Khaira's criticism mirrors the feelings of many Gen Zers who are tired of seeing a relentless stream of ads on their social-media feeds.

Another creator named CeeVan said she believes a lot of aspiring influencers aren't putting in enough effort.

"A lot of these people never took the time to build a community to make that community fall in love with you and trust you no matter what," she said.

Instead, she said, they want to be influencers "for the brand deals" so they can get "nice free stuff."

"And we see through it now," she said.

With the cost of living skyrocketing, a credit-card debt crisis looming, and people's disposable incomes shrinking, CeeVan's resentment reflects the anxieties many Americans have about money.

But people are still willing to spend: Retail sales increased 0.7% in March compared to the previous month despite prices rising faster than the Federal Reserve's inflation target of 2%.

A disillusionment with what influencers are selling may have more to do with their relatability tanking when it used to be something that set them apart.

Deinfluencing and influencer fatigue

Ashley Rector, the founder of the creative-marketing agency Quimby Digital, told Business Insider this frustration is why "deinfluencing" — when influencers encourage their followers not to purchase things — became a trend last year.

As social-media marketing has evolved, so has the opportunity for influencers to work with more brands.

"They accepted deals with brands that weren't aligned, they put up campaigns that were not thought out, and consumers could tell that it wasn't aligned," Rector said.

"When someone feels like you are selling them for the sake of selling, they inherently lose trust."

Samantha Zink, the founder and CEO of the talent-management agency Zink Talent, told BI the influencer industry has changed significantly since it began with bloggers in the early 2000s.

Back then, she said, being an influencer was "more about passion than profit." Now content creation is a full-fledged career built on subscriptions and commissions, which has changed its dynamics.

"This shift has made influencer engagements seem less special because what was once a hobby or a passion project is now a necessity to earn a living," she added. "Influencers, some of whom are supporting families, must engage in brand collaborations to sustain themselves."

This evolution has led many people to feel that influencers aren't as relatable as they once were.

Research from Meltwater, a media-monitoring company, referred to this perceived lack of authenticity as "influencer fatigue" in 2023.

It found social-media users wanted "real, unstaged content to engage with"

Yahoo News reported last month that influencers may be losing touch with Gen Z in particular. Data shared with the outlet from a YPulse study found that 45% of 13- to 22-year-old respondents felt influencers don't have the sway they used to.

A stock photo of influencers at the beach.



Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images




The influencing days aren't over

This doesn't mean influencing is over, but the way it's done is evolving — and only the creators who understand this will be successful.

A report from Influencer Marketing Hub this year found that brands strongly prefer to work with nano- and micro-influencers because of their high engagement rate and the trust they build with their followers.

Sophie Wood, the director of strategy at the influencer-marketing agency Fohr, told BI that the influencer bubble hasn't burst yet, but it's changing. Deinfluencing is still influencing, she said, just a different kind.

In the 2000s, bloggers were the new, shiny internet tastemakers. Then YouTube took off, then Instagram, then TikTok, which brought the influencer boom into full force. Now millions of people are vying for that label.

Smart creators are looking for ways to keep their followers engaged, such as joining platforms like Substack to give their fans a more intimate look at their lives.

"Those are people who actually have something different to say," Wood said.

Hannah Witton, a former YouTuber who's been making content for over a decade, left the platform at the end of last year and moved to Patreon — and many of her subscribers followed.

She told BI that influencers, like everyone, will change over time. It's hard to be "relatable" to everyone, but the way to keep followers happy is for influencers to continue sharing things authentically, even as their interests change.

"I think the key is to be honest about changes and take your audience along for the ride," Witton said. "Naturally, some people will fall off, but many will stay, and new people will always come."

In these more niche communities, Wood said fans are happy to see the influencers they love making money and recommending products. It's not that ads are necessarily bad, she said, they just need to be done well.

"They're proud of their influencer," she said. "They're like, 'Get your bag. I love this ad. You make the best ads.' That is the golden standard."

Viewers don't want to be lied to

Transparency is important for influencers, and some have come under fire for not being honest about ads, such as not disclosing that they were paid to promote certain products or trying to hide the disclosure hashtags behind the video's caption.

"Audiences are very smart and I think they don't want to feel duped," Wood said. "They're going to be like, 'This influencer thinks I'm dumb to believe this ad when I know that this is not something she would create.'"

Jessica Dante, an influencer and the founder of the tourism page Love and London, agreed that influencers lose credibility when viewers see something they perceive as a "money grab."

Dante thinks people focus a bit too much on "relatability," but she agrees that people like influencers who they believe are honest and have integrity.

"Because TikTok has enabled people to go viral for something that maybe isn't authentic or true, this is especially the case," she said. "It's why influencers are often called out when they aren't being truthful or haven't told the whole story."

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request by BI for comment.

Correction: April 23, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the timeframe that retail sales increased by 0.7%. It was on a monthly, not annual, basis.