• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 29, 2024

Who are all these influencers and who are they influencing?

As a member of an older, influencer-proof generation, the world of social media-based people who influence other people is one that I have never studied or even taken a look at.

This is for a younger generation, say I. They are apparently susceptible to being influenced by flamboyant strangers on the Internet. I am not.

This is not to take possession of some sort of superior high ground. Indeed, to the young and influencer-susceptible, it is I who am hopelessly out of touch with current trends, fashions and lifestyles. Where do I get off commenting about influencers in the first place?

They would be correct, of course. But that’s not stopping me from writing this TV Blog on a new Amazon Prime series that is the first talk show with a panel of so-called influencers (am I allowed to say “so-called”?) that I have ever seen. It is also Amazon’s first talk show, period.

The show is called “Influenced.” It consists of 10 half-hour episodes. It premieres Wednesday on Amazon Prime.

The show’s five panelists are Achieng Agutu, Eyal Booker, Tefi Pessoa, Taryn Delanie Smith and Cyrus Veyssi. 

They are described in the Prime Video press material as “popular social media personalities.”

I will take Amazon’s word for that. I have never heard of them, but this fab five should not lose any sleep over that.

I did my due diligence and Googled them all. But the descriptions I found were vague -- about as vague as the word “influencer,” as a matter of fact.

This is not at all a criticism. The fact that I cannot describe what these influencers do exactly is on me, not them.

They all look to be in their 20s or thereabouts, and they have all adopted the pronouns of self-identification that is all the rage in the younger set.

Predictably, as a writer of the old school, I am an eye-roller when it comes to pronoun-mania. But it is to no avail. 

The young adults I know have now permanently substituted “them” for “him” and “her,” and there is no going back. Nor is there anything I can do about it except to defiantly refuse to do it.

On “Influenced,” the panel of influencers talk excitedly about everything. Perhaps they are simply excited to have a talk show, for which no one should blame them.

The episodes are titled according to their subject matter, starting with “Work-Life.” The others are “Hacks & Dupes,” “Social Media Pressures,” “Spirituality,” “Travel,” “Entertaining,” “Glow-Up,” “Self-Care,” “Relationships” and “Throwback Nostalgia.”

These are great topics, especially “Social Media Pressures” and “Spirituality.” I’m not sure what “Glow Up” is, although it might be a play on “grow up.” Probably, all younger people know what this means.

I like the topic of “Throwback Nostalgia” -- two words that describe me to a T. I am confident that the “Throwback Nostalgia” episode of “Influenced” would have been greatly enlivened if I had been invited as a guest.

But alas, it was not to be. In the same way that I have never heard of them, I’m reasonably certain they have never heard of me.

By watching “Influenced,” however, I am getting to know them bit by bit. To all five of them I say: It is a pleasure to meet you.

“Influenced” premieres Thursday, August 1, on Amazon Prime Video.