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> I only see the posts from my friends, so how would posts from these "influencers" influence me or other's like me? Why would I follow some random person I don
by Lazare 8y ago
> I only see the posts from my friends, so how would posts from these "influencers" influence me or other's like me? Why would I follow some random person I don't even know?
Everyone else is busy following other people that they don't know. Why? I dunno, ask them.
But keep in mind, other words for "influencer" would be "blogger", "streamer", "content producer". Have you never found a cool channel on Youtube that has enjoyable content? Maybe humour, or crafts, or lets play walkthroughs of video games? Boom, those are influencers. We're all spending time watching other people (be it a streamer on Twitch or a movie start in a blockbuster movie), and brands are willing to pay money to ensure we see their products while we do it.
My partner is learning how to make soap (surprisingly interesting hobby) so she follows a number of different soapmakers on social media to learn more about their recipes, tips and tricks, see cool designs. And also, if one of those soapmakers she respects strongly recommends some range of fragrance oils, or whatever, she's likely to consider them closely when she buys some. Think maybe a craft supply company would be willing to throw some money (or at least free supplies) at someone who will recommend them?
There's nothing new here; celebrity endorsements date back to ancient Rome if not even earlier; gladiators were paid to endorse consumer products. If people will watch it, someone else will pay to advertise in the background. :)
- intrasight 8y ago>Have you never found a cool channel on Youtube that has enjoyable content? I subscribe to a dozen Youtube channels - mostly educational - not just "cool". My question/point was about Instagram. Not much educational value from a photo of a girl in a bikini at a pool ;)
- Lazare 8y ago> I subscribe to a dozen Youtube channels - mostly educational Alright, but obviously the most popular channels on Youtube are entertainment not educational, so you understand that most people are using these mediums in a way that's quite different to you, right? Any even those "educational" channels are being run by what a marketing exec would think of as an influencer. Just because you're watching some guy build a coffee table out of reclaimed lumber (or whatever) doesn't mean someone isn't willing to pay money to make sure it's being done with a specific brand of power tools, in case you decide to buy one just like you saw in the video. > Not much educational value from a photo of a girl in a bikini at a pool My partner follows a number of Instagram accounts devoted to specific hobbies she has, such as soapmaking, or animal rescue/wildlife rehabilitation. Instagram is about way, way more than just "girls in bikinis". But again! Many of the people looking at girls in bikinis on Instagram are women wishing they looked like that; if the model posts about how some (probably fraudulent) supplement helped her, you don't think that'll cause a direct boost in sales? Anything with eyeballs looking at it is worth slapping an ad on. And given how many people are looking at Instagram every moment of every day, obviously it qualifies. If it's not a great platform for you, that's fine (I don't even have the app installed, so I'm totally in agreement), but given Instagram is apparently well over 500m MAUs, that says more about us than Instagram. :)
- intrasight 8y agoI understand all that. I'm still missing the part about how this random stranger would get on my feed.
- Lazare 8y agoBecause they're not a "random stranger", they're a content producer you chose to follow because you enjoy the content. It may not be the kind of content you personally like, but so what? You've already said you follow some content creators, so you're familiar with the mechanism. What's left to understand?