Influencer Overlords

 

Sheep
Richard Ansdell (1815-1885)
Photo Credit:Grundy Art Gallery [CC BY-NC-SA]  

What power haven't we handed to influencers? The list is rapidly dwindling. They affect millions of people's consumption habits, how we treat our work, relationships and health, and they are even beginning to win public office thanks to their followers...

On 13 October, the world's most popular YouTuber, Jimmy Donaldson - a 27-year-old American better known as MrBeast - filed a trademark application to start a bank app, MrBeast Financial, which will offer cryptocurrency and investment banking as well as potentially credit cards and other financial services. Now influencers believe they can - and should - directly control our money.

It may be hard to imagine who would bank with a man whose qualifications begin and end with an ability to film stunts...

It's already concerning that influencer and gurus determine so much of what we consume and even what many people believe about the world, popularising both good and bad politics, not to mention a host of conspiracy theories...

Opening a bank is one of a growing set of data points showing that many of the super-powerful aren't just interested in wealth and fame but also in profitable dominance over how we live.

While on paper Donaldson is an influencer, his influence and actions mirror other figures increasingly seeking to shape our culture - men such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. Many dabble with with effective altruism, a movement which argues that the best way to solve social ills, such as poverty, is for the mega rich to become even richer and apply their resources to help specific groups...

But beyond the chilling amount of trust we are handing to men like Donaldson, this also raises the question: are we really eager for a future that is run and imagined by online prankster nerds?...

We don't know if MrBeast Financial will actually materialise. If it does and it turns out to be a helpful, fresh approach to gen Z's money, I'll eat these words. But whatever the technology, we should fight for a better world than one designed and dictated by the witless avarice of a few egomaniacal dorks.

(Sarah Manavis, The Observer, 2025)

By the time you are an adult shouldn't you be making your own decisions about what you should buy and what you should eat? Shouldn't you be the one to decide who is to be a friend or foe? Shouldn't you be using health professionals to guide you in making decisions about your body and mind? Of course, you may well take advice from those friends, family and professionals you trust, whether it be about money, relationships or life-changing decisions - but it will be advice to consider, to evaluate and then to act upon or reject.

Surely your information about the world should be gleaned from reputable sources and not from influencers? And what about taking some personal responsibility for your own actions rather than blaming it all on online characters?