Are We Human or Are We Dancer?

The all-inclusive, fanfare, stardom term, ‘influencer’ has now become somewhat tired, and quite annoying where most simply roll their eyes and ask, “Really?”  when you proclaim such a ‘job title.’

The Influencer is No More

An influencer was a label that would once ordinarily separate you from others as someone who was largely pivotal in bringing about a brand’s story and, in turn, raising a brand’s profile to a much wider audience with credibility and authority. Yet nowadays, it has acquired a stigma and an unfortunate association with tawdry and entitlement—how goddamn tiresome and woke! Such individuals need a good slap and be asked to settle down and do better. Yes, you’re saving, the world needs to acquire a firm backbone and spine. Some influencers, alas, may request that their services and borderline celebrity may entitle them to freebies and so on, suggesting that their occupancy or presence will undoubtedly raise the brand’s profile.

Anyway, I suppose what I am alluding to is that the notion of an influencer has now ceased to be and I must admit that hearing this term has become, frankly, annoying. Yes, for me, it has clearly passed its sell-by-date and a new breed should be born, perhaps a ‘brand psychologist,’ although, does this also echo a marvel of an overbearing and an unnecessary qualification of sorts? Seriously, do we need such a collective stream of so-called overpaid good doers to tell a company’s story? Surely, such company’s telling the story of their brand must have inhouse marketeers to script a story for their wider audience, right?

Is it just about the Moolah?

The companies employing such overpaid, gratuitous, saving the world nobody’s, will recognise, once they have removed their heads out of their respective arses, that the best captains of their brands are already in charge of their own brand psychology. You see, a secondary or third-party being paid to portray and emphasise such products, brands or whatever is somewhat biased and largely can be misconstrued, which defeats the story the brand wishes to tell. I like to think, most of us aren’t entirely stupid and when you have that ‘nobody’ touting your brand, we know—we know what you have done, and we are not impressed—whoop-de-do!

Elon Musk has inadvertently dug the deepest grave for Twitter (now ‘X’) and it has now become a nonchalant platform—this also includes Facebook where sadly, no-one is no longer listening. You see, many brands are abandoning the media to reach out to other platforms such as Instagram, BlueSky and LinkedIn, because when you have a donkey in charge you do question your future. As such, participants have questioned, “What’s the point?” and once credited ‘go-to’ platforms have now become largely embarrassing.

Our Wondering Puppets

Those influencers that have acquired a healthy following across social may continue however to entice others to engage and become wholly involved with their audience to help bolster the newbies in echoing their stories.

But I do raise the question: Do we become puppets to those who bolster our influence?

Until next time…

I have had the experience of being a technology influencer and, while the moolah was wonderful, it did on occasion feel that I had sold my soul.

Am I human or am I dancer (The Killers)? Well, for now, I am no longer a puppet controlled by strings that are pulled by others. I firmly reside in the technology domain, which, I believe should be developed for good and, pretty much, this where I remain.

So, this is where “a cheap, and dirty dancer” Dr G signs off.