good_Queen_Dudley@reddit
Nah. My first question when this all started was like why would you want to be influenced by a random person? Most influencers are absolutely lame people and not role models to follow ie be influenced by. As soon as I hear "follow me," that's exactly what I'm not going to do....how very Gen X....
Freiverse@reddit
Some “influencers” on YouTube share their knowledge and reviews of all kinds of things. If they’re just getting ad revenue from their channel (not getting paid by sponsors), think of it like a totally free consumer reports.
People have a lot of knowledge and unique perspectives to share - it isn’t just a wasteland of attention-seeking idiots 😉. But there’s plenty of that to go around too.
bufftbone@reddit
Someone who refuses to go out and get a real job and no, I don’t give a shit what any of them have to say.
_Feral_Child@reddit
I literally could not care less. I've been taking care of myself and other people since I was a child. Why the hell would I care about what some rando on the internet thinks about anything??
Special-Original-215@reddit
As seen on TV is the original influencer Ron Popeil aka Ronco
Bought the project fisherman. Lost the pole in the lake
Btt3r_blu3@reddit
Don't know, don't care.
VividFiddlesticks@reddit
The Gen X mantra!
interspeciesMama@reddit
Basically a faux existence of subjects du jour, within which to amass thumbs-ups, up-votes and advertising contracts. Yes?
72vintage@reddit
Influencers are generally a waste of fart space. I do follow a couple that deal with topics that interest me, but I give zero shits about anything they sell or promote. And the younger they are, the more useless they are...
cybaz@reddit
You used to buy a magazine and there were ads in it. All the people who would have worked in that are online now.
ReallyGamerDude@reddit
When I see the word "influencer," I think "grifter." It's someone trying to sell you something: a product, an agenda, a point of view. Sometimes it's just for "likes;" sometimes it's for "influence;" sometimes it's for money. And social media has created a world where the types of people who like to do this have a large and free audience. In the old days, you had to buy a horse and a cart and a case of snake oil and travel from town to town. Now, all you need is a phone and a ring light.
mountainsun9@reddit
This exactly. Not bound by truth and advertising, and I think currently the status is somewhere around 90% for all titles in YouTube being in someway misleading or deceitful.
22Shattered@reddit
I like a couple of them… that actually contribute really unique perspectives on some hobbies and eating habits. That said, I’d like to see regular posts again from “regular” fucking people…
glennis_pnkrck@reddit
They used to be called salespeople, or Marketing, but back then they got paid a salary and did it 9-5 instead of volunteering to simp for a luxury brand that pays them in “exposure” and taxable gifts.
4estGimp@reddit
To the current admin, and an influencer is akin to an advisory and intelligence report.
Equal_Trash6023@reddit
Or an effing grifter!
No-Hospital559@reddit
Richard Simmons was kind of an early influencer pre-Social Media. They have always been around, there are just more of them now.
Fimbir@reddit
Richard Simmons started with a theme of fitness that kind of continued through his career. What's at the core of today's influencers? I see looks and style/taste if you don't include gamers.
No-Hospital559@reddit
I guess it depends on what they are trying to sell, there are Christian influencers, hunting influencers etc..
Fimbir@reddit
Fair enough. I suppose I artificially apply no real expertise to an "influencer" compared to someone familiar with a (non-cosmetic; my own hang up) topic.
gansett@reddit
Not to mention Jane Fonda and her workout. And Jack LaLane in the 1960s and Charles Atlas before that
Zalrius@reddit
??? We had tons of influencers in our day. Have you forgotten real world or road rules? From sports, to cinema, to science, we were buying, using and wearing the mercy of people who influenced our lives.
Tralfaz1138@reddit
The platform has changed, but the role is the same I think. In the old west it was the guy with the wagon going from town to town selling items you never knew about before. In our era it was the Ron Popeil's, Sy Sperling's, and Tony Little's on TV plus the start of the Home Shopping Network as an "influencer" platform. Now the platform has just migrated to the internet and there are a LOT more people doing it.
FewStill3958@reddit
It's just people shilling for various products. Think of them as the human embodiment of an annoying commercial.
Mimble75@reddit
Yep - fingernail-tapping shills for bullshit no one needs.
Billazilla@reddit
This is the best description.
