The origins of the influencer industry

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2023

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we're going deep into the multi-billion dollar influencer industry. Today, a researcher and two generations of influencers take us through the industry's history, from its origins in the blogosphere of the Great Recession to the sponsored content in your social media feeds today.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:12.0	Hey guys, welcome back to my channel. This is the indicator from planet money and today we're top.
0:17.0	So, Whalen, what are you doing? That's not our normal intro.
0:20.0	Oh, sorry, Adrienne. Okay, I'm gonna start over.
0:23.0	Get ready with me as I host the indicator from planet money.
0:27.0	Okay, okay, Whalen, what has gotten into you?
0:30.0	You know, I've been watching all these YouTube videos and Instagram reels and TikToks.
0:35.0	I think I started to talk like a professional influencer.
0:38.0	Ah, okay, well that makes sense because well, this is Influencer Week on the indicator.
0:45.0	I'm Adrienne Ma.
0:46.0	And I'm Whalen Wong.
0:47.0	This week we are bringing you a special series about the multi-billion dollar influencer industry.
0:53.0	How we got started, how people make money, and why becoming a digital content creator has become such a desired career for younger generations.
1:02.0	Today on the show, we look at the origins of the modern influencer industry.
1:06.0	We look at the economic and cultural forces that enable people to make money broadcasting their lives online.
1:13.0	That's coming up after our hashtag ad break.
1:16.0	Emily Hunt graduated from college in a lousy job market.
1:24.0	The year was 2009.
1:26.0	It was the tail end of the great recession.
1:28.0	And as Emily was trying to cobble together a living from different media jobs,
1:33.0	she kept hearing the same advice.
1:35.0	My own bosses would constantly say, well, have you, you know, have you thought about starting a blog?
	...

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