When asking about the “top” tips for expanding your digital presence, my blogger idol, Lizzi Hill (shameless plug) commented the following:
So, being the sarcastic and provocative person I am, i decided to add my nod of approval to Lizzi’s very accurate statement:
Mature. I know. You can almost see the sarcastic italicisation (is that even a word?)
As Lizzi is a friend, she already knows what buttons to push to evoke a reaction from me, and hastily posted a throwaway remark:
Interesting thought. As something of an influencer herself within the #blogger community, I’ve decided to not only conduct a social experiment, but call out the ‘influencer’ bluff. We hear the word thrown about randomly in the digital world, but what does it even mean?
Basically, influencers are people. Just like you and me! Real people with real feelings, that value relationships. They have egos and personalities. They have (hopefully) a sense of humour, and can be misunderstood.
We need to stop seeing them as a product that can be bought and sold, traded and economised, and start treating them as what they really are.
People.