On being an “influencer”
The word influencer if said quickly sounds a little like influenza which is somewhat of a drag. Similar but with less free stuff.
If you come here for updates, chances are you follow me elsewhere on social media. On instagram I have now acquired 20.3k followers, casually, with what I’d consider to be little to no effort and, of course, a little surprisingly given my lack of strategy. When I make comments like this on Instagram I always get a few loyal responders messaging to affirm the enjoyment they get from my content. I’m grateful.
And so, It would seem that I am an influencer. This is the part where I suggest that we all have influence online because someone is always watching… blah blah… but, hey, twenty thousand and counting? I’ve definitely helped increase sales of wide leg trousers and encouraged some folks to cuff up until their ankles are freezing.
Earlier today I unfollowed a local influencer who wasn’t sure if the new Adidas Campus shoes they’d been given were in fact Adidas Campus shoes even though “that’s what they say on the side of them and on the box.” They were Campus. Clearly. They were just giddy about new shoes… any shoes… they’re free, who cares what they are or where they came from.
It’s not hard to see that often the modern social media influencer is a spoilt, ungrateful melt. I could make a long list of people I regularly see who deserve an unfollow and who do not respect the luxury they get to experience. I am however, very thankful to have encountered a great group of people online who post the same kind of content as me and are also honest influencers not taking themselves too seriously.
And there you have it, after years of plodding along, posting images, writing captions and trying to always be honest with my words, I still get a little nervous about the attention that comes from being labelled an influencer. Example: on Sunday morning, someone who does not really know me blurted out “you’re a bit trendy” and then proceeded to make an even more hideous remark about me being a designer. I won’t get into that but, it’s no surprise this happened in church where, I’m quite sure some of the most ridiculous statements in the history of the planet have and will continue to be said by men with the social skills of an end of summer sleepy wasp.
I’d prefer you called me a clothes-horse than “trendy” thank you very much.
Anyway, here are some quick thoughts on being an influencer, a code if you like:
Don’t expect free stuff
Don’t accept all the free stuff
Reply to messages
Like and reply to comments
Have some morals
Don’t go too heavy on politics
Don’t take yourself too seriously
Block people often
Never ever call yourself an influencer in real conversation with anyone… ever
Be ready to let it go at any moment
How the internet has evolved from those early days of dialling up, crackling and squealing into this onscreen world of information to where we are now… I genuinely don’t even know how we describe the web these days. Much of life revolves around it. Often I try to imagine explaining to my grandparents what social media is, what an influencer is and, how brands just give stuff to people as part of this weird leveraging of power, influence, likes and shares… I try to imagine their reactions. They’re dead so…
I can’t. And, it’s not really real. It’s kind of absurd. It’s a privilege though.
I’m grateful.
