I was not aware that there were such things as college micro-influencers:
If any school can claim the title of America’s “college of influencers,” it’s the University of Miami, with its palm-lined walkways, pool in the center of campus and long list of ultra-viral alumni. It’s where Alix Earle became one of the biggest influencers in the world, posting TikToks from her Coral Gables dorm room about acne, outfits and her breakup with a professional baseball player when she was a marketing major in the early 2020s. …
Higher education has by and large embraced influencer culture, which already dominates beauty, travel, health and so much of everyday society. Plenty of schools, like Miami, funnel marketing dollars toward student creators as a recruiting tool or have embraced the RushTok phenomenon of viral sorority selections. [WaPo]
It used to be that one of the priorities of college, for many new students, was finding the appropriate church to attend. Not only did it serve spiritual needs, but it was the start of the social network that most students needed, for both in-college support and post-college career building.
As religion’s dominance over society has faded, fraternities and sororities stepped in to fill the void to some rough extent, but now they seem to be fading as the hyper-individualism of the age has taken over. But that doesn’t obviate the new student’s need for a social directory, knowing how to behave, etc, and, while yes, blogs and AIs can provide such services, a micro-influencer is more entertaining and even uptodate on current events. Unlike other services, a micro-influencer’s pushed by the lure of revenue to be uptodate.
So I’m not so sure about this statement:
[Nikki Pindor’s] followers may love her for her candor, but Pindor’s under no illusion about her impact. “We’re just entertainment,” she said. “We’re not doctors or politicians. Unless you’re raising awareness for something real, your contribution isn’t that deep.”
They may be more important than Pindor thinks.
