Are You Really ' INTERESTING ' ??

Are You Really ' INTERESTING ' ??

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In the Age of Internet and Instagram, with the world seemingly driven by an ever consuming addiction of 'Influencer Marketing', where daily there is an endless growing number of so called ‘influencers’ out on the streets everywhere you look posing in some sort of rigid ' I know I’m just standing here but in the final footage it’s going to look like I’m 'Boomarang-ing’ aided by the latest filter that will capture my momentary mood!', are you really INTERESTING?

Currently every Instagram profile out there with 20,000 followers calls themselves a ‘Public Figure' and that is considered to be the norm....for now!

Why do I say for now? Well because our social media world maybe about to be turned on its head by none other than Instagram! How?

Well, Instagram is considering removing 'Likes' from their platform!! Yep and that is the biggest concern with influencers because it may pull away the curtain and expose the fact that many might have been faking it all along!

Thus far 'Likes' have been utilized as an indicator of follower count and as such a presumed key measure of reach, but over time, brands and possible sponsors have come to learn that building a large following, in itself, is not overly difficult and in fact can be purchased outright by anyone.

In fact, many masquerading as 'Influencers' are instead acctually simply 'Amplifiers'....online profiles that are simply spreading information widely and referencing products; and 'likes' for their posts are in the end not indicative of an intention to buy by followers but could simply be the result of a Pavlovian habit to click a button to feel momentary superficial connection and belonging!

As Gareth Davies, VP Digital Strategy at MWWPR, put it in his article earlier this week on LinkedIn, true INFLUENCE requires (1) Earned and Established Trust (2) Nano/Macro Niche Focus and Established Relevance & (3) Authentic and Meaningful and yes dare I say even courageous Content.

Why? Because what more and more brands are seeing as a more meaningful measure of Influence is Engagement v.s. Likes and more passionate internet interactions about a specific topic, category, or area of interest.

So in today's world where anyone online for more than a split second, armed with a cell phone has been encouraged to see them selves as a brand and who introduce themselves as an Influencer with X number of followers or receiver of X number of LIKES almost as if that was their business card or elevator speech about what they do and who they are, I ask again......

Are You Really ' INTERESTING ' ??

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