The Evolution of the Influencer

People are becoming personal media corporations. Ex: Substack and Twitter enable people to make a living creating media and content

Influencers, now a slowly fading cliché in the Internet’s tableau vivant, found success articulating the cult of personality, and marketing themselves as direct-to-consumer-goods. The shift away from this algorithmic surrender can be traced to the macro and micro “creator economies” spawned by the likes of Patreon, Substack, OnlyFans and even Cameo... See more

At the same time, we are witnessing the growth of influencers in more business and intellectual spheres. Their playground? Substack, Roam Research, Notion, Gumroad, and so on, which is a change from the Instagram sparkles and glitter decorum.

The best consumer platforms started as entertainment and scaled into new classes of work: streamers on Twitch, influencers on Instagram and retailers on Shopify.

Much of the growth in influencer marketing—and much of the remaining opportunity—comes not from the bold-faced names, but from the content creators with 10K, 1K, or even 500 followers. The lines between content and commerce are continuing to blur.