It must be the hottest "profession" of the moment, and it's no surprise when someone asks what someone else does to hear "I'm a blogger" or "I'm an instagrammer" or "I'm an influencer”.
These are the times we live when new platforms created new professions and, so far, there's nothing wrong with that, right?
A few months ago I signed a contract with a brand to create and promote some content. In place of “the contracted”, “the photographer”, “the content creator” or simply “Lúcia” (which is me... hello to those who don't know me!!!) my designation appeared as “the influencer”. I was in doubt about asking them to change the designation or simply ignoring it because I didn't think it would make a big difference in the context of its application.
But, of course, this brought me a subject to think about. After all, what new “profession” is this for which I did not graduate and someone decided, nevertheless, to attribute me the title?
Will an influencer be someone who, by his/her lifestyle, inspires others, someone who by the decisions he/she makes on a daily basis, by the actions he/she practices throughout his/her life, by the gestures and positions he/she takes about himself/herself and others is an example to follow? Is it someone who, due to a certain situation or transformation, or even a tragedy, has reoriented the compass to a new north and helped someone along the way? Or is it someone who, by working in the area of content creation, is hired for this purpose, or because he/she has an astronomical number of followers and becomes an interesting vehicle for the promotion of brands and products?
This is the moment when we agree or not, but I still believe that both options are valid and perfectly justifiable!
For me, there is no doubt that an influencer is someone who does it almost unintentionally and not someone who is hired to promote a brand or to, saying it crudely, to sell a product.
I do not consider myself an influencer at all, I still need to see a lot, to know a lot, and learn even more to feel in the place of comfort of those who, unintentionally, set an example, inspire, and influence. Of course there are little moments in my life, some gestures, some spoken words that can change the course of another person's life, but any of us can do that! That is not the point!
When I create content or promote a brand, I am far from being an influencer. I am simply trying out a product and forming an opinion, based on my taste and my personal experience, and creating added value of knowledge for anyone who might be thinking about buying the same product. And I am ultimately being paid to do so! But there are also other times, which are the majority, when I simply share something not in a commercial sense, but because it is part of my life, it surprised me in some way, because I liked the service, etc. From this to being an influencer… goes a world… and three more!
I see a lot of people too concerned with the number of followers, the number of likes, the number of comments… they live on a kind of Excel page where everything is a number.
And I see, in this same context, instagrammers who were an inspiration, who created content in a free and creative way, who, at this moment, subjugated themselves to the weight of numbers and turned their profiles into real product displays, any product, indiscriminately! Some of these accounts I unfollowed. In my opinion, very few people turn on the television to watch ads and that's what I felt about following these accounts.
I even received comments from people who thought I was embarking on this advertising boat and was “selling” myself, that I had succumbed to the temptation of turning my Instagram into a business, filling my bank account to the top. It didn't happen! And it won’t!
What happened was that some brands of products that I use invited me to talk about them, to share my experience… and if I already used these products, it seemed to me to be a perfect combination!
You won't see me talking about a soda because I don't consume it or about cookies that trickle-down chocolate cascades as we devour them because they're not part of my day or my routine! Or maybe they are and I still don't know, but the path will be to try those because I want to, in my freedom of someone who discovers new things every day and not because someone wanted to impose me the eighth wonder of the world in exchange for some changes. And this brings me a new reflection… how far have come this thing of brands and products being promoted in exchange for products? It will be a topic for another post!
So I will remain like this... influencer, but not so much!