BeBe_Madden@reddit
I watch/follow the ones who are entertaining like The Holderness family's stuff, (corney, & not my typical humor but I like them for some reason) or informative, like ZeFrank & Casual Geographic, who'rw funny & informative. I generally don't follow the people who are like, "do this" or makeup tutorials, & especially not the GRWM people; I doubt even understand why that's a thing. I hate people just there to make money sound as little as possible.
MrMorden9@reddit
Not in the slightest
reelhappi@reddit
Could not care less, regardless of “influencer’s” age.
GronkDaSlayer@reddit
Unfortunately there are a lot of people who make a lot of money by being influencers and spewing all sorts of bullshit or downright misinformation on Tiktok and or yt, then there's only fans and then you have the youtubers that make money playing video games that your kids love to watch all day long, who I guess are some kind of influencers as well.
There are a few YT channels that are actually interesting, but the majority is just shit.
DonkeyImpossible316@reddit
Its as simple as this. Back in the day the only way to reach thousands of people was through a TV or Radio ad - perhaps a billboard and then print media. With the proliferation of Social Media there are people with thousands/millions of followers and so when they post - they reach those people. The demographics of the followers are much more narrow (generally), so using this as a platform to target those folks makes sense. The only tie to reality TV or regular TV or Movies is that public figures or famous people have this additional ability to drive people to their socials and increase their potential Ad audience. Where it gets hard to understand I think is the rise of the influencer who wasn't famous via legacy and instead grew by creating content on youtube (Mr Beast), or TikTok (Taylor) etc. The kids love that shit. Its simply a new targeted marketing audience that the influence monetizes. If they didn't move units OR increase brand awareness companies wouldn't pay them. Its just a modern way of advertising based on Social Media.
PositiveStress8888@reddit
When you get old you care less about opinions and just get to the facts, because facts don't care about your feelings or what your prefer, they simply state the truth.
I could care less about what an " influencer" thinks.
Dorkinfo@reddit
It’s could not care less. By saying you could care less, you’re saying you care to some degree.
SmashEmWithAPhone@reddit
To me, influencers are the modern version of the TV experts that would pop up on news and sports broadcasts back in the 80s and 90s. Never heard of them before seeing them spout their opinions on some show. Yet somehow their thoughts on the subject mattered simply because they're on TV saying them.
My specific example is Mel Kiper Jr. That guy just started appearing on ESPN coverage of the NFL draft. No background about him. Just a dude that talked about football players with enough certainty that he kept being brought back into the NFL draft coverage even though his predictions were not particularly accurate.
The influencers that keep popping up are the same thing. They're people trying to talk like they're experts to convince the audience that they are experts. And then make money for saying a bunch of stuff that may or may not actually work.
HyperJen_OG@reddit
This might be the best analogy I've seen in months
WedgeVII@reddit
An influencer is just someone with a big social media following, and I could not care less what any of them have to say. Most of them are all about making content to make their numbers go up without giving anything of real substance, sort of like reality TV stars, but worse imo.
Constant-Visual-5109@reddit
Nope, I don’t care one bit.
ProBuyer810-3345045@reddit
Nope, I could give a shit less what the social media “influencers” have to say, I think I can make up my own mind!
drewlb@reddit
There's kind of a spectrum.
Some are just brain rot schills being hot and trying to monitize views.
I do personally follow a bartender who makes cocktails and is pretty transparent about who is sponsoring it. I would consider them an influencer I think.
That is also not much different than Bob Villa on this old house talking up Craftsman tools.
LatinBotPointTwo@reddit
I don't know a single one or why they're supposed to matter.
These-Analysis-6115@reddit
That word makes me ill because it's just another name for over consumption baiters. Lol
Techno_Core@reddit
Think of it as amateur DIY marketing.
blaspheminCapn@reddit
The whole thing is a scam.
Unless you can show me metrics from JoeyBBQLizardFace actually moved 500,000 units, all of it is b.s.
Boring_Menu_5962@reddit
It's just a modern way of advertising. Companies send people with a bunch of followers free products so they can receive free advertising in return.
Gnarledhalo@reddit
Influencers are human ads
Skeptikell1@reddit
They are what we woulda called a “shill”.
OccamsYoyo@reddit
Not me. I think it’s a ridiculous subculture.
baalroo@reddit
We had plenty of them. In our day they were mostly standup comedians and "talking heads."
chickennuggysupreme@reddit
Like others have stated, influencers will speak ‘authoritatively’ about subjects they aren’t trained or educated in as if they know what they’re saying; usually from a one-sided opinionated view with no real understanding or experience in that subject, or only a limited understanding so as to sway (influence) others to do the same. All in the name of views, points, subscriptions, etc. It’s exactly the same as ‘authoritatively’ telling viewers to not listen to professors and doctors about health-related issues these people are actually and literally trained in. LMFAO. How dumb are those who throw caution to the wind, in order to buy into the brain rot!?
