Under The Influence

Do other people shout at their radios? I'm sure it is not just me. I cannot bear it when people murder the language on the air. I was standing in the kitchen making a ham sandwich, and Bob stuck his head in and said "do you mind if I close this door, its a bit loud in here...?"
I was yelling at a woman being interviewed on Radio 4. I ignored the fact that every sentence started with "So..." [a habit which really winds me up] But when asked why her company, which started in 2017, had succeeded she said it was because it was "really organic and really raw and really real". Really, really ?!? 
I listened a little longer, and she explained that back in 2017 she became an influencer. And that was new back then, nobody had heard of influencers before 2017, she was one of the first. She continued to mangle her words and spout cliches. I doubt that this granny will buy any"raw, organic, real clothing" from her company.
I switched over to Classic FM.
Later on in the day I did a bit of research. In fact the term influencer started to take off in around 2014, and spiked in 2016, entering the dictionary in 2017. But that was in the 'marketing' sense. [one who influences people's decisions about goods or services]  

It has been in the dictionaries much, much longer than that. The original definition simply refers to 'one who influences', and first appeared in print in 1660 in a theological treatise by philosopher Henry More**, who referred to the king as 'head and influencer of the church'.
[**not to be confused with Henry Moore, 20C sculptor, or Thomas More, Tudor statesman]

I do find it alarming that so many people follow 'influencers' on Instagram and TikTok and wherever. Are they making their decisions just by looking what these 'celebs' do and say? I looked at the UGov Poll of the 50 most famous influencers in the UK. I must be getting old - I recognised very few of the names. I knew Joe Wicks [#2] and Mrs Hinch [#6] and Marie Kondo [way down at #22] but the majority of the names meant nothing - many seemed to be Celebrities who wanted to get out, or Loose Women. I don't watch either of those shows. They clearly do not influence my purchasing decisions.

Back in the 70s, I remember there was some fuss about Gordon Jackson the actor, appearing in a TV ad for the TSB [Trustee Savings Bank] At the time, he played "Mr Hudson" the impeccably moral, unbelievably wise and trustworthy butler 'Mr Hudson' in the series Upstairs Downstairs [the precursor of Downton Abbey] Many felt that people would be influenced to bank with TSB 'because that nice Mr Hudson does, and we trust him'
Nowadays anybody and everybody advertises products on TV - some I know, others I couldn't name. Surely Angela Rippon and Judi Dench can enjoy a comfortable retirement without telling us to get smart meters or use MoneySupermarket ? I get the impression that  'influencers' promote products because they get rich doing so. At least Gary Lineker grew up in Leicester, eating locally made Walkers Crisps for many years before fame and fortune came along. 
These influencers boast of how many followers they have. I'm not one of them - I prefer to follow the man from Galilee, who first said 'follow me' to some fishermen 2000 years ago. The one who said "anyone who hears my words and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock".