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Celebrities typically did _something else_, like pro sports, movies, Olympics, walking on the moon… but now we know that is unnecessary. Progress? Efficiency? I

Celebrities typically did _something else_, like pro sports, movies, Olympics, walking on the moon… but now we know that is unnecessary. Progress? Efficiency? IDK

ineedasername 4y ago
The problem is they did something else, quite frequently unrelated to their fame. They mostly have no more claim to being an informed advocate for what they’re paid to sponsor than modern influencers. It doesn’t matter if they got an Olympic medal or something, they’re not in any expert position to recommend a specific brand of toothpaste or anything unrelated to their sport. In that respect they’re no different than an influencer. Maybe they’re a little worse? They’re using the actual legitimacy of their athletic achievement to lend a veneer of legitimacy to their completely unrelated (paid) opinion. Subverting what minor trust people might place in them as an authority in their area. At least with an influencer there’s not that sort of reputational arbitrage.
- stevenalowe 4y ago
  so...you're saying that people that are famous for being famous are an improvement? interesting... it does seem meta-efficient
  - ineedasername 4y ago
    An improvement? I'm not sure, but I'd like to think through it..... In the traditional case there are sponsorships where pre-existing fame unrelated to the target paid promotion is used to lend the target a false veneer of legitimacy through that fame. Not so great. In the "Influencer" case a person has sort of deliberately & explicitly set themselves up as a broker-dealer [1] of attention they have aggregated from the masses of the internet population. Their endorsement of a product/service is no more valid than those with traditional pre-existing fame. So, also not so great. And when I reference the democratization of this sort of paid shilling I'm thinking about it from the perspective of those doing the shilling: There are more opportunities to everyday people to get in on that by hustling to become an influencer. But there's another population to consider: those who consume the content & paid shilling. The average consumer probably understands that the athlete/actor/whatever that is, for example, shilling a Citi Bank credit card has no special expertise in banking, comparative appraisals of different credit card offerings, etc. They know it's just a paid gig for the celebrity so the bank can forge a pleasant psychological association for consumers. On the other hand, influencers often represent themselves & their paid endorsements as if they were authentic/organic opinions on whatever product or service they're being paid to shill. In the later case it seems like there's a lot more potential for people to be deceived & not realize that the influencer's opinions were sold to the highest bidder and aren't authentic representations of their true thoughts on the product/service. In that respect, no, not an improvement at all. Quite the opposite. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broker-dealer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broker-dealer

Celebrities typically did _something else_, like pro sports, movies, Olympics, walking on the moon… but now we know that is unnecessary. Progress? Efficiency? IDK

ineedasername 4y ago

The problem is they did something else, quite frequently unrelated to their fame. They mostly have no more claim to being an informed advocate for what they’re paid to sponsor than modern influencers. It doesn’t matter if they got an Olympic medal or something, they’re not in any expert position to recommend a specific brand of toothpaste or anything unrelated to their sport. In that respect they’re no different than an influencer. Maybe they’re a little worse? They’re using the actual legitimacy of their athletic achievement to lend a veneer of legitimacy to their completely unrelated (paid) opinion. Subverting what minor trust people might place in them as an authority in their area. At least with an influencer there’s not that sort of reputational arbitrage.

stevenalowe 4y ago
so...you're saying that people that are famous for being famous are an improvement? interesting... it does seem meta-efficient
- ineedasername 4y ago
  An improvement? I'm not sure, but I'd like to think through it..... In the traditional case there are sponsorships where pre-existing fame unrelated to the target paid promotion is used to lend the target a false veneer of legitimacy through that fame. Not so great. In the "Influencer" case a person has sort of deliberately & explicitly set themselves up as a broker-dealer [1] of attention they have aggregated from the masses of the internet population. Their endorsement of a product/service is no more valid than those with traditional pre-existing fame. So, also not so great. And when I reference the democratization of this sort of paid shilling I'm thinking about it from the perspective of those doing the shilling: There are more opportunities to everyday people to get in on that by hustling to become an influencer. But there's another population to consider: those who consume the content & paid shilling. The average consumer probably understands that the athlete/actor/whatever that is, for example, shilling a Citi Bank credit card has no special expertise in banking, comparative appraisals of different credit card offerings, etc. They know it's just a paid gig for the celebrity so the bank can forge a pleasant psychological association for consumers. On the other hand, influencers often represent themselves & their paid endorsements as if they were authentic/organic opinions on whatever product or service they're being paid to shill. In the later case it seems like there's a lot more potential for people to be deceived & not realize that the influencer's opinions were sold to the highest bidder and aren't authentic representations of their true thoughts on the product/service. In that respect, no, not an improvement at all. Quite the opposite. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broker-dealer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broker-dealer