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The Anxiety of Influencers

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Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#3
Wow, the subject influencers in the article were insufferable just to read about. I can't think of any group I have less empathy for than them. The world would be such a better place if the concept of an "influencer" completely ceased to exist.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#4

Wow, the subject influencers in the article were insufferable just to read about. I can't think of any group I have less empathy for than them. The world would be such a better place if the concept of an "influencer" completely ceased to exist.

They train you to be an influencer[0] in China. I have empathy for them. They're embracing modernity, not being a boring archaic Luddite for a living.

[0] https://www.dailydot.com/irl/china-influencer-school-video/

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#5
I keep on thinking this is like the "washing clothes of goldrush miners in China" story, or maybe the "got rich selling shovels to miners" story: The profit is not in the influencer, its in 2nd order effect consequences, where people predate on the money flow.

Really? These people are in the entertainment business. All those 6pm eyeballs which used to be on free-to-air TV moved, and the advert money followed them down the narrowcasting rabbithole.

The usual people are looking to extract rent.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#6
post #4

Wow, the subject influencers in the article were insufferable just to read about. I can't think of any group I have less empathy for than them. The world would be such a better place if the concept of an "influencer" completely ceased to exist.

They train you to be an influencer[0] in China. I have empathy for them. They're embracing modernity, not being a boring archaic Luddite for a living. [0] https://www.dailydot.com/irl/china-influencer-school-video/

They also have click farms in China. Way to embrace modernity. Everything modern is not beneficial to us individually or as a society.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#8
post #4

Wow, the subject influencers in the article were insufferable just to read about. I can't think of any group I have less empathy for than them. The world would be such a better place if the concept of an "influencer" completely ceased to exist.

They train you to be an influencer[0] in China. I have empathy for them. They're embracing modernity, not being a boring archaic Luddite for a living. [0] https://www.dailydot.com/irl/china-influencer-school-video/

There’s nothing modern about “influencing”. The only difference between influencers and sponsorships/advertisements of olde is that the medium has changed from newspaper/radio/TV to social media websites.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#9
Well this was always going to happen in an attention economy, the worship of fame for fame's sake. Success has shed the burden of actual achievement, vanity has become a job qualification. Why bother being good at sport or dancing or playing guitar, just be famous.

Fine whatever, but it is poison candy for children.

Re: The Anxiety of Influencers

#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...

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