Are these influencers not famous, or are you in a bubble?

NEW YORK – American trade publication The Hollywood Reporter announced its list of the “top 50 most influential influencers” to relatively little fanfare last week. The list included names such as Alix Earle, Kai Cenat and Nara Smith, as well as YouTube stalwarts like Rhett and Link and TikTok darling Charlie D’Amelio.

Collectively, the people selected for the list have hundreds of millions of fans and command billions of views.

For scale, D’Amelio, who at one point ran the top account on TikTok, has 155.8 million followers.

Chances are good, if you consider yourself to be a person of the online persuasion, that you have seen a video from, or at least have heard of, one or two people on this list. Maybe quite a few of them.

On the social platform X, however, things took a turn on Oct 10, when the same magazine posted a photo of 22 influencers in formal attire with a provocative introduction of “Hollywood, meet your new A-list” and a link to the main story on influential influencers.

Notably missing from the photo, and an accompanying story on influencers local to Los Angeles, were many of the larger list’s most famous faces.

The reaction to the post, which has been viewed more than 35 million times, was a resounding chorus of “who?”.

“I literally have 14 hours of screen time a day – who are these people?” read one reply.

“Can I be edited into this photo?” American comedian-actor Rob Delaney wrote. “I am going through a rough patch personally and professionally, and it would really help.”

The responses, which seemed unaware of the photo being of a select group of influencers from one city that was intended to run with a different story, served as a window into the still widespread belief among some that true fame can come only from stars who are native to music, movies and TV shows.

In 2024, however, internet celebrities are no longer relegated purely to digital spaces. The line between internet culture and culture is virtually non-existent.

A look at the magazine’s larger list of 50 influential influencers makes that point clearly.

D’Amelio, 20, won a season of reality dancing show Dancing With The Stars in 2022 and will soon join the cast of the Broadway show & Juliet.

Another name on the list, Benito Skinner, 30, known online as Benny Drama, just finished filming the show Overcompensating for Prime Video.

Then, there is the YouTuber and TV host Lilly Singh; Keith Lee, a food reviewer whose videos have such power that they can help save struggling businesses; and Cenat, a streamer with such a vast following that he was charged with inciting a riot after thousands of his fans descended on Manhattan in 2023.

It is not just about follower count, however.

Brands are increasingly turning to smaller creators – like microinfluencers, or even nanoinfluencers – with more modest followings.

For years, American beauty brand Tarte has spent its marketing budget taking influencers on elaborate vacations. The subsequent posts from those lavish trips – which reach millions of viewers around the world – are worth more to the company than a traditional ad buy, according to Ms Maureen Kelly, the brand’s founder and chief executive.

The creator economy is projected to be valued at around US$480 billion (S$626 million) by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs Research. According to one study, one out of four members of Gen Z wants to be a professional influencer.

So, whether or not users on X recognise the 50 people on the list of influential influencers – or, more specifically, the 22 pictured in the photo from Los Angeles – they are getting plenty of attention, from Hollywood and beyond. NYTIMES