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Expertise is as old as the human race. In today's marketplace of ideas, we have judges, reviewers, analysts, specialists, and many other categories of professionals who, due to their skill, education, or aptitude, have achieved some level of recognition for their talents and training. With the rise of social media, a new category and type of authority has developed: the influencer.
Spoiler alert * Influencers aren't librarians, information professionals, researchers, or educators.
In society and mass media, critics and fans have long held sway over the tastes, successes, and development of individual creative products. In doing so, the entertainment industry has grown in influence and power, shaping the very culture of American (and Western) society from the depths of the Depression, through two world wars, successive conflicts, and economic downturns. Today, the rise of social media in a global marketplace has magnified the power of media in forming personal preferences and actions.
In our global service economy, comments and reviews- both positive and negative-have become standard in vetting potential options, which help to create trends and attitudes. Today, most people on the planet have access to mobile devices or computers from which they can not only track opinions and ideas, but also participate in the critiques as they develop.
BEGINNING WITH THE BLOG
Blogs, defined by Merriam Webster as "a web site on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities, and experiences" (merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blog) first appeared 25 years ago. Although other technologies have significantly increased the global communication, blogs remain significant. In her March 2019 Simple Joys blog, Helena Woods notes, "I believe blogging is more important in 2020 than ever before and creating helpful and niche-driven content-whether it be educational, inspiring or humorous-is still relevant today, thanks to Google" (helenawoods.com/ future-instagram-active-blogging-2020).
It's not just blogs anymore. Sites that enable video- and photo-sharing compete for our attention. TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Imgur, YouTube, Pinterest, and Snapshot enjoy global reach and are discoverable by key web browsers. Thus, anyone can actively participate in global discussions. Just as movie stars and models have influenced trends in the past, we are now experiencing the rise of internet stars: influencers who draw massive audiences to their sites and content. Consider just a few:
* Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has more than...