Smooth-Reputation502@reddit
I consider an influencer to be a marketing agent for a product. Just like the models that would walk around a car show wearing a sexy cocktail dress or a bikini directing people to look at me, look at this car…blah blah blah
merkthejerk@reddit
NO, we don’t. We don’t care so much I’m just answering the title question because there’s zero chance I’m reading that college thesis of an explanation.
VolupVeVa@reddit
There have always been "lifestyle influencers", as long as there has been mass media.
I feel like Martha Stewart really amped it up and opened the floodgates in the 90s. Social media "democratized" it, by allowing average joes to build platforms that were once reserved for the already-wealthy/well-connected.
Just-The-Facts-411@reddit
Exactly.
Back in the day, they were called "lifestyle experts" or something. They were on TV, radio, in magazines.
Now with social media, it's available to a wider range of people who think they've got something worthwhile to say or share.
Isphet71@reddit
They are basically just street performers and flippy sign advertising guys on digital streets. The modern version of snake oil salesmen.
We are immune because we learned long ago to identify inauthenticity and scams.
Zandor72@reddit
While I dont personally follow any influencers, they are important to our kids and our kids pay attention to what they say.
I try to understand where my kids are getting information, and occasionally remind them some of the opinions they hear are in fact paid endorsements....
kchavez314@reddit
My kids are grown, I’ve raised them to be free thinkers and not be swayed by social media influencers. Your actions are so important to keeping your kids minds strong and not filled with garbage. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
PinkyLeopard2922@reddit
I don't think we are really the target audience for "influencers" as I think we are more likely to NOT do what someone is telling us to do. I mean, that is definitely me at least.
Sumeriandawn@reddit
Oh really?
PinkyLeopard2922@reddit
Thank you. I will use that list to specifically NOT follow those people on my other social media accounts that I do not really use anyway. /s
I guess I am an outlier and plenty of Gen Xers are into it. Eh, whatever.
SilverSteele69@reddit
I think the term "micro celebrity" captures the essence. It really only works because social/digital media enables someone (1) to have a few thousand to a few hundred thousand "followers" (2) disseminate "content" (3) use this to generate some revenue.
emmadonelsense@reddit
It’s the manipulation or full circle of getting famous for being famous. Like a snake eating its tail. There’s no talent, genuine message or deep obligation to share something or make anything better. It’s just more adverts, greed and consumerism in a different form. We know the entire concept runs as deep as a puddle on the sidewalk. It serve no greater purpose, no valid contribution to society. And the predominant selfish, shallow nature of it is probably why the sound of that word illicites eye rolls, smirks and sighs. And I don’t recall anything of equivalence decades ago that flicks the annoyance gene as this modern nonsense does.
Ferrindel@reddit
This was our version.
anotherspaceguy100@reddit
It's some kid on social media who's paid to shill products. It's more an outgrowth of the enshittification of social media. And yes, you can ignore it all.
arkham1010@reddit
What makes me mad is all the millions of wannabe influencers doing stupid shit in public to gain visibility.
anotherspaceguy100@reddit
Yeah, I get it. But I think we know it's just not that important in the end. Right now I'm worrying about my knees and teeth and how to pay for all that treatment. Maybe I outta be an influencer? I've certainly been accused of being a shill for many different things over the years.
arkham1010@reddit
It becomes important when those millions of want to be influencers start doing edgy stuff and getting in my face or doing other things that disrupt the public. Try going to Washington Square, Park in New York City sometime and you’ll see how bad it is. It’s like a flock of locusts coming down to ask everybody what the capitals of European countries are.
anotherspaceguy100@reddit
Yes, fair, and not dismissing your concern. Personally I once spent an afternoon in NY, and it was far too busy for me, so never again. And not saying it's OK, if it wasn't them, it'd be something/someone else.
Sumeriandawn@reddit
Not just kids
anotherspaceguy100@reddit
Yeah, I know. I meant in "kids" in the "old man shouts at cloud" sense as "not me, and probably younger".
vankirk@reddit
My neighbor is an influencer. She does product and food reviews. She got her university degree in Marketing and she does influencing as a side gig while working at a local marketing firm. She has TONS of followers. She's not super good looking, but she is really charismatic and honest. She's also a really nice and good person in general.
