That dirty word “influencer”

THE WEEKEND WARRIOR -

No matter what event you attend these days, it’s hard not to meet somebody who refers to himself or herself as an ‘influencer.” They are usually given the best seats in the house and commanding a huge following on social media, it’s understandable why brands love to collaborate with them. With the right people, social media marketing through influencers can work.

Here in the Middle East where traditional media are guided by strict measuring sticks, digital content creators and social media influencers have unlimited freedom to act as they see fit. Most of the time, it’s only personal ethics and beliefs that serve as their moral compass and with the adulation of loyal followers numbering by the thousands, they usually push the envelope as far as they possibly can without fear of repercussions.

In Oman, Cyber Law is still years behind compared to laws being implemented all over the world but I am positive that it will get there soon. In the meantime, people are free to put whatever content they want and act however they want until they make a major booboo that calls the attention of the authorities. Only then will they get reprimanded — when it is very apparent that they crossed the line.

By and by, however, the word influencer has started to gain a bad reputation and is becoming a dirty word that refers to people who only run after fame, freebies and money.

Because technically there is no Book of Ethics for Social Media Influencers, people are learning based on experience and they only learn as they go. The problem, however, is that many influencers today only learn from their mistakes when they experience a massive blowback not only from their followers but also to brands that sponsor that pay them money.

For those without social media influence, influencers can end up becoming the bullies and with their power, they can topple not only a person but a whole brand and they have the support of thousands behind them. It’s hard to draw the line of when they are committing the mistake. After all, many are self-centred enough not to recognise that they are in the wrong.

A popular Youtuber, a very influential creator, for years has been able to get away with disrespecting so many people but only admitted to his mistake when his fans started to massively diss him when he disrespected a popular suicide forest in Japan.

For the sake of entertainment, many influencers would go the extra length — climbing the top of buildings they are not supposed to climb, breaking laws that are not meant to be broken, and fighting with other influencers for the sake of views and likes.

Thankfully, the social media influencer scene in Oman is not as dramatic as what’s happening in the West. But some things do rub off.

Case in point, I attended two fashion launches in the last seven days and for both days, it was so disappointing to see some social media influencers being disruptive. To put it in context, in one of the shows, they are all over the place running with their phones after models and many times, the models are bumping into them and causing the models to totally go awry thus, making the event a total chaos. In the second show, the influencers, being in front, are making it difficult for everyone else to watch the show peacefully, cause they are right at the middle brandishing their phones at the dismay of other attendees. {There are people behind you, guys!]

There were other events too — too much noise doing live broadcast while a programme is happening, standing right in front of someone’s view while the event is ongoing and dragging a programme down just because there was a need to hog the spotlight and ask totally irrelevant questions.

This piece is in no way trying to police how influencers should act. Several of my friends are working in the same industry and telling them when they are stepping into the rights of others is actually my way of showing care for them.

In a system where you determine your ethics and you are the only one who can point out what’s wrong or what’s right in how you act, it is important to take a step back and assess overall where you are headed and what you wanted to be or what you are about.

As a journalist, I also look up to influencers. Two of my favourite people are Nas of Nas Daily and Emirati Facebook personality Khalid al Ameri — they have a way with words and with every video, they challenge stereotypes and offer perspective about things. They open the room for discussion and they allow the free exchange of ideas making their followers well-informed individuals who care about other people.

The one thing I really like about going to journalism school is when my professor told me that my right ends where the right of others begin. I think it should be universal that we care how we are affecting everyone around us. While you and your followers are important, so is the one person in the room who you are neglecting to see just because you wanted all the limelight to be on you.

A lot of global influencers are starting to get away from the influencer label because of its negative connotation. Several of them find the term not really representative of what they are about. With the rate of how many influencers are acting, this trend is something I can definitely understand to continue.

An influencer is supposedly a force of change and good. At least to my definition.

If it is becoming a dirty word, then everyone who takes pride in owning the term should help clean it and restore its original meaning.

yru.weekend@gmail.com