Influencers and conflicting recommendations

If they don't have their own unique "secret", how do they distinguish themselves from all the other influencers? How would they sell their exercise program, diet plan, supplements or whatever?

"Hey, follow me, I do the same stuff everyone else does!" I don't think that's going to work very well.

If we, the general public, figure out that there really is no big secret, realize that we can figure out how to eat in a way that manages our weight, do some enjoyable activities that keep us reasonably fit . . . the influencers are SOL.

Eating and activity plans are something that people of normal intelligence can figure out, if they pay attention, apply common sense, and put in a small amount of effort.

I don't understand why anyone pays attention to influencers. Actual experts, sure. But not influencers. It's not that hard to tell the difference.

robertw486 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I don't understand why anyone pays attention to influencers. Actual experts, sure. But not influencers. It's not that hard to tell the difference.

It's not hard to tell the difference IF you know something about the subject matter. But often people that are influenced don't.... that is what the influencers are trying to prey on.

I'm not sold. There's some threshold level of knowledge needed, sure. But checking for things like advanced degrees in a relevant field, papers published in reputable journals, certifications from respected organizations, what reasonably-credentialed critics of the person say, even Better Business Bureau type sources, etc. . . . that's a decent start.

I'd want to do check out like that - stuff beyond just reading their web site - for anyone whose advice I was going to use to change major life habits like eating and exercise. I mean, if I hire a plumber or mechanic for anything major, I'm going to check them out against something besides their own marketing.

Yeah, there's always going to be some MD nephrologist or something pretending to be the end-all expert on diet or whatever, but just checking basic credentials would filter out a lot of the worst nonsense-pushers. Probably even a diet-guru nephrologist would have some credible online critics.

Among the popular influencers (Vince Sant, for example) just a simple web search for critics will bring up some thought-provoking points. It's not difficult to look beyond an influencer's self-promotions; it's just apparently not standard practice, just as - obviously - many people (even smart people) on social media don't fact-check provocative but unattributed meme-y statistics before reposting them.

robertw486 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I don't understand why anyone pays attention to influencers. Actual experts, sure. But not influencers. It's not that hard to tell the difference.

It's not hard to tell the difference IF you know something about the subject matter. But often people that are influenced don't.... that is what the influencers are trying to prey on.

Yeah, not only that but most people would probably loose interest pretty fast if they had to sit through a dissertation of a particular subject compared to someone that has a good story to tell, are animated and instill confidence and look the part. Most influencers work on a numbers game and adjust there takeaway based on the algorithms that show increased interests, which is a way to tell fakes from the sincere, if your astute enough and have a decent vocabulary and knowledge of the subject matter in question, otherwise it's like the wild west with snake oil salesman everywhere praying on the gullible.

nossmf wrote: »

robertw486 wrote: »

It's not hard to tell the difference IF you know something about the subject matter. But often people that are influenced don't.... that is what the influencers are trying to prey on.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

I'm not sold. There's some threshold level of knowledge needed, sure. But checking for things like advanced degrees in a relevant field, papers published in reputable journals, certifications from respected organizations, what reasonably-credentialed critics of the person say, even Better Business Bureau type sources, etc. . . . that's a decent start...It's not difficult to look beyond an influencer's self-promotions; it's just apparently not standard practice...

The world is full of people who are overweight, who are in debt. Reasonably intelligent people in most cases. But if we all obeyed are intelligence in every decision we made, the world would have very few overweight, indebted people.

It's human nature to take the easy way out, especially for any subject which does not hold a natural interest. Whether it's the desire for instant gratification, or a lack of time/energy left after a day simply trying to survive, most people do not put in the effort you describe, @annpt77. It's in this vacuum where the influencers have carved a niche for themselves.

Believe me, I get that. I even live that, in some domains. But I'm still going to say that checking these things out is a better route, and that most people are capable of doing that, if they want to achieve better results for less time/energy/money. That's true in a lot of domains, and I think pays off in the long run.

The marketers (just like the meme-pushers) are trying to hook our emotions and dreams, get us to zoom in and act quickly before letting the rational brain put on the brakes. I'm suggesting that we can learn to notice that emotion when it starts to kick in, and begin to recognize it as a warning sign that we're about to be manipulated.

I've gotten decent about this in the general social media realm: The more I feel outrage/enthusiasm and want to hit that share button immediately, the more vital it is that I don't do that, but check it out instead, because I'm about to be hooked. In most cases, that meme is utter trash.

Marketing is the same: The more strongly appealing, the more important to check. So I'm advocating that. Do I think everyone will do that? Nope. Will I always do that? Probably nope.

But I think the reason generally - for me or most others - isn't that it takes special knowledge of the subject matter (like the PP says) or skill or even necessarily a large chunk of time or effort. It's emotional, mostly.
.

damianzhang86 wrote: »

I bloomin hate influencers, credible sources (scientific or data driven) is where it is at.

There was an influencer this weekend who said veg and fruit had no carbs, honestly....

You have 14 yr old kids on Tren, clothing brands using AI generated models showing unrealistic body types, weightloss drug companies saying its genetics not your diet...bodybuilders (some not all) selling supplements which cost a fortune but scientifically have little to no real results in humans.

All I ask if use your educated head and do your research. However, if you enjoy watching them on youtube go for it, I do, but I take everything they say with a pinch of salt. For example, most of the videos I watch are say 20 - 30 minutes long, I probably gain 1 minute - 2 minutes of actually useful information to reflect on, the rest is complete trash.

To be honest, you'd be much better off spending the 20-30 minutes reading or listening to a topic you're interested in from someone with actual qualifications in the field.

We all know the perfect eaters are really hiding out the back with a cheeseburger....