She does reviews for big corps and small businesses alike. She's really in tune with the locally owned places and products.
minirunner@reddit
Yeah the term “influencer” is really a blanket term that’s unfair to what a lot of these people do. Many of them are older and had to transition to social media to maintain their careers. I follow a travel journalist who is now considered a “travel influencer” because that’s literally what she has to do to keep her job. My husband follows a lot of chefs. Even the ones who make videos for entertainment are doing an absolute TON of work to make one two-minute video. The people posting in here sound like a bunch of grouchy fist-shakers.
cossa68@reddit
Just like celebrities, I couldn’t care less what they say or do.
TravelerMSY@reddit
On average, youthful confidence and optimism is a feature rather than a bug, but it’s so cringe when they’re speaking authoritatively about topics they know nothing about and have no formal training in.
melty75@reddit
The ones I have seen have been on the beach a couple times when my wife and I go away. They are usually scantily clad, laying in the surf, with their mom or friends taking photos and videos of them while they tug on up their bikini strings.
Sorry wait, what were we talking about again
PinkyLeopard2922@reddit
My Gen X friend and I sat and watched some lady taking scads of pictures of a CUPCAKE and herself with said cupcake at Disney Springs about a year ago. We were quietly snickering and mocking the entire production whilst actually eating our cupcakes. Her husband? seemed exasperated and totally over the entire thing.
TasteLevel@reddit
Sure, but it’s possible that video of her insouciantly eating a cupcake at Disney made her 10k. I don’t want to watch videos of people eating well-lit cupcakes, but it seems like lots of other people do.
tekfunkdub@reddit
I think it’s this generations version of magazines… somewhere to get information on a niche subject. What sucks is a lot of these influencers don’t know what the fuck they are talking about and are just in the game for money and status.
TxCoastal@reddit
DGAF.
obhect88@reddit
An influencer is just a very small scale advertising company.
Ang1566@reddit
I wonder would LRon Hubbard be considered an influencer?
Cysteine_Chapel64@reddit
No, he's a cult leader like if Baghwan Shree Rajneesh or Jim Jones started writing bad science fiction and expected people to pay him to take it seriously.
keymonkey@reddit
They are just the latest incarnation of paid spokesman that has been around forever. Bruce Jenner on Wheaties, Wilford Brimley for Quaker, Tom Selleck trying to convince your parent a reverse mortgage is a good idea. You achieve some level of notoriety (followers) and then monetize it. None of them knew jack shit about the products, they just hocked them for money.
lazygerm@reddit
Sort of.
The people you motioned did other things.
Jenner was an Olympic gold medalist. Brimley was a popular actor. Selleck was Magnum.
Influencers are usually just known for what they wear or use exclusively. Unless they had a schtick of doing outrageous things for clicks previously.
In some small ways, this democratization is good. Theoretically, you can learn about things especially if you have no one around to teach about skin care, beauty etc...
Sumeriandawn@reddit
Tony Robbins?
Reasonable-HB678@reddit
Rush Limbaugh was an influencer, he definitely wasn't a Gen Xer. He took advantage of what existed in the media landscape. At most, before the one-two punch of reality shows and social media, it was either talk radio, daytime talk shows, infomercials, and anything that simply gained word of mouth.
IMO, what passes for most influencers of any age in the present is mostly ineffectual. Unless it's politics.
Specialist_Path_3166@reddit
We don’t care. It’s whatever.
confuseum@reddit
A big narcissistic ego person but they would argue they are the most humble.
PrincessBuzzkill@reddit
It's just the next generation of "selling a product".
Sometimes the world moves in weird ways as we get older, but it's ok. You can shake your fist at a cloud if it makes you feel better.
No_Profile_3343@reddit
Influencers are a legend in their own mind.
They think they are all that and a bag of chips.
If they get enough followers, they get paid.
Meh.
WildmouseX@reddit
The worst are the " Gen X influencers", they all start with " we drank from a garden hose, blah blah blah". Real Gen X rolls their eyes at this crap and moves on, I hate being represented online by these panty wastes.
sj68z@reddit
but we did drink from the hose. I think it's more the way they present it, as if we were forced to drink from the hose or it's some fucking badge of honor.
we had Kool-Aid inside, we had other drinks inside, we could go inside and get a drink, we just couldn't stay inside, but we didn't want to go inside. it was too fucking easy to drink from the hose, after all, it was right there...
you know the more you examine Gen X closely. we are very much the slacker generation, but slackers in a good way, we do things smart, not hard, it just looks like lazyness.
the secret with Gen X, we just watched a lot of TV, and with a lot of TV back in the day came a lot of commercials, so we know how to market better.
