[jasode]

>Social media is damaging to society, doing things for likes is damaging [...]No Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WeChat, WeiBo, or TikTok for me

This seems like a generic complaint that's not specific to this particular thread's article. This article is about the rise of middleman agency platforms to connect brands to internet celeberties with a following.

And then there's this:

>I for one don't want to be an influencer.

But you're the CEO of:

>Gastrograph AI is an artificial intelligence platform [...] to predict consumer preference of food and beverage products.

>We helps food and beverage companies [...] optimize existing brands.

With your business background, you're actually one of the folks that can add substantive commentary to this. You want to help brands reach consumers. So do internet celebrities.

[JasonCEC]

>This article is about the rise of middleman agency platforms to connect brands to internet celeberties with a following.

I found the articles thesis more general, that many more individuals want to become paid influencers, and the lower acceptance rate of middleman agencies as proof that the supply of want-to-be influencers has increased.

>You want to help brands reach consumers.

I am the CEO of AFS, but my company works on flavor profile development of new and existing products - deep R&D of flavor, aroma, and texture optimization. This is far upstream of marketing and branding which we are uninvolved with.