Say what…?
The word ˈɪnflu.ənsə(ɹ) phonetically spells the word ‘Influencer’, but what does it really mean? Here are the official meanings according to Wictionary:
- A person who or a thing which influences
- A person who is able to influence consumption, lifestyle and/or political preferences of their online audience by creating and/or engaging social media content, often as a part of a marketing campaign
In my experience, a third category ought to be added. But, for the time being, let’s stick to these two categories as these seem quite straightforward. We’ll tackle my proposal for a third category later.
Categories 1 and 2:
Let’s start with the second category as it seems to be the most popular in today’s online social media. It seems that anyone with an online presence who is actively posting texts can call themselves influencers. According to this definition, both Eef and I qualify for the influencer title. Please note that I do not agree with this, and I do not call myself an influencer.
Adding to that, none of the postings on this site are sponsored in any way. All costs for running this site are paid for by me. The only ‘add’ you’ll find on this site is for my books, nothing commercial by a third party or a company.
The closest I get to being an influencer of the second category is in my book writing and publishing. The subjects I write about are usually derived from real events that I feel are mispresented in media and public opinion to the point that I decided to write a book on it. I’m not trying to change public opinion, I’m merely presenting another way to see it – and hopefully provide some hours of interesting reading.
For the first category, we’ll limit this to a person who influences, leaving things doing the same for another day.
Paul
2024-02
Ever considered reading my books?