UnicornSlayer5000@reddit
Thank you for saying this. If i hear one more drank from a hose story i'mma smack a bitch
Historical_Nail7271@reddit
I feel we need a GEN X 'influencer' - that focuses on the absolute BS Social Media has caused.
My most hated 'influencer' is Eugenia Cooney - this poor soul has an eating disorder and has used the social media platform YouTube to bring this disease to the World and Glorify it for the Almighty dollar. She is dangerous!!!
Holly wood hasn't helped with the Skeletal women it puts on pedestals: Jenna Ortega, Demi Moore, Emma Stone, Kelly Osbourne(WTF?).......
Cysteine_Chapel64@reddit
I feel like my soul dies a little when I hear about Clavicular or the notion that anyone actually takes him seriously.
hellhouseblonde@reddit
What they are is getting paid. Wish selling my lifestyle had been around when I was 18!
Keeping your daughters off the pole lol.
General_Decision_233@reddit
Don’t drag our generation into ‘I don’t even know what an influencer is’.
BecauseISaidSo888@reddit
Born in ‘73 and I don’t understand it.
Are there really millions of younger generations just sitting around thinking “I don’t know how to live, let me watch some jackass in YouTube and copy that” ?
I can’t wrap my head around who all these “influenced” people are
Sumeriandawn@reddit
Jumbly_Girl@reddit
Naw, don't care. But if you take pictures of your food and drinks at a bar/restaurant you can sometimes get better service. They have no way of knowing if you're something or not (more likely secret shopper/quality control than influencer, but still).
DasArtmab@reddit
You remember the movie Fifth Element? Sure you do. Chris Tuckers character with the weird hairdo. Yeah, that movie kinda predicted the future
Cysteine_Chapel64@reddit
Well. Considering how annoying he was that's deeply depressing so thanks.
Bokononfoma@reddit
Ooooh, good call.
Wooden_Gift3489@reddit
Influencer is Social Media Apps what Movie Star is to Movies.....and no I don't care what they say or do.
OldSkooler1212@reddit
I can’t stand influencers but I know what they are, and if I didn’t I could google “what is an influencer” or ask Copilot to explain it to me. This group sounds more like the stereotype for boomers every day.
neepster44@reddit
Old men and women yelling at clouds….
Ianthin1@reddit
Facts.
JSTootell@reddit
Oprah was an influencer. Tell me Gen X didn't care what she said 😂
awrythings@reddit
Very good. Tim Leary, Falwell, Deepak Chopra, whoever wrote the joy of running, Dr.Spock. Only the medium changed.
lilacs_and_marigolds@reddit
You get a downvote, and you get a downvote!
dyverthesprit@reddit
Grifters
Apprehensive_Row_807@reddit
Unfortunately they get paid a ridiculously high amount.
Fritzo2162@reddit
An influencer is someone that has declared themselves to be able to influence people's decisions because they claim their lives to be interesting. They had a few filters to make themselves attractive, act whimsical, use words like "obsessed" and "life changing," then make heart shapes with their hands while using a product over a goofy music soundtrack.
djauralsects@reddit
Narcissists. They’re narcissists seeking attention.
Apprehensive_Row_807@reddit
Underrated comment. 👆🏻👆🏿👆🏽👆
Ozzdo@reddit
I follow a few people who go around NYC giving travel tips, trivia, reviews, etc. I don't know if they count as influencers, but they're fun, entertaining, and harmless for the most part and the information they give can actually be useful to me.
Waffuru@reddit
I watch a couple gaming ones... but they play video games I'm interested in and actually talk to their followers. They're also not selling anything, they're just playing games.
Terrible-Horse-6200@reddit
"Influencer" is such a stupid word.
You know what influences me? Art. Writing. Cinema. Things that make me think. I'm influenced by artists, not some twit shilling makeup on a Youtube channel.
PyrokineticLemer@reddit
Influencers remind me of the old saying, "If your friends jump off a bridge, would you too?"
Couldn't care less what they have to sell, shill, say or attempt to show off. Of course, I've never watched a reality show either, so maybe I'm just hard-wired to realize we're all up to our eyeballs in reality and my spare time is for finding entertaining ways to let it go for a bit.
