One of the things I find most obnoxious about ~influencer~ culture is the way it's shaped expectations, goals, a sense of entitlement for a lot of younger folks. Now I'm not here to bash on millenials/Gen Z or what have you, and I'm still a young'un myself, but the rise of e-celebrities around media presences on Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, etc. and fame and the approval and idolation of their peers based on likes and followers, has created some really toxic ideas of what success and wealth look like, and the kinds of behaviors aligned with people with that kind of success. I feel like I'm seeing it already with certain podcasters and costumers that I follow-- the kind of fame that generates loyal followers who are happy to hurl money at you and indulge your off-the-cuff requests, and instead of taking a mental step back like "alright, I've got a semi-celebrity persona that I need to cultivate and also grow like a particularly needy plant for the success of my brand and my work," it's "hey guys, i really need this expensive stand mixer, just like REALLY NEED IT" one day and "ohhhh I know I mentioned this beautiful cashmere sweater I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS SENT ME THREE OF THEM WOWWW" the next. The semi-begging expectation that their followers will just produce whatever they ask for on demand is really a turn-off, and it does worry me that they're going to come to expect that kind of indulgence and entitlement all through life.
Another example: I was selling at a media convention a couple of weeks ago, and saw a pair of teenagers making their way around to all the artists' tables. When they got to mine, the conversation opened with "do you know what a social media influencer is?" and then went straight into, essentially, asking me to give them free stuff so they can "showcase" it on their social media feed and give me "exposure."
Even more annoying than the two of them treating this as if their offer was some kind of equivalent transaction (my hard work & cost for supplies for two seconds of their time taking a picture and uploading it to instagram or whatever) was the way they acted like it was already a done deal-- talking between themselves about how "oh yeah, I can totally review soap," (I'm a soap-seller) and telling me that I should take them up on their "offer" now, so that I don't have to spend extra on shipping stuff to them later down the line (that's not going to be a problem) and their clear surprise and disappointment when I told them I would pass. I hope none of the artists at the convention actually took them up on it, but who knows... maybe some of them have also bought into shitty social media influencer culture and think it's actually going to help their sales.