Articles

The Power (And Silliness) Of Influencers

Your digital media catch-up is right here.

Every Tuesday – for just a few minutes – I join Heather Backman (my old buddy from her days on CHOM FM) on the air at Jack 103 (Rogers Sports & Media) to give a quick blast about the current state of technology, media and Internet culture. We’re calling the segment Tech Tuesday (and we do it in just a few minutes).

What is Tech Tuesday?

If you ever find yourself wondering… What, exactly, is the point of TikTok? How can I make myself look better on a Zoom? Reddit? What’s that about? How do I help my kids be safer online? Who’s the latest creator and streamer that I should be checking out?

You are not alone.

This is what Heather Backman and I discussed this morning over on Jack 103 FM for a couple of minutes:

Airlines Strand Passengers Who Partied on Flight Without Masks – The New York Times.

The news about the Quebec influencers who got caught partying on a plane to a sun destination has gone global (and viral). No masks, open bottles, vaping, and more. Everyone from Canada’s Prime Minister down to people like you and me have been shaking their fists and upset at this scene. Even the airlines, have been resistant to fly these influencers back. Another mess in messy times. Let’s discuss influencers. Are these people influencers? If they were influencers, how come we don’t know who any of these people are? I know the answer might be, because they are from Quebec (and mostly known in French Canada), but that doesn’t seem to be the case here (or is it)? So, do influencers matter? Do they have power? Should they be given special rights, like celebrities seem to have?

Are influencers celebrities… or people we should really care about?

App of the Week: Wordle – A daily word game that is taking the world by storm.

Once the segment goes live on Jack 103, I will post it here for you to listen in, learn, share and engage….

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1194575368

Mitch Joel · The Power (And Silliness) Of Influencers – Jack 103 FM – January 11th, 2022

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Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.