IHoppo@reddit
Did you never dress like people you'd seen on TV, in bands you liked, bought things having seen them in adverts. Those things influenced you via the media you consumed, just like modern day influencers influence people using today's media. Nothing's really ever new in this world, Medieval fashion was based in what the Royalty of the day wore.
svngang@reddit
"Influencers" have been around forever, just using the media of the day and under different names. It is a modern day term for a Spokesperson, We were doing Jazzercise because of Jane Fonda or buying Thighmasters because Suzanne Sommers was hot and promoted it, or Stepping to the Oldies because of Richard Simmons and Ron Popeil was setting it and forgetting it. Before that there were door to door salesman and Mary Kay women, before that snake oil salesman in wagons and barkers on the street.
Interesting-Web3737@reddit (OP)
Yeah, I get that, but at least the bands I listened to played music for me. When I see some news article that mentions an influencer, they don’t actually do anything.
IHoppo@reddit
To you. For many people they are as relevant as bands were to you. And at least they're free, unlike bands where you had to buy media, pay for tickets etc - and if you went to see GnR they used to treat audiences dreadfully, they certainly weren't doing things for us!
Brixmis51@reddit
I wrote a little poem about these people a while ago....
What does it take, these days? I wondered "To make a little cash..." The mounting debts and bills to pay, cause me to have a crash
I need to appeal to instinct base, common and low to hawk whatever i can to make my bank balance grow
I need to prostitute my morals and truly not give a damn and give up that vestiges of the ethical man i am
so i'll whip my kit off and show a little flash, and dont you know that anything extra is surely gonna cost you cash
i'll debase myself for coin a big bank balance is the aim and when people mock and judge I'll point the finger and blame
Cos i dont give a damn now not when there's fools to mug ive put my ethics through the wringer cos I'm an influencer.
Space_Vaquero73@reddit
One Gen X equivalent would be Richard Simmons. He would be considered a weight loss influencer but he had a lot more character than most of the modern ones doe. Before that it would have been Charles Atlas or Jack LaLanne. So no Influencers are not new just more abundant due to social media.
JSTootell@reddit
People act like "influencer" is a new thing, when it's just the terminology.
The act of being an influencer probably goes back to the first time Frog painted a cave with a loin cloth cut into a different shape.
I_Am_The_Zombie_Woof@reddit
The words 'Paid Shill' just don't the same ring, so they call themselves 'Influencers'
Vegaprime@reddit
They are snakeoil salesmen that don't have to really sell you anything to make money, though some do. Just keep you engaging enough to make money. You should care because they are eroding society from the bottom up. Your kids and grand kids will be influenced.
Bokononfoma@reddit
We called them sell outs.
ProtectionContent977@reddit
I’m 55 and still wonder who they ‘influence’.
CityCabCat@reddit
I give no fucks about “influencers”
Temporary_View_3303@reddit
This reddit account is literally the only social media i have. I couldn’t tell you who the big influencers are and don’t really care.
mdervin@reddit
What do you mean you don't understand what an influencer is?
Social Media has been around over 15 years now, before that you had Youtube, Vine, Bloggers, etc...
People create compelling content, other people want to see compelling content. Do you not understand what writers, actors and musicians are?
Omnipotent-Bread@reddit
Hey. Watch your tone 🥳
MilesAugust74@reddit
No. Next question, please.
GrayBeardBoardGamer@reddit
Influencers are just the latest marketing craze. for some reason, if you put a model in front of a ring camera in a room that looks like a residence and make them start with "hey guyzzz..." it gives them "authenticity." which is of course 100% bullshit.
Omnipotent-Bread@reddit
Gettummmmm
zephyr_sd@reddit
They make millions, literally. Gig Entertainers for the most part
gonzo-gramps@reddit
Just regular jackoffs spouting off about self importance. Blah, blah,blah. I’m sure they have a medication to cure it though!
onion4everyoccasion@reddit
"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes," attributed to artist Andy Warhol... quite prescient I would say
Leeleewithwings@reddit
I don’t unless they have a recipe to share or talk shit about one of the reality shows I watch
Andyman1973@reddit
I follow a few, mostly for the entertainment value, or if they’re shilling stuff I’m interested in already. But those shilling the latest widget/meme/feeling du jour, no thanks. 🙂↔️
DeadMetalRazr@reddit
They're human commercials. I don't pay any attention to them.
ratiofarm@reddit
Yep. Literally just a salesperson. Marketing agencies have just figured out how to speak the language of today’s youth in their preferred medium, like they always have.
