Redefining the Influencer

Social media has primed us to seek a certain kind of attention.

We want immediate signals of engagement. It often doesn’t matter if that engagement is positive or negative. Whatever boosts our presence in the algorithm.

It’s now a standard observation that digital spaces like Twitter (X) and TikTok reward a particular type of discourse. Well-reasoned, patient, nuanced conversations on complex topics rarely make for viral hits. It’s the bad takes that bait the QTs. Loud tribal stances garner likes from the in-group and dunks from the outsiders.

It’s no accident that populist movements have taken to platforms where swarm behavior thrives.

More buttoned-up websites like LinkedIn are just as prone to optimize for vanity metrics. The number of reshares a post receives is not directly related to the level of insight it delivers. Here it isn’t the hot take but the bland take that reigns. Content that comforts jobseekers or creates an echo chamber for employees whether or not it actually serves them.

Of course, generative AI can now churn out content at an obnoxious scale, and its quality may be less of a priority than whether it causes Google to crawl the page or creates dwell time on the ads.

But how many of those impressions represent real human eyeballs? In the day of ad fraud, we have bot-generated content being viewed by bots. AI creating and consuming its own work, like a snake swallowing its tail.

The way we interact online has trained us to look for impact in the wrong places. We’re neglecting the power of influence that isn’t easily measured.

You can measure the likes, the reshares, the overall impressions of a piece of content.

But what about the experience when someone reads an article and doesn’t send it to anyone or post it anywhere? But it stays with them.

Or they listen to a podcast and then shut it off and sit in their car. They’re not sure what to do with it. It might be unsettling. But it lingers in their thoughts.

Vanity metrics represent a rather thin relationship with an audience. But there are deeper ways that people connect with content that aren’t always digitally visible.

The stories that stick with you.

Live talks that set you on a life and career trajectory.

Conversations that convince you of something rather than just reinforce your comfortable assumptions.

Paragraphs that build an argument irreducible to social sharing snippets.

The more substance, the less likely it is to prompt quick reactions. It works slowly. But that slow work requires genuine attention. And it’s that kind of attention that allows for a more enduring impact.

Do we want the dopamine hit, the ephemeral feeling for a moment that we matter (at least to the algorithm gods)?

Or do we want our ideas, our products, our movements to make a lasting difference for a smaller but significant number of people?

Maybe we need to redefine the influencer.

It’s not just about the follower count or the brand deals. True impact lies in the capacity to provoke thought, disrupt patterns, and spark meaningful conversations that continue long after the initial click-through.