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The depressing difference is that more than any other profession, successful influencers look like they could come from anywhere. But they have to pantomime su

The depressing difference is that more than any other profession, successful influencers look like they could come from anywhere. But they have to pantomime success from day one - either until they get it, or they give up. It's a con no one is actually in on.

htrp 2y ago
Great point, this is super insidious. there probably is a seedy underbelly of pay for play placement, link sharing, and all the other influencer equivalents of shady SEO tactics
- throwup238 2y ago
  There is and it’s largely why most influencers aren’t worth a penny. The majority of them use growth hacks like paying for followers and engagement, which might stroke their ego when numbers go up but advertisers don’t want to pay for exposure to bots. It’s a market for narcissistic lemons.
  - SV_BubbleTime 2y ago
    There is the other side of this I am interested in. The to advertisers, they’re expendable. In the 90s, take cute little starlet or rock musician. You invested in them. You grew them. They were pets. You couldn’t have starlet out there ruining her image, you didn’t want the story about rock star smashing the face of a bell hop to get out. You invested in their career, their art, tours, signings, albums. You knew they had a shelf life and worked to race the clock. But now… They’re expendable. There are more starlets to replace this one ready to roll. They don’t need food and water and belly rubs. They’re cattle and they’ll take care themselves. And if they don’t? If starlet does a porn with rock star… good for you, or not, who cares? Replace them if you need to. Your invest is low and maybe it works out anyhow. They’re happy for a minute, you’re happy for a minute. The customer through… they’re not going to get refined product. They’re not going to get a big time show but maybe see them at bar, or a release-day studio album just a couple over a year songs that were released to patreon members first and Spotify later. Influencers are cattle to advertisers, and everyone seems to like it this way.
- throwaway765123 2y ago
  It also extends to IRL, there are mansions you can rent by the hour to film content as though you live there. That's a big reason why so many influencers are in samey giant empty kitchens for their "stupid food" videos where they make a giant mess - it's not their home. Ditto the above for luxury cars, watches, anything that can be rented for show frequently is, especially when ostentatious displays of wealth are core to the message, like finance/crypto influencers peddling courses or coins.

htrp 2y ago

Great point, this is super insidious. there probably is a seedy underbelly of pay for play placement, link sharing, and all the other influencer equivalents of shady SEO tactics

throwup238 2y ago
There is and it’s largely why most influencers aren’t worth a penny. The majority of them use growth hacks like paying for followers and engagement, which might stroke their ego when numbers go up but advertisers don’t want to pay for exposure to bots. It’s a market for narcissistic lemons.
- SV_BubbleTime 2y ago
  There is the other side of this I am interested in. The to advertisers, they’re expendable. In the 90s, take cute little starlet or rock musician. You invested in them. You grew them. They were pets. You couldn’t have starlet out there ruining her image, you didn’t want the story about rock star smashing the face of a bell hop to get out. You invested in their career, their art, tours, signings, albums. You knew they had a shelf life and worked to race the clock. But now… They’re expendable. There are more starlets to replace this one ready to roll. They don’t need food and water and belly rubs. They’re cattle and they’ll take care themselves. And if they don’t? If starlet does a porn with rock star… good for you, or not, who cares? Replace them if you need to. Your invest is low and maybe it works out anyhow. They’re happy for a minute, you’re happy for a minute. The customer through… they’re not going to get refined product. They’re not going to get a big time show but maybe see them at bar, or a release-day studio album just a couple over a year songs that were released to patreon members first and Spotify later. Influencers are cattle to advertisers, and everyone seems to like it this way.
throwaway765123 2y ago
It also extends to IRL, there are mansions you can rent by the hour to film content as though you live there. That's a big reason why so many influencers are in samey giant empty kitchens for their "stupid food" videos where they make a giant mess - it's not their home. Ditto the above for luxury cars, watches, anything that can be rented for show frequently is, especially when ostentatious displays of wealth are core to the message, like finance/crypto influencers peddling courses or coins.