Genn8130@reddit
I watch them to privately snark on them sometimes, but I usually have no idea what they're trying to influence me to do. I love Hannah Alonzo on YouTube. She calls out their bullshit.
Rare-Confusion-220@reddit
Couldn't care less. Shallow. Love my 3 kids also couldn't care less. Kids are 26f, 17m 13f and none of them have social media. (neither does my wife and this is my only social media)
cosmoboy@reddit
I don't care what influencers have to say. I try to identify news articles and such before I click them. I don't want influencer news or celebrity gossip. I still get both, either because it's everything I'm the news or, because of other people in my life.
darthjazzhands@reddit
It's nothing new. It's old school. Remember Paul Harvey? His smooth transition from content into reading ad copy is a good example of what modern influencers do. Back then they were called "opinion leaders"
Hattkake@reddit
Do you remember Bill Hicks, the comedian? He did a joke about future commercials where he used graphic imagery to sell common products. Influencers are a step along the path towards that.
It's advertisement. TV Shop for the kids except it's on their phones all the time.
Separate_Today_8781@reddit
Honestly I think we're all too busy watching true crime you tubers
wandernwade@reddit
Some things are fun- Gen X women showing off cool punk clothing they make, for one. Otherwise, I generally do not GAF.
Appropriate_Cow94@reddit
What I never understood was how so many people manage to get paid enough to live on. I have no clue how many thousands of these ding dongs are out there. But all these companies are somehow paying them? Makes zero sense to me
wire67@reddit
They help me find new things I don't know about but I do my research from there and decide if it's a good thing or not. Most stuff is crap and just snake-oil. Thankfully I'm comfortable in my own style, etc. and don't feel the need to hop on every trend, etc. Plus, most things being influenced are just a rehash of things we already knew about and have been around for years. Especially in more women based categories like beauty, skin care, fashion and interior design.
Empty_Nestor@reddit
My son and his wife are influencers and have been for about 10 years. It’s always fun (/s) trying to explain what the hell it is they do whenever a fellow Gen X asks me about it.
Me: “Well, they make videos about eating things and playing video games and put them on YouTube. And they post a lot on Instagram and TikTok.”
Them: blinks “uh, okay. But how do they make money?”
Me: “That is how they make money.”
Them: blinks “Like, enough to live on?”
Me: “Like enough to buy a $3-million house.”
I know, it boggles my mind, too.
SinisterSnoot@reddit
A commercial is a commercial. Hard pass
Ok_Driver8646@reddit
Yes, an outgrowth of reality TV & social media. It’s so lame. People seek their entire persona for $$$ now. No thanks, I don’t want to be shallow. 🤷🏽♂️
Educational-Echo5104@reddit
Don’t give a toss what they say about anything, really just puppets getting their strings pulled for a price. Kinda like our political system.
Grendeltech@reddit
Tiny-Albatross518@reddit
I think theres the prototypical influencer like a young girl doing yoga and travelling south east Asia in that big dumb hat.
I laugh at these ones.
Then theres the type thats like a guy my age doing motorcycle trips in the mountains and reviewing gear and tires and bikes.
I love the content, fall completely victim to their depredations and have no idea im being “influenced “.
systemfrown@reddit
I still think it's one of the the most pathetic terms and descriptions of a person out there, but I've also slowly come around to the idea that todays economy and opportunities are different, and that leveraging social media is a reality and skill now, if not a legit profession.
I first heard the term three or four decades ago in a somewhat different context...it was used by salesman to describe people inside corporations who drove purchasing decisions.
dhelene@reddit
I think of them as the latest incarnation of what we called "MTV VJ's"
Admirable_Tear_1438@reddit
Think of the Spokesmodel category on Star Search. It’s like that, but without the talent, charisma, or education.
vankirk@reddit
My neighbor is an influencer and has a degree in Digital Media and Marketing. She's super charismatic as well. Also, a really nice person in general.
Intelligent-Court295@reddit
It’s simply a new form of advertising. Companies know that you’re more likely to buy a product that’s suggested by a friend or acquaintance, so they pay money to people with followers to advertise for them. And it very clearly works, so it’s going to stick around.
