Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’ • Hacker News Board

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#11

Post by II2II » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

I do not agree with the author's arguments.

Creators are typically selling their own creation while influencers are using their reputation to sell something other than their creation. The relationship between the audience is different and it is problematic when an audience member does not realize that.

While I am not a particularly good person to comment upon broad social perceptions, I also disagree with the assertions of the influencer label being gendered. In the world of YouTube, there are plenty of men who use their influence to sell something other than their own creation. Publishers don't send a game key to a "let's play" channel for review purposes just as a test equipment manufacturer doesn't send an oscilloscope to an electronics channel for review purposes. The intent is to have an influencer use their product. It sounds like more than a few of those channels are conscious of this distinction in their chase after actual sponsorships.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#12

Post by deregulateMed » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:15 PM UTC

Darmody wrote: post #7

An influencer is someone that influences people, usually teenagers. Influencers and creators are not mutually exclusive. You can be both. That said, most influencers I know don't create anything and most kids who want to be influencers are not thinking about creating something of value, only about doing stupid things in front of a camera and getting money from sponsors. An influencer, not so long ago, advertised some…

It's the modern era, we have science. Influencers are modern day priests who sell potential happiness.

It's best to teach people not to Trust humans, we have misaligned incentives and can be incorrect.

The alternative is using objective quality metrics and science.

I dream of a future where marketing is taboo because it exploits human psychology.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#13

Post by exizt88 » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:19 PM UTC

I think the problem that many HN readers don't understand is that influencers have a really hard time monetizing the content they are making. If you're a lifestyle or a travel blogger you don't really have any easily available way to monetize other than brand advertising. If the value that you provide is entertainment in the form of beautiful visuals of aspirational lifestyle you can't really package that in a Substack newsletter or even a Patreon donation drive. That's a huge unsolved problem waiting to be solved.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#14

Post by hypertele-Xii » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:21 PM UTC

okamiueru wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm just old enough to have missed the influencer trend, so I don't appreciate it or "get it". However, as I understand it, and also agree on, the label "influencer" as a classifier of occupation, is sort of meaningless. Although I don't appreciate it, and accept that this isn't for me, it's just a form of entertainment. The content created by influencers just tends to be more specific to the experiences of tha…

An influencer is an "attention warehouse/market".

As a creator, you simply cannot churn out consistent quality content at a constant pace. Even the biggest and richest companies release new products erratically like at most once a month. Without influencers, customers would have to somehow subscribe to every single creator and curate all the content they produce personally. Very impractical for most people.

That's where the influencer fits in. They "maintain" a population of potential customers by collecting various creators' products and pushing them to the audience over time. If 10 products launch within the same genre at once, the influencer will introduce the products to their audience one at a time, over time, from best to worst.

They also provide a feedback loop. Like a community manager. You, as a creator, can check the top rated comments on the influencer's publication to see what the audience thinks of your product. It's all gathered, filtered and ranked for your convenience.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#15

Post by bitxbitxbitcoin » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:25 PM UTC

II2II wrote: post #11

I do not agree with the author's arguments. Creators are typically selling their own creation while influencers are using their reputation to sell something other than their creation. The relationship between the audience is different and it is problematic when an audience member does not realize that. While I am not a particularly good person to comment upon broad social perceptions, I also disagree with the asserti…

This is how I have always thought of the distinction, too.

An influencer is a content creator that specializes in sponsored content.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#16

Post by username90 » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:29 PM UTC

bitxbitxbitcoin wrote: post #15

II2II wrote: post #11

I do not agree with the author's arguments. Creators are typically selling their own creation while influencers are using their reputation to sell something other than their creation. The relationship between the audience is different and it is problematic when an audience member does not realize that. While I am not a particularly good person to comment upon broad social perceptions, I also disagree with the asserti…

This is how I have always thought of the distinction, too. An influencer is a content creator that specializes in sponsored content.

Or aims to do it. Most influencers doesn't get a lot of sponsors and therefore can't afford to travel/buy lots of fashion required to maintain the lifestyle influencer audiences wants to see.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#17

Post by SuboptimalEng » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:34 PM UTC

People can create content (blogs, videos, software, etc.) to gain influence.

Not all "creators" are influencers because not everyone can make good enough content to achieve influence in their respective domain.

This can be easily brought over to the tech domain. You can consider tech leads/VP's to be 'influencers'. They likely created successful products that allowed them to gain influence among their peers and rise the ranks.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#18

Post by username90 » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:39 PM UTC

exizt88 wrote: post #13

I think the problem that many HN readers don't understand is that influencers have a really hard time monetizing the content they are making. If you're a lifestyle or a travel blogger you don't really have any easily available way to monetize other than brand advertising. If the value that you provide is entertainment in the form of beautiful visuals of aspirational lifestyle you can't really package that in a Substa…

The fashion and travel industries are much bigger than the gaming industry, their content is way easier to monetize. The only reason gaming works at all is that it is so ridiculously cheap to do.

So there is no way to "solve" this, the people who wants to be influencers wants to live a top 0.1% lifestyle traveling and testing new fashion everyday, that just isn't feasible for everyone who wants to try. The nerd dream of sitting at home all day playing games is so much easier to reach, which is why you can see so many people playing games for a living, not because it is easier to make money do it.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#19

Post by username90 » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:49 PM UTC

The main difference here is that "influencers" needs influence in order to create content, because in order to get brand and travel deals so they can afford to show of luxury goods they first need a following.

Gaming content can however be created by anyone, just start recording when you play games and you now create content. Then if enough people watch your content you now make enough money to live doing this, since it costs you nothing but time to do you can reach that point with a very modest amount of income. And since it is so easy to start doing it the only thing differentiating a top gaming channel from a bottom one is the quality of its content.

Re: Name of the Game: The distinction between ‘influencer’ and ‘creator’

#20

Post by jrochkind1 » Fri, Jul 02, 2021, 1:51 PM UTC

Are "marketers" and "authors" different things? While there can sometimes be some overlap, I think they are.

(There are some people who do both, sure. Always have been authors with day jobs in advertising. But they are doing different things at different times).