In 2020, I thought a lot about authenticity and toxicity in influencer culture

Published on 16 December 2020

When people grow an audience online, they are feted by brands who want to leverage them as marketing channels. When there’s an opportunity for someone to monetise every aspect of their life, how do we, the audience, know what is real and what is phoney? When someone’s personality is built on what is marketable, are they human or are they just a billboard for sale?*

Billboard for sale
She’s a breezy mama sharing her life at number whatever. Her current ‘renovation’ project: Searching for the perfect shade of dark blue for the sitting room. She’s heard good things about Farrow & Ball from some of the other more established billboards. (Not in person, just from their captions of course). A poster on the wall declares ‘All is pretty’. Two perky breasts are etched on the front of a vase. There are no soft, homely imprints on the grey sofa.

Billboard sold for 1 Shark vacuum cleaner and £500
She’s got a hubby who doesn’t clean up after himself – lolz, men *eye roll emoji* – but it doesn’t matter because this vacuum cleaner is such a game changer, she needs you to know, and you can use this special discount code she got just for you. Child number 2 strains a smile for the camera as she pretends to vacuum up crumbs for the 1080 x 1080 billboard. She moves from portrait to landscape, tip toe to crouching. All the time frantically clicking. (She’s got the multi vitamins to do next before tea).

Billboard sold for 1 gifted dress (no obligation to post)
Just popping on to say she can’t believe how many DMs she got from you guys about that dress. It’s roomy, so size down. Looks good dressed up or down. Just like all the others.

Billboard sold for 20% PR discount
She’s going ‘out out’ and this is marked with Important Photos outside the Ivy Brasserie in Bath at 6pm with 3 other billboards. Click, click, click and post. Drip-drip-dripped in Joules. They strut and contort to the beat of the flash and then they go inside to drink prosecco and check their notifications.

Billboard not sold (jumper and shoes from a previous collaboration)
Having a bad day. She wants you to know how real she is and show the bad days and the good. This isn’t sponsored, she just wanted to share. Be kind, you never know what someone’s going through. Anyone else’s posts being hidden from their followers?

Billboard sold for gifted bath oil set and Loewe straw bag
She can’t believe it’s almost autumn already, where has the year gone? Gonna have a bubble bath tonight to make the most of those #gifted bath oils. Self care is so important.

Billboard not sold
She pouts strangely in a black and white selfie to stand up for women’s rights/racial justice/that campaign off the telly about some kind of cancer.

Billboard sold for gifted outfit (no obligation to post)
She wants to empower you to feel proud of your body. #Bodypositivity she types, as a few taps on her phone transform her torso to look more like Kylie.

Billboard for sale
It’s blank like her eyes.
Clouded by consumerism.
Cloaked in the guise of friendship.
Blank and ready for your message.

As long as you can pay.

*Disclaimer: I want to make it clear that there are many, many people whose online careers I admire and follow myself. They are transparent about sponsored content and use their platform to share their point of view. But there are others who seem to manipulate the offer of ‘friendship’ and ‘relatability’ in order to make money without ever having anything to say. The questions I pose in this piece are existential. As we navigate increasingly unstable work markets, the pioneering life of the online influencer can seem like a silver bullet. But we need to recognise it for what it is: a performance.