The Fyre Festival and Technology Influencers in the Cross-Fire

Most everyone involved in the Fyre Festival is coming in for some well-deserved condemnation.

One of the condemned classes of folks are the influencers. These are the bright and beautiful people who connect modeling and music. Pre-disaster, festival partner Ja Rule was everywhere in social media, as were other influencers — mostly young, wealthy celebrities who are the height of coolness for the young crowd that the Fyre Festival hoped to draw.

We know for sure that one of the Jenner girls (I’m not sure which one because I can’t tell them apart) got $125,000 for mentioning the Fyre Festival on her Instagram account. The other influencers were doubtless paid as well, and most of them have written heartfelt apologies about being misled by the Festival organizers.

Tech B2B and the Fyre Festival?

What does the Fyre Festival and technology B2B have in common? On the surface, not much. Few of us look like the supermodels/Fyre Festival influencers whose apologies are all over social media. And beyond unfortunate Booth Babe incidents, B2B conventions have little in common with the Fyre Festival.  The conventions generally happen at hotels and not ragged tent cities, and the food is a notch higher than the cheese sandwiches and wilted lettuce that the Festival offered.

But appearance is not the point. The commonality is influencers. Influencers in any industry— fashion, music, literature, entertainment, business, technology—have a responsibility to mean what they’re saying. Influencers have a reputation to maintain and they have a responsibility. And they put their own influence at risk if they blow it.

Why Influencers Walk the Rope

