Mocked for not having a ‘real job’ influencers work hard, are smart, making money and laughing last

Perhaps the real reason people “spit venom” on sassy, smart influencers is plain jealousy. Studies show most love their work while many in traditional employment do not.

Tammy Hembrow is a fitness influencer now worth $38m. Picture: Instagram

Despite hysterical cries from the rooftops that we are autonomous and secure in our personal convictions, every one of us is influenced daily. We don’t live in vacuums; we watch ads on TV, scroll through social media, read newspapers and listen to the radio – all of which influence us.

Yet, when it comes to influencers, we spit venom on them and their livelihoods. We call them vapid, lazy, boring and vain.

When opening the floodgates of influencer-hate, a particularly ugly and self-righteous brand of judgment oozes out. Influencers are mocked, belittled and disparaged for not having a ‘‘real’’ job – and once upon a time, I agreed.

People love to mock Nadia Bartel and Bec Judd for being vapid and not having real jobs, but these influencers are hard working and having the last laugh. Picture: Instagram

I felt irrationally angered by the pretty girls posing online with their protein powders and ‘‘life-changing’’ skincare, disdainfully scrolling past their posts on my moral pedestal.

Me, with my ‘‘real’’ job.

The reality is, being an influencer is not only a ‘‘real’’ job; it is one that takes social, technical and marketing smarts to succeed.

The same way there are failed real estate agents, lawyers and teachers, you can only take a career as far as your talent – which is why some influencers hit six-figure annual incomes and others fall into the shadows. It’s a job that requires expertise in marketing and charisma, because your entire job is to sell yourself and your personal brand.

It requires organisation, brand deals, schedules for posting online, exposure, networking, media engagement – all while ensuring you are making money. With the direction of the global market, many economists consider influencers a necessary and useful asset for business growth and production.

With Bec Judd, like other influencers, the reality is, she not only has a ‘‘real’’ job, but one that takes social, technical and marketing smarts to succeed. Picture: Getty Images

A small business paying a hot-shot influencer to promote its product is not laziness; it’s working smarter not harder.

Influencers are essentially disliked for the same reason sex workers are: people can’t stand that women have found a way to capitalise on an endeavour that was previously done for free.

Society is unhappy women have found a way to cash in on a service laced with others’ entitlement and as such, the kneejerk response is to dismiss it as not ‘‘real’’ work anyway.

Perhaps the true reason people dislike influencers is jealousy.

Studies show many influencers love their work and many people in traditional employment do not.

It’s true, not everyone can hack it as an influencer. And I would wager the profession’s most outspoken critics are, in fact, its most ardent secret admirers.