I guess hate is a strong word. To say I dislike something means I can tolerate it to a point. So I guess I hate social media influencers then.
As someone who works as a sports photographer and as a digital marketing consultant, I’m around these social media influencers a lot. And I mean a lot.
In the sports arena, they come into the arena or stadium 4 or 5 times. They have to perfect their entrance for the “Gram.” They have their own personal crew of stylist, camera and video operator. It’s an entourage for someone who still lives with their parents.
It’s all duck faces, peace signs and doing everything multiple times until they have the perfect shot.
Most of these influencers have posts about being a Fashion Nova ambassador. They’re always pimping certain products. Remember when Flat Tummy Tea was the big rage?
They buy followers to seem important. Like their life is this glorious event that needs to be broadcasted for all.
They show you these fancy cars and houses but neglect to tell you that their friend works in a dealership or is a real estate agent and they get them access to properties or cars to “stunt on the ‘gram.”
They post all these fabulous trips to exotic locations, but won’t post the guy or guys they’re blowing to get these trips. Not sure what is worse, whoring yourself out for trips or demanding that your hotel be free because you’re a popular influencer.
And everyone is an influencer now. You think all these companies are paying all this money for these people to push their product but in reality these influencers aren’t getting paid hundreds or thousands of dollars. They’re getting sample products as a courtesy thank you. Scraps that were going in the trash anyways, might as well give these product pushers something to feel important.
The influencers who are really getting paid are the celebrities like the Kardashians. They have more reach than you ever will. Companies will pay for that type of attention. Why would they waste their dollars on someone with 10k followers and a lot of duck face selfies?
Being a social media influencer has sort of ran it’s course. People hear that term and are unfazed by it. Like big deal, get a real job.
Now all their profiles say “Digital Creator.” And what are they creating? Click their Linktree bio and see their OnlyFans page there. That’s the content they’re creating these days.
And with OnlyFans I don’t understand how people can pay all this money for “exclusive content.” Isn’t there enough free porn online that you don’t have to waste your money? I wouldn’t be surprised if most of these OnlyFans accounts were scammers. Pretending they’ll show everything for a price and they suckers buy it and it’s false goods.
Probably what really bothers me is that these people, the vast majority of them, are lying. They’re doing things for likes, for validation. Like their life is worthy of a click.
And the shelf life for an influencer has to be short. The next thing is always around the corner and trying to keep up with what it younger and cooler must be time and money consuming.
So the next time you see people walking back and forth trying to get the right shot or taking every angle of their food, just remember that it’s all for show. Like most things on the internet are, all for show.
