[Corinthian]

Are 'influencers' that much different from 'celebrities'? Some are famous purely for their looks, some for their talent, some for both, occasionally some for their lack of both. For me, it feels like we've always had influencers.

[PragmaticPulp]

> Are 'influencers' that much different from 'celebrities'? Some are famous purely for their looks, some for their talent, some for both, occasionally some for their lack of both

Most people here probably follow and respect some influencers, but we don't like to admit that our own personal favorites are influencers. We only see them as respected authorities on certain topics while we pretend to ignore the ads and product pitches.

Matt Levine of the Money Stuff newsletter is a great example. His articles are widely shared across the internet and here on HN. He also places advertisements in his newsletters, using his reach and influence to promote products. He almost certainly engages with one of these marketing firms that finds and negotiates these influencer deals. Yet few people here would likely consider him an influencer at first brush simply because we like and respect him.

It's easy to be dismissive of influencer when you're only looking for them in distant topics that you don't personally enjoy or understand. But most of us are blind to the presence of influencers that hit close to home. Nobody likes to think that they're engaged with influencers or capable of being influenced. It's viewed as a negative trait, so we only project it on others and make up excuses as to why our influencers aren't actually influencers.

[Corinthian]

Couldn't agree more, and that is exactly the same story as with celebrities. For me, I'm a big fan of 'The Hoof GP' for reasons I can't adequately explain. As far as I can see he meets the criteria of influencer, I find his videos interesting and engaging, and I believe he makes a nice side-income from his online success. Bravo if you ask me.

[FpUser]

>"Most people here probably follow and respect some influencers"

Count me out. I do not follow a single person. When I need info I search.

[namdnay]

Wouldn’t Bloomberg have teams dedicated to selling adspace? I don’t see why Matt would spend his time doing that

[unmole]

Matt Levine is a columnist for Bloomberg. His job is to write his column. Bloomberg employees other people who figure out how to monetize his content. And more to the point, he doesn't engage with or reference the advertisers in his column.

So, no. Matt Levine is not an influencer.

[hn_throwaway_99]

But the whole point is that the reach and scale of social media means it's much easier to become an influencer, and furthermore you don't need to have some other celebrated skill (acting, sports, etc.) to get noticed.

[Corinthian]

Sure, the reach and scale is much bigger. But I still don't see how that distinguishes an influencer from a celebrity.

We've had celebrities since before electricity. The reach and scale of print was greater than word of mouth, the reach and scale of radio was greater than print, the reach and scale of TV was greater than radio. The internet is just another expansion of scope, but it's the same culture underneath. Never before have we felt the need to come up with a new word for celebrity.

You could have argued at one point that the internet gives everyone an equal chance to become famous and influential. But even that is less true every day as agencies are increasingly required to stand out in an increasingly saturated market.

I strongly dispute that celebrities need talent to get noticed too. That's never been true.

[hn_throwaway_99]

Basically point is that, yes, all celebrities can be influencers, but not all influencers are anything I'd classify as "celebrities". There is a whole section in the article on "nano influencers", e.g. think "popular kid in school", not "rock star". Being able to monetize that level of popularity is a new thing.

[Corinthian]

I'm still not seeing much of a distinction. Celebrities got famous because they were popular and were then able to monetize that. I kind of get where you're coming from, but if there is a distinction to be made, it's not this.

[vonadz]

Yeah seems like what the internet has done to a lot of things; add an 'e' to the front of it.