4 ms·

Lots of people from all kinds of backgrounds, journalists and academics among those for sure, but also influencers, celebrities, politicians, artists, bloggers,

Lots of people from all kinds of backgrounds, journalists and academics among those for sure, but also influencers, celebrities, politicians, artists, bloggers, even just more or less regular people, etc. How it seems to you just depends on whether you go to Twitter for the latest tech news or fashion trends. And there's probably bigger interest in the latter. It's just like the internet in general.

ragnese 6y ago
Genuine, unrelated, question: What is an "influencer"? I've only recently started seeing people refer to others or themselves as "influencers" (I'm not on Snapchat/Tiktok/Instagram/Twitter). The distopian cynic in me only understands it as "person with a bunch of followers on social media who occasionally peddles products" a.k.a a human ad. Is this about right?
- coddle-hark 6y ago
  You’re factually correct but yes that is a cynical way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that they’re entertainers of large audiences that make money through advertising. You know, just like TV/radio/newspapers do.
  - ragnese 6y ago
    Thank you for the level-headed view of it. I'm not level-headed when it comes to advertising and I'm not very apologetic about it. Somehow it feels more gross than a radio commercial. On the radio I can tell the difference between a song and an advertisement for the local law firm. When these people build a rapport with viewers and then peddle a product, it feels more manipulative to me.
    - read_if_gay_ 6y ago
      I generally share your view, but I imagine influencers can also add value for the consumers, because they put their name behind the products they advertise. While there probably are more than enough influencers that just advertise anything, I'd expect there are some who actually use and like whatever they advertise. So they kind of provide a product vetting service to consumers. As long as you can tell their ads from their regular content, that is. Total speculation though as I'm also not really active on that kind of social media.

ragnese 6y ago

Genuine, unrelated, question: What is an "influencer"? I've only recently started seeing people refer to others or themselves as "influencers" (I'm not on Snapchat/Tiktok/Instagram/Twitter). The distopian cynic in me only understands it as "person with a bunch of followers on social media who occasionally peddles products" a.k.a a human ad. Is this about right?

coddle-hark 6y ago
You’re factually correct but yes that is a cynical way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that they’re entertainers of large audiences that make money through advertising. You know, just like TV/radio/newspapers do.
- ragnese 6y ago
  Thank you for the level-headed view of it. I'm not level-headed when it comes to advertising and I'm not very apologetic about it. Somehow it feels more gross than a radio commercial. On the radio I can tell the difference between a song and an advertisement for the local law firm. When these people build a rapport with viewers and then peddle a product, it feels more manipulative to me.
  - read_if_gay_ 6y ago
    I generally share your view, but I imagine influencers can also add value for the consumers, because they put their name behind the products they advertise. While there probably are more than enough influencers that just advertise anything, I'd expect there are some who actually use and like whatever they advertise. So they kind of provide a product vetting service to consumers. As long as you can tell their ads from their regular content, that is. Total speculation though as I'm also not really active on that kind of social media.