common sense has left the building

influencers ?#@?

Unintentionally as a follow on to yesterday’s uncertainty, I advise in advance a rant is coming in the form of utter dismay. Why on earth would we have, much less believe, a category of folks called ‘influencers’? I don’t know a single one by name but I jus

No, seriously.

My views on anything are my analysis, based on the experiences I have witnessed or studied, but are not perfect guides for someone else. Of course this pertains to this column where I hope I welcome you with a note reminding you (and myself) that I do not have all the answers. (If you joined before I started welcome notes, here is yours: I am glad you signed up to ACC. My sole goal is to expand civil, measured conversation on issues ahead for the world. I don’t pretend to have all of the answers so I welcome and hope for your comments. Sometimes I throw in some gratitude and whimsy because otherwise I can be a frighteningly serious woman.)

I have meant to write this column for ages as I don’t understand this ‘influencing’ thing. Whhaaattt? Who cares if some bleached green haired person of any gender tells me that Walmart is trying to make people sick by selling something about which this creature has a universe of one upon to offer shockingly universal projections? Why, repeat why would I listen or why should anyone else?

I receive a raft of daily newsletters of varying value but I knew that when I signed up for each. I weigh what I read against common sense, the law of physics (no, you MUST to eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight as that is truly a law of physics), and what level of rubbish tolerance I have upon their arrivals.

I was looking at one this morning describing various cleaning products which was worth my time. What baffled me was a review, a harsh one, about a product where the reviewer concluded with ‘I won’t listen to that influencer again on cleaning products’. Well, no kidding.

I realise that our descent into a virtually logic-free webosphere in this country has led to some weird stuff but the idea that a wholly unprepared, unspecialised person merits consideration as a recommender for cleaning products is absurd. That male or female or whatever is a view but why is that better than my view? Or my sister-in-law’s neighbour’s cousin’s view?

Have we truly surrendered any hope of applying logic or any analytic capability to our lives? No, there are fake news sites but they are not the mass media where there are actually journalistic ethics, even if they are violated at times. People get things wrong but that doesn’t mean they are fake. Same is true for analyses on a product.

What ethics do you know of for your influencer de jour?

In both cases, one needs apply some scrutiny (does that claim match what I see? Can I understand why the alleged path will get me to the supposed end in using this or hearing this story?) before wholeheartedly embracing things. But this isn’t magic. It’s one of the many ways our predecessor generations, without the ‘wisdom of the internet’ (sic), was definitely superior. They had to do it for themselves. Sometimes they succeeded at things and sometimes they learned invaluable lessons in failure.

I see things on line sometimes that I try; I admit it. But I cannot ever imagine accepting someone else’s views because the person is an ‘influencer’. And believe me, I wouldn’t rely on TikTok for anything because what validates anything there?

Common sense has left the building, I guess. I think we need make a seat at the table for it to return—now.

Thank you for entertaining my thoughts but I genuinely want to hear your reactions, criticisms, differences, and anything else. I value your willingness to read my thoughts daily (we passed 18 months without missing a day of ACC on Monday, by the way). I especially appreciate and thank those who subscribe to this publication with their hard earned cash.

Be safe and be well. FIN