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The Anxiety of Influencers

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Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#101

Post by timdaub »

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #10

What I don't understand is why brands throw so much money at very young influencers. Are they specifically targeting young rich kids who spend big on products/merch? Seems like a small demographic for a $15B projected market...

One reason can be that they want to develop their branding as a long tail distribution of fans.

If you look online, you'll also find baby naming websites that e.g recommend your kid to be named like a Disney comic figure.

I can't pinpoint, of course, that this their motivation, but to me it'd make sense.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#102

Post by theshadowknows »

Man. When I was 18 I was overweight and already balding. I worked at a gas station. Once a hooker spit on me because I wouldn’t let her steal some ice cream. I cut my foot once on broken glass in the dumpster because part of my job was tamping it down with my feet (it cut through my shoe).

Would I have traded it to be an influencer if I could have? Shit yeah in a heartbeat. But unfortunately for me no one wanted to watch me gyrate. (That’s unfair, some people probably would have).

That said. Now I’m a fully bald old man (I just turned 36). I’m not as overweight anymore though I could prob lose a couple of pounds. Blood pressure is good, though.

Would I want to be an influencer? Jet set around the world and stay in lavish hotels for free? Have companies throw products at me? Have thousands or millions of people knowing my every move? Have to give a shit if there’s a stain on my shirt? Hell no.

I want to sit here on my porch with my dog and my wife and do my work. Then at the end of the day I want to turn it off and set it aside. Maybe we’ll go hiking.

I know it sounds glamorous and maybe it’s appealing to some people. But man it’s not for me.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#103

Post by jollybean »

tmaly wrote: post #36

I think TikTok is fundamentally changing marketing. If you go on YouTube, you see 1-2 traditional ads. On TikTok all the ads blend in and just appear as another video in your for you page. What I thought was really interesting was that 50% of the user base is over the age of 30.

This is because it's early and the ads are well designed for the platform, i.e. a lot of ads for flip flops and those 'butt lifting' pants for girls.

Once it opens up you'll see more annoying ads because most products don't fit well. That said, even car companies are making things a little less 'advertisy'.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#104

Post by lowdose »

mumblemumble wrote: post #38
ZephyrBlu wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, so it is targeted at kids whose parents will buy these things for them.

Realistically I think it's probably targeted at anyone who's willing to [get someone to] spend money on it. Conspicuous consumption has been a thing for ages, and it's always been about presenting an image as having enough disposable income to be able to buy these sorts of things. The fact that some kids have parents who can afford to lavish this stuff on them only adds to the mystique. I'd argue that it's also inacc…

Conspicuous consumption started with the invention of Santa Claus. Rolex and Mercedes leverage the snob effect.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snob_effect

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#105

Post by theshadowknows »

tmaly wrote: post #36

I think TikTok is fundamentally changing marketing. If you go on YouTube, you see 1-2 traditional ads. On TikTok all the ads blend in and just appear as another video in your for you page. What I thought was really interesting was that 50% of the user base is over the age of 30.

Because it lets adult men watch young scantily clad boys and girls jump around for free. That’s the sick part to me. These kids (and they are kids) are basically soft core porn for pedophiles. And Nike and Amazon subsidize it.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#106

Post by jollybean »

Conan O'Brien said 'Fame is the most addictive thing, much more so than heroin, and you wouldn't give heroin to children, would you?' - when talking about kids in the business who grow up destroyed.

For whatever evolutionary reason, we are wired to love attention.

I loathe the notion of social media - but I do play music - and I can attest to the fact that time literally stands still when you have an audience's attention, there is nothing like that.

I think this kind of addiction will be up there with nicotene, barbituates, gambling, anorexia etc..

We probably should be having PSAs in school.

But the issue is more problematic because it's not just a 'habit' - some 'side thing' - it's an 'aspiration'.

