I was in LA last weekend with my Insta-obsessed daughters. As we drove down Melrose, they shrieked “There it is! The pink wall! Pull over!” I have driven by this wall numerous times, but it never occurred to me to stop. Aside from its gorgeous vibrant color, to me, it was just...a wall. To them, it was a selfie Mecca. And just how did my Boston-based kids know about this wall? “From an influencer, Mom!” they told me as they rolled their eyes at me.
We had to wait for some space to clear, as about twenty other teenagers waited their turn to strike a pose. While we sat in the lot, I asked them what the concept of an “influencer” actually meant to them. Essentially, in the land of social media, they shared that they view this as a serious sign of cache. An influencer is someone you follow and defer to their advice on topics ranging anywhere from where to get the cutest shorts to where you go to take the best selfies. And I rolled my eyes back at them.
Candidly, I think my reaction comes from the use of the word “influencer” as a verb or being used like it’s an actual job. “She’s an influencer” sounds like a made up thing to me, paling in comparison to what the actual intent is: “She has the ability to influence.” Of course, this is all in my humble opinion. Sure, mastering social media and building a brand that people trust is a skill. If I have a business, and I cultivate a set of people who have the power to affect purchasing decisions or behaviors based on how they engage with them, that is, in fact, a valuable thing. These are ultimately people who have taken the time to build an audience and promote products or services to them. They gain credibility by using products or services which they then promote themselves. They might be photographers, models, marketers, negotiators or some form of an expert in their field.
In some cases, these people are paid simply for showing up at a club (think one of the Kardashians) and in others, there is actual work involved to gather reviews, get feedback, etc. Social media has exploded to the point where brands hire these people to connect with audiences in ways we’ve never seen before, and there is some serious value in that.
But this is where I begin to feel old.
The concept of an influencer has been around for an awfully long time. To me, I’ve always thought of those people as those with tremendous credibility or expertise that has been built over time. For example, influencing my buying patterns (Steve Jobs could influence me to buy just about anything with an “i” in front of it) or my behaviors (Michelle Obama influencing me with the motivational reminder, “When they go low, we go high”). In other words, even though they might have been powerful, influential faces, I had followed them for years and had built trust with what they stood for. I suppose it’s a virtual relationship based on trust over a sustained period of time. The influencers my daughters look to have become trusted resources, but in my humble opinion, they haven’t done much to earn it. It feels like it’s based on surface level perception, rather than true reliability. I realize that could be a completely unfair assessment.
I also know that I’m not someone who looks to others for guidance on basic life choices. For example, just this morning I saw a Facebook post where a mother in my town was in search of a good steak restaurant. She posted to a group of 1,000 other moms, and they were all too happy to influence her choice with their colorful recommendations. Candidly, it would never occur to me to ask a community of people I don’t know for input on such a basic thing. I’m not one to obsess over Amazon reviews before making a decision, as I know many people do. Perhaps I’m just not that easy to influence. Or maybe I don’t put a lot of stock in what other people believe is great if I don’t know them. Or maybe I’m just missing out on some good decision-making techniques.
We’ve become a celebrity-obsessed culture, which scares me a little. Consumers do their best to avoid advertising, so it makes sense that they are making buying decisions influenced by what they see “cool” people subtly promoting. When we see a picture of Tom Brady wearing UGG boots, we think “Hmm, I thought those were so 2012, but I must be wrong...I must have a new pair this winter.” Some cute relatable teenage girl posts pictures of herself at Coachella wearing an amazing flower crown? I must make one. If we view people as relatable or living the lives we aspire to have, we buy.
I must admit I had a pretty negative reaction to my kids' interpretation of what constitutes an influencer because I can’t relate at all to a bunch of young women telling other young women where the best place to pose for a selfie is...and they listen. And yet, I have to give these influencers some major kudos; they have built a following, and people listen to their guidance. Perhaps today it’s about a selfie location; tomorrow it might be a far larger consumer purchase. Whatever it is, they’ve gained the trust of their audience. That, no matter who you are, is a powerful thing to be able to do. So while I still have some negative reaction to someone’s job actually being “an influencer,” the skills required to actually influence another human being to do anything is relevant to all of us.
Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator.