An epidemic of fake influencers and the death of meritocracy

Re:An epidemic of fake influencers and the death of meritocracy by joe_hoyle on Monday April 08, 2019 @10:23PM (#19611179)

I don't think the intentional is to get people to smoke who otherwise wouldn't. It's to get the people who are going to buy cigarettes, and in doing so, chose their brand. When confronted with many choices of competing products, having someone you trust and admire favour a particular product may be enough to tip the scales and get you to take that option.

I find myself doing this often, due to all the podcast ads I hear! If I'm going to buy a mattress or printed framed picture I'm going to start with I've heard about from some "influencer" I follow.

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Re:An epidemic of fake influencers and the death of meritocracy by wasdfff on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @12:47AM (#19611872)

But why follow the influencer at all?

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Re:An epidemic of fake influencers and the death of meritocracy by joe_hoyle on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @01:20AM (#19612006)

I guess because we "follow" people who interest us or are like minded. I don't set out to "follow an influencer", but when I subscribe to a podcast, or follow someone on twitter because I find their comedy hilarious; that's what I'm doing.

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Re:An epidemic of fake influencers and the death of meritocracy by Zenbit_UX on Tuesday April 09, 2019 @09:47AM (#19614532)

You don't think the tobacco industry wants people to start smoking???

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