Since when did everyone want to grow up just to be famous, and basically contribute nothing? We used to regard that attitude with some skepticism. It's as though Paris Hilton then the Kardashians completely just broke them mould. Kids are really open minded to day, and generally 'good' but the upside down value of 'me me me' vs. at least doing something instrumental for the community (aka anything: doctor, carpenter, teacher, soldier, police, social worker, professor etc.) should have us a little worried. Maybe it's just a phase, or a perspective ... but flipping from communitarian values to brazenly self-oriented values is spooky.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#107

Post by seibelj »

Applejinx wrote: post #65
seibelj wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only on HN would advocating for the importance of family be rabidly downvoted. Family is a universal component of human civilization. Our current president has repeatedly stated the utmost importance of his family, as has every president. What makes family bonds so strong is that they won’t turn your back on you when you are in a bind. They are much stronger than friends. Stable households are the most important pred…

One of the reasons I'm a HN type is that I'm the type of entrepreneur who will beat himself into the ground to get to my results, no matter what it takes. Part of the reason for this is that when I was much younger, my family DID turn their back on me, and I became homeless, and I was treated as a black sheep loser all my life and was compelled to reach for other things. I did not have friends for the most part, and…

I’m sorry you experienced this. My home life wasn’t perfect but it was much better than yours. I love my wife and children most of all - they are what I mean by a created family as the family we created was the result of my wife and I choosing to do so. Immense contentment and fulfillment come from my immediate family.

I have found it much better to come to amends with past family I have had issue with than it is to hold grudges and become estranged. I’m not saying your situation is salvageable but that is my experience.

I am also a very driven person and work in tech startups at the executive level. My ability to work long hours and succeed is enhanced by the love of my family rather than fueled by past wrongs.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#108

Post by orzig »

SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #78
cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #73

I'm a millennial and didn't really have social media growing up. I used Facebook for a little bit in college and then deleted it. It bothered me in my 20s that a lot of social things seemed to be closed to me because I didn't have some form of social media. Even though I had email and text I was somehow treated as if I was asking to be contacted on a fax machine or something like that. It's baffling. Every time I've…

> I wonder how this is going to turn out for those kids later in life. I just can't imagine being under the spotlight and dependent on external validation that much. It’s not just millennial who deal with this. LinkedIn is becoming inescapable… not to mention any advocacy for a “platform” as part of a resume

There’s always the option of creating an account, giving it an impossible-to-remember password, putting that on your ToDo list with a monthly cadence, and getting 80% of the value with ~2% of the work/stress/distraction. LinkedIn especially is easy to fire up IFF you you have a specific company to research.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#109

Post by ilaksh »

im_down_w_otp wrote: post #46

I sometimes wonder about the reach of this value system into unexpected or non-obvious ecosystems. For example, the tech industry has its share of perennial celebrity conference circuit speakers for who grace stages with hundreds to thousands in attendance, Twitter personalities who have loyal followings for their respective thought leadership, and a reinforcing cycle of one feeding the other. Where are the lines bet…

I don't know if value system is quite the right description. Sounds like you are talking about celebrity or popularity in general.

I think the obvious thing that different about most generic "influencers" is that they are not "thought leaders" in any domain, but generally just famous for their personality, looks, or "precoital" posturing.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#110

Post by virgil_disgr4ce »

sircastor wrote: post #69
inreverse wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love the source for this. It seems too ridiculous to be true unless they're using a non-standard definition of 'influencer'.

What is the standard definition of influencer? Is there some standard being set? And by what body?

There isn't a "real" standard as per an international organization, but there is already an emergent consensus in marketing around tiers of influencers based on number of followers. For one instance: https://www.tribegroup.co/blog/influencer-followers

"Nano" influencers, according to this particular company, are people with 1000-3000 followers, Micro are 1,000-100,000, Macro are 100,000+, etc. Here's another example with slightly different values: https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/social-media-influ...

Because this is now big business, I'd expect convergence on a common definition some time relatively soon.

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