[HN Gopher] A recession looms over the posh world of influencers
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A recession looms over the posh world of influencers
Author : gmays
Score : 22 points
Date : 2022-12-12 20:47 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.wired.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.wired.com)
| dan-robertson wrote:
| This article goes for an easy thing to write about (rich-seeming
| people getting backlash for posting as if they aren't affected by
| the increased cost of living or whatever) but the point they hint
| at in the title doesn't really materialise and it seems it maybe
| doesn't actually matter to luxury influencers if they aren't
| really reaching the people outside their target audience.
|
| I thought there were two interesting things though:
|
| - the mention that tiktok tends to throw everyone together
| leading to things going viral being dunked on. I don't really
| know about tiktok but that doesn't seem great. Feels like a
| problem Twitter also has.
|
| - discussion of more middle-of-the-road influencers. I'm curious
| how companies are thinking about marketing in the near future.
| Unfortunately the article didn't really talk about this because
| it was harder to find sources or the narrative was less
| compelling or there are just far more people/companies involved
| and so less can be written about it in general.
| francisofascii wrote:
| > While the term "influencer" often conjures up images of
| vacationing women who are as thin as they are wealthy, the
| reality is that it's a broad industry, and cooking, cleaning,
| parenting, and budgeting influencers
|
| They should also mention tech influencers. Weren't tech bloggers
| the first influencers? For me it was Spolsky, Atwood, Hanselman,
| etc. I like the idea of more down to earth celebrities rather
| than just movie stars and sports players. And a recession could
| simply divert attention from the luxury/travel influencers to
| other types. Or maybe that is what people want when they can't
| afford to buy luxury or travel.
| c0balt wrote:
| Ig the first influencers were/ are "just" people with a high
| social standing. Going from celebrities (movie stars, ...) back
| to class-based social standing. This could be further limited
| to a high standing in a specific niche, like tech, fashion or
| whatever is being observed. Though that is most likely a hard
| stretch of the "Influencer" definition.
| dogleash wrote:
| This article is mostly fluff. But it does make me realize the
| business thought put into "influencing" is potentially
| interesting for just how grim and comical it must be on the
| inside.
| hvs wrote:
| The world of advertising and marketing is always grim on the
| inside.
| rr888 wrote:
| I'm not sure - I used to by cynical of celebrities but now I see
| the continued trend of people following influencers and how much
| power they really have. Previously if you bought something you
| chose from what the local store had in stock. Now you can buy
| online with 100s of choices which is too confusing. By looking at
| Youtube or Instagram its more likely to literally influence what
| you choose to buy - or even buy the person's own brand of
| product.
| tppiotrowski wrote:
| I don't think celebrity is a precondition. People in general
| are tired of fake reviews and marketing and would rather get a
| recommendation from someone they trust. It could be the
| Kardashian's or it could be their neighbor.
| sharemywin wrote:
| If your struggling do you really want to watcha video of some
| idiot living it up?
| scottLobster wrote:
| Escapism takes many forms. There's a reason movie viewership in
| the US was way higher in the 1930s, during the height of the
| great depression, than it was in the post-war years (it was
| higher in the early 1940s likely due to WWII and news
| distribution)
|
| https://www.businessinsider.com/movie-attendance-over-the-ye...
|
| Many people will turn to nihilism given extreme financial
| conditions, and there's always money to made by selling dreams
| and dopamine to the despairing.
| tppiotrowski wrote:
| Yes. The fact that these influencers seem less intelligent than
| the average human being makes their lifestyle appear attainable
| to most.
| fullshark wrote:
| People seem to live vicariously through these influencers so
| yes
| Ekaros wrote:
| I wonder if the money becoming less loose will also hit all of
| these companies trying to sell trash to people?
| mxuribe wrote:
| I would guess business trying to sell stuff will gauge which of
| the available avenues - i.e. influencers, ads on facebook, ads
| on the side of a muni bus, etc. - helps them sell their stuff
| more effectively and cheaper...Certainly not every business nor
| every product/servcice is the same, but i would guess if using
| influencers is not as cheap or effective, then yeah, that
| practice might wane a bit; though it will difer per industry,
| per product, per business, and so on.
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