What's so wrong about influencers?

[haptalaon]

Someone on my twitter is doing "what's so wrong about influencers?!" & like,

I wish everyone who is doing an influence well - professionally, and also personally because it's a very emotional-labour-intensive job that is intensely exposing;

but what is wrong is the way that the promise of technologies that create social connections across the globe have slowly been taken over by professionals who want to leverage social connection in order to advertise - to the detriment of social spaces; and it brings in the things that money always brings, such as toxicity (controversy builds engagement!), and fear-hatred of others like yourself (in case they do better than you), and fear-hatred of people who might get something for nothing (in case having resources without you as a middle man takes your income away), and the shutting out of the poor (who aren't potential customers) and the amateur (who can't invest the time and resources to be competitive);

and after a while, its just your whole social scene becomes an advertising billboard, underpinned by these values - which are unpleasant, but profitable; the way the whole world is for sale, and unpleasant, but profitable. It's alright to be pissed at this!

Comments

[annofowlshire]

I feel also that even if one is not an actual “influencer” there becomes a pressure that everyone who posts must become a personality of sorts. I have to “sell” my “brand,” even when I don’t have anything to sell! Whenever I start to feel this way, I end up deleting/deactivating my accounts, but it does seem to come in circles.

[boywhocameback]

This is what bothers me so much about these times... All online spaces are infested by this, instead of people seeking authentic connection with others just for the joy of it. I remember the times when the Internet used to be a nice place, not a capitalist hellhole. It saddens me.

[earthspirits]

I'm wearied of all the "influencers" (who couldn't influence me to do *anything*).