Is The Era Of The Influencer Over, Or Just Evolving?

Has the age of the influencer peaked? Once more niche than traditional celebrities, influencers are now completely ubiquitous – the word entered the dictionary last year, and beauty YouTuber James Charles prompted eyerolls by calling his invite to the Met Gala “a positive step forward for influencer representation”. They are everywhere, from Coachella to Chernobyl, Instagram to advertising agencies. While the engagement might look high, many believe that the bubble is finally bursting, and we’re just a bit tired of being influenced. A recent report by Hypebeast found that influencers have increasingly less sway over their audience; one influencer opened up recently about selling just 36 shirts to her two million+ followers, and others are exposed daily for scamming their audience. Many of us are exhausted by the things that influencers once represented: millennial pink, inspirational quotes, tearful apology videos, ostentatious hauls. Otherwise rational human beings seem to rabidly relish the end of influencer culture, partly because to some, it appears to be a lot of people rising to fame for doing “nothing”. We devoured stories about Fyre Festival because the idea of influencers trapped on an island with nothing to eat was irresistible to many who stopped just short of braying for the 21st-century version of The Lord of the Flies. Read more at Dazed.