Musings on “Influencers”: Why Not My Generation?

So, who or what is an Influencer? The best definition I found, is a person who has a large following on social media who uses their influence to shape or influence “their” followers in opinions and purchases. Each influencer creates their own “Niche” by becoming very knowledgable of their subject material and engages their followers with interactions, and gains the trust of those who follow them. The most successful influencers can have literally multi-millions of “followers.” A recent edition of Time Magazine’s All Business published a report of the top influencers and a Portuguese soccer player known internationally, attracts hundreds of millions in each of multiple countries; A “Mr.Beast” has 418 million people watching his You Tubes; Kim Kardashian attracts 364 million followers on Instagram. This is astounding to me! Think of the power an influencer exerts with a worldwide audience! And, it can be lucrative to boot! Given enough followers, brand names will partner with them to promote their particular products and pay commissions, and if an influencer has their own named product, then more revenue pours in.

I think my generation is missing the boat! Social media such as You Tube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X-formerly Twitter, Blogs, and Podcasts, simply were nonexistent in our youth and most of our adulthood. As our population aged, computers entered the work-place, and we adapted to them and bought personal computers and cell phones. Many of us still email, text, send instant photos to others, order online, and have a Facebook account but rarely do we know, let alone use, the social media available today. Young people however, gravitate to it and spend hours being influenced by it. Our children are at least aware of it. The biggest void is my generation. We are too young to be the Greatest Generation and too old to be a Boomer, so I had always assumed we were the nameless generation. Imagine my surprise when I googled “those born between 1928 and 1945” and found out we are called The Silent Generation! But here’s the thing! To be a successful influencer, one has to have some solid experience and expertise in a given subject. Well, what does my generation do best? Two things in my humble opinion—we have spent a lifetime adapting to change and we understand what it means to grow old!

So, there’s the first step—expertise in a given area!

Next, we must find the social media that our targeted audience uses most frequently. I think podcasts (a video discussion) would be the easiest place to begin. Since Facebook is still largely used by our children, they could post our links to Podcasts or You Tube on their Facebook page. Our grandchildren could video our discussions, do the necessary edits and submit them. What a great way to have different generations working together!

Thirdly: Create a profile with a brief bio and have a consistent posting schedule. We “seniors of a certain age” could discuss “the ailment of the month” and the products we feel are the best for relief! From tonics, ointments, salves, medications, assistive devices—well, you get the idea! Safe to say, the topics and solutions are endless! Once we’ve run through Ailments, we could move on to Coping Mechanisms. (My two favorites are chocolate and red wine.) We could invite our friends to join us in lively discussions and tap into the wit found in so many of our elders!

Fourth: Engaging our audience is a must as it establishes trust, so there would have to be a place for their comments and incorporate them into the discussions. Ask them for their insights or topic selections for future podcasts. Bet it would make fascinating reading!

Oh my, my mind is racing with ideas. The time is ripe as more people are living a lot longer. I need a catchy title to get the aging population to tune in! I’m leaning to:

The Silent Generation Tells The Truth: The Golden Years Are Tarnished!

Have a nice day!