Calgary           Here’s a way that I’m clearly out of synch with contemporary life and culture.  I try to keep up.  I read the papers.  Every once in a while, I look at social media or this and that.  I know what AI is and can follow the issues.  I’ve used ChatGPT from time to time.  I’m not a total techno-peasant.  But, there’s one phenomenon that I just don’t understand:  influencers.

What are they really?  Why do people care and give them cachet?

I read their social media following.  I read about their so-called brand.  I even read about how they monetize both their following and their brand.

How are they any different than salespeople?  Or, real estate agents?

Would any of us make life decisions based on a car salesperson’s opinion, except about cars?  Or a real estate hawker on anything but houses or land?

Would they be asked to appear at big cultural events like the Met Gala, whatever that is? Or, have the camera pan on them at a sporting event or a store opening?  I don’t think so, but these so-called influencers show up everywhere like bad pennies.

I’ve read about some young people when asked what they want to do when they grow up, say, “I want to be an influencer!”  Wow!  Really?  And, hawk stuff for a living, including themselves?

Are these people just replacing the workers who used to be at the cosmetic counters in department stores?  These were jobs that ghettoized women in segregated sectors.  How is taking them away from the brick-and-mortar and putting them on the internet or social media make they any different than those sales folks in our mother’s days?

Isn’t the whole thing about having a “brand,” just selling yourself?  How is that an acceptable substitution for service to customers by inserting themselves as models and hawkers on the air all around us, rather than one-and-one in person.

These influence hype people aren’t even the worst to the bunch.  Other branded influencers are pod people and click baiters snaring internet surfers on their shoals with fake news, conspiracies, doxxing, and personal attacks, often based on political persuasion, misogyny, racism and more.  As social media companies retreat from monitoring hate speech to obvious untruths, regardless of their adverse impacts, these people are making sales where there’s no return policy.

Like the old standard, don’t let your children “grow up to be cowboys”, the same should be applied to whatever this influencer thing is.  This is not a real or good job for anyone or for the good of our society. Just saying.