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Comment by jokull | Hacker News Reader

Founder of the biggest UK platform here (also active in Germany and US). Influencers have been talked down for the whole four years we’ve been active.

Don’t forget what we’re comparing this to. Banner ads! Instagram influencers who are thoughtful and authentic are great. If you don’t like it you can unfollow the influencer. Same cannot be said of banner ads where the end user has little control and you get chased between platforms with units that often have little relavance to your interests.

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>Instagram influencers who are thoughtful and authentic are great.

If your main focus is slinging products, I don't see how that equates to being thoughtful or authentic; especially, when your end-goal is just chasing the next few quid.

For example, I'd expect Neill DeGrasse Tyson's IG to be far more thoughtful and authentic than, say, Amanda Strand's IG.

>Founder of the biggest UK platform here (also active in Germany and US).

I sincerely have no idea what this statement means. What is a platform in this context?

Influencer advertising platform, I suppose.

You're comparing an annoying browser behavior to a cultural phenomenon that (in my opinion) has had a net negative influence on impressionable segments of the population. Advertising is a race to the bottom where once target audiences get attuned to the ad format (pop ups, banner ads) and begin to filter it out, the format shifts further towards native content where it becomes more difficult to discern between honest advice/opinion and shilling. It's gross.

What about that lady that received a chair in her head from an "influencer" throwing stuff down from a hotel room. Did she get a chance to "unfollow"? I see this whole "influencer" thing as the modern prostitution. Couple that with the "it's a prank bro" guys and you have a great recipe.

I tried to look this up and found a story, but nobody was struck by the chair...

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