I think back in the day, "influencers" were just called advertisers. Whether it's a paid spokesperson that's famous or just the message alone, advertising agencies are essentially "influencers" trying to convince us to try a product by touting it's superiority over competitors. The internet and social media opened up another venue for individuals to get paid to try and persuade others to try a product. Since there is no way of knowing if an "influencer" or paid spokesperson actually uses something and has proven results, it's all a roll of the dice. Even the "customer reviews" of products on sites like Amazon are suspect. I think I read somewhere that there was a cottage industry for people who got paid to write fake reviews. I'm sure a lot of that is AI generated now anyway. Caveat emptor applies.
I think back in the day, "influencers" were just called advertisers. Whether it's a paid spokesperson that's famous or just the message alone, advertising agencies are essentially "influencers" trying to convince us to try a product by touting it's superiority over competitors. The internet and social media opened up another venue for individuals to get paid to try and persuade others to try a product. Since there is no way of knowing if an "influencer" or paid spokesperson actually uses something and has proven results, it's all a roll of the dice. Even the "customer reviews" of products on sites like Amazon are suspect. I think I read somewhere that there was a cottage industry for people who got paid to write fake reviews. I'm sure a lot of that is AI generated now anyway. Caveat emptor applies.