Evergreen Times

It’s a word that gets thrown around all over social media and the marketing world: “influencer.” Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. But what is an influencer when you get right down to it? The dictionary definition is quite simple. An influencer is a person who influences other people.

In the marketing context, we see influencers as being people with expert knowledge and a large audience who may be able to influence their followers to purchase a product. But the broader dictionary definition (someone who influence others) is, perhaps, the more accurate one.

For the purposes of this article, however, let’s talk about social media influencers who may be able to influence the way we act, the way we think, our perceptions of the world, and possibly even the things we buy.

There’s a Platform for That

With people gaining fame by creating whatever content comes into their heads, the world of influencers can be something of a Wild West frontier. If you want to put your name or pseudonym to it, you can make it, put it out there, and see if you win the attention of netizens.

There are certain topics and means of expressing oneself that can make content too much for mainstream platforms like YouTube, but for those wanting to produce boundary-breaking content, there are other platforms to explore. A few teasers on the more mainstream social media outlets, and punters can be lured to these rather more “liberal” platforms where the rules are somewhat less stringent or are even waived altogether – in exchange for payment, of course!

The bottom line? People can put anything they want out there, and they might even find a large and enthusiastic audience for it.

Whatever You Want to Hear, it Can Be Affirmed

There are influencers that genuinely seek to inform, entertain, and educate. Some of them manage to do all three at once. But influencers that have sold out to, or subscribe to, the “dark side” have given the whole world of influencers something of a bad name.

In short, whatever you see, whatever you hear, and whatever you allow to influence your thinking may or may not be positive. But we all have our weaknesses, and if we have “thought vices,” there’s sure to be somebody, somewhere putting out content that caters to them.

The message can be beguiling. There are people out there, some of them with a following of tens of thousands, who will tell you exactly what you want to hear. That could be a good or bad thing, and it can be quite difficult to overcome personal bias and distinguish one from the other. Are you enriching your knowledge or polluting your brain? Here are some simple “tells” that you can use to filter the influences you’re allowing into your life.

Does it Make You Feel Inferior or Dissatisfied?

It might seem strange that anyone would enjoy content that calls attention to dissatisfaction, but it’s a commercial principle that works. Instagram is packed with influencers with “perfect” lifestyles and heavily-edited images that transcend what we (or they) can reasonably expect from life. Even while knowing this, we’re wired to be receptive.

For any person, no matter how rich, smart, or beautiful they may be, there is always something more. No surprises: there’s someone out there who will be more than willing to affirm their feelings of dissatisfaction, claim to own the object of desire and possibly try to sell their followers products or ideas that will solve the “problem” of not being all they want to be.

The basic laws of economics tell us that as soon as a want is satisfied, a new want arises. We are bottomless pits of wants, and we can all-too-easily fall into a never-ending spiral of wanting, getting, spending, and wanting even more.

Sadly for some of those who fall into the trap, the products they buy don’t satisfy their wants at all, but that doesn’t stop them from buying into the next promise of wish-fulfillment that comes along.

Does it Make You Feel Superior?

On the other side of the spectrum, there’s plenty of content out there that can help you to feel as if you’re somehow better than your fellow inhabitants of this planet. You’re part of a special “in group” and the content is designed to reinforce that feeling. It focuses on the weaknesses of other individuals or groups, and even though some of it may be perfectly correct, it can all go too far.

Admittedly, there can be times when it’s hard not to enjoy the feeling of being superior to public figures or specific groups of people. “I may not be anything special, but at least I’m not like this,” you say to yourself while finding that the algorithm has suggested yet another affirmation to make you feel even better than you previously did.

While there’s a social need to feel as if you belong to a group, it can all go rather too far, landing you in a self-pleasuring cycle that feels good, but doesn’t have anything to do with the best and finest things in human nature. The tag here should be “handle with care.”

Does it Contradict Generally Accepted Facts?

The good old, bad old, conspiracy theory fits in well as an example of contradiction of accepted facts, but it’s not the only way to fly in the face of reality. The desire to feel privy to hidden knowledge, or even garden-variety paranoia, feeds the hunger, and social media is the beast that nourishes it.

We all know they’re “out to get us,” right? We’re pretty sure that the powers that be are deceiving us. Perhaps we simply find certain hard facts too hard to stomach. Looking for an alternative reality? There’s content that can take you there and it will offer you all the “proof” you could possibly want.

There’s just one problem: no matter how much the content creators that publish this stuff believe in what they’re saying, it quite probably isn’t true, and a little light scratching of the surface will reveal the lack of substance in their claims. But we don’t always want them to be disproved, so we simply trash all the mainstream sources of information and live in a state of blissful deception.

Be Careful About Where “Influence” Takes You

There are things that we should consider as being important, and none of the things we’ve covered so far fits the bill. While a little light dabbling in popular culture, and even a peep at its underbelly, is probably harmless, we do need to be careful about what, and how much, “influence” we allow.

As human beings, we should be capable of critical thinking and we should be able to set our priorities based on the things that really matter. It’s when we switch off our brains and allow ourselves to be influenced that we’re entering potentially dangerous territory.

Always ask questions and make value judgements. How important is this? Has it been properly proved? Does it really matter? How does this content affect how I see others? Should I allow this influence into my life, and if I do, will it be good for me and those around me?

While being open to hearing new viewpoints, and even enjoying a little affirmation, isn’t a bad thing in itself, influence can be dangerous. Take a step back. Don’t go through the looking glass. Don’t follow the white rabbit. “Wonderland” can become a nightmare or even turn you into one.