On influence and influencers

A weird side effect of social media has been the rise of the influencer. This is a person who uses social media to sway public opinion. Sometimes it is benign,
like 32 Carolina Gelen’s food videos. Sometimes it has a negative effect, like this: ‘A joke’: influencers mock Chanel for underwhelming advent calendar. Mostly it is insignificant in terms of major influence.

I thought about that recently because it is the 50th anniversary of John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice political philosophy book. Now that is an example of something with significant influence.

We almost need two different word for influence. I suspect we will be stuck with one. But the influence of someone like a fashion blogger and the influence of someone like Rawls are worlds apart.

Something to keep in mind when people are raving about someone’s influence.