Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/11/16/instagram-influencers-phis.html
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I’d be more concerned about this if the FTC didn’t have to keep reminding influencers to not break the law.
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I look forward to seeing chalk-dust Cialis and dodgy cryptocurrencies suddenly becoming the hip new thing for social media addicts.
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Social Media Influencer is not a real job title.
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And why not? It’s very descriptive about the person’s aims.
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The vrey idea is crass and speaks to young people’s desperation for leadership. Then again, hashtag MAGA.
Apparently it is a real job title. It is just not a real job, though. Even if it makes someone a living, it is still one of those ‘bullshit’ jobs. The lack of inspiration (or rather the different - and shallow - nature of the available inspiration) for today’s young people regarding where and how to create real value in the world, is a sad thing indeed.
But if a bullshit job can be fun and profitable, why wouldn’t they? It occurs to me that ‘social media influencer’ is just a human version of ‘media advertising space’, with shades of ‘promoted content’ (advertising space in places where the publisher colludes in making it not look like adverts.)
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I don’t understand why so many people seem to think this way… the point of the social media influencer is to create commercial content in such a way that people want to see it. Just like any other ad executive, although it does seem to be a less educated and more intuitive position…
(I am not a Social Media Influencer. I’d love to have the job, but I don’t have the knack… I just don’t have the media reach that they are looking for.)
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I don’t want to seem heartless, but
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So, “social media influencer scammer”?
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And nothing of value was lost.
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If the phishers replaced the influencers with AI bots to simulate influencers, that would be more interesting.
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Of course Social Media Influencer is a real job, it’s only Snake Oil that had the name change.
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Well, yeah, if you lump corporate marketers in the scammer designation too. The main difference I see is “social media influencers” are 1099-ing it.
Try calling in sick for a few days, or asking for mat-leave paperwork. Perhaps a twisted ankle from a new shoe, or your ass is getting groped… You don’t work for companies, you work for the brands, there’s no unemployment insurance or formal paperwork that protects you.
Everyone is a ‘vendor’ or a ‘face’, the traditional (and protective) contractual relationships just don’t exist.
If someone is doing this well (end of the day saving money in the bank) then good for them , I have no doubt this is a very hard ‘job’ (not digging ditches hard, but balancing with much uncertainty).
But of all the ‘gig economy’ jobs out there, SMI seems offer more reward for the ego than any long-term security. You income is tied to an API that can change on a whim and leave you with nothing.
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I’m going to say this is probably why most of the social media influencers appear to be rich kids… It’s easy to take risks of you have a support network of things go sideways, and that “career path” is likely to go sideways.
(But someday soon, someone is going to live stream their child’s birth in order to help pay their medical bills…)
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