PeaTearGriphon@reddit
How I see it is someone who is seen as an "expert" in a certain field or hobby, then they would promote certain things. So let's say you watch a chef on YouTube and they have great recipes so you start following them. Eventually they start promoting things, normally has to do with cooking, like selling a frying pan or knife. The company that owns that knife is paying that chef to say how good it is.
If you watch videos on user created platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, or Instagram, chances are you see a bunch of influencers.
Chemical-Carrot-9975@reddit
Nope. I don't care at all about any of their nonsense. Sadly, my 20-something kids do. I take every opportunity I can to discourage them from listening to these people, but that only goes so far.
Uptight_AI@reddit
A salesperson and Hell No.
ThatLiberalGirl@reddit
Someone who monetizes their appearance or brand. I would not waste my time following one.
eastender93@reddit
Thank God we didn't have this when we were kids/teens! Just a bunch of self-important a-holes that think everyone cares about what they have to say about anything. We had enough peer pressure without that crap going on!
Small_Tiger_1539@reddit
It's the new way of making money. Being your own boss. Working a job you enjoy. U personally did none of those things in my work life. Sure wish I could have.
IdyllwildGal@reddit
I despise influencers and they are one of the most annoying and useless byproducts of social media.
My daughter said for a long time that she wanted to be a “YouTuber” when she grew up. And of course she did, they make it look easy. I finally got it through her head that for every successful one she sees there are probably 10,000 people who tried to make it big or go viral or whatever the fuck and failed.
Hour_Mycologist_5957@reddit
https://i.redd.it/kwon1qfrjdug1.gif
DominisDruid@reddit
This is our example from early years. Infomercials and the host of “influencers” Billy Mays didn’t make all that stuff but oh boy if you wanted to sell it he and many others were the go to. And just a step beyond sales as they themselves were a brand.
SmbdysDad@reddit
We called them posers.
JWBIERE@reddit
This^^^^^
Trolkarlen@reddit
If you have to call yourself an influencer, you’re not.
retromafia@reddit
An influencer is someone who has amassed a sufficient follower base on a social media platform that he/she gets paid to promote products, services, etc. without being famous for anything else. We used to rely on people who were famous for other things (e.g., acting, sports, writing, etc.), but now you can be shill things on the Internet solely because you're famous on the Internet.
You can safely disregard them as irrelevant to your life.
2eForeverDM@reddit
Never watched or listened to one.
LinuxLinus@reddit
There was plenty of shit in the 70s and 80s and 90s that was useless and self-serving. It was just corporate. Or private, since there was no social media.
Spreadeaglebeagle44@reddit
The modern version of us wanting to be on MTV.
Velvet_Samurai@reddit
They're not influencing me...
TeenYearsKillingMe@reddit
They're just a person who makes money online through social media, either using sponsorships or by getting a percentage of sales. This is no different than a celebrity hawking a product. I find a lot of them obnoxious but I don't really see what's so wrong with it.
UrsaMajor7th@reddit
They're just public testimonials. If you've ever had a friend say "You should see this movie" or "You should try this restaurant", it's just that, but from a complete stranger.
They're really easy to ignore. We decline to comp them at our restaurant; boy, they get mad at that.
Tired_of_Arguing@reddit
Nothing like that existed back in the day. It’s a social media thing, like someone who makes YouTube or TickTok videos. A lot of them get paid to “influence” people to buy things. It’s all marketing.
Crafty_Original_7349@reddit
Everything is an ad, and these people are just sellouts.
MzunguMjinga@reddit
A marketing personality - "Nothing is new under the sun."
brenawyn@reddit
I don’t care for influencers. It’s just another form of capitalism advertising.
Komaisnotsalty@reddit
It's a fake title of importance for anyone who tries to peddle a product or 'influence' someone to use/do/purchase stuff they don't need.
I refuse to call someone an influencer. It's an absurd title, but then again, I'm old and cranky, so what the fuck do I know?
The only social media I use outside of Reddit is Instagram, which usually consists of me finding funny shit to send to my elderly aunt, so if I see an influencer, I just scroll past.
Easy peasy.
Icy_Pay3775@reddit
You have influenced me to say something
bene_gesserit_mitch@reddit
Kids these days. People who believe they have a brand they can cultivate and tap into riches.
Ambitious_Manager_82@reddit
I don't know what is worse "influencers" or the bozos that follow them.
JuJu_Wirehead@reddit
We don't. That's some TikTok, Instagram shit. If you're on TikTok or Instagram, my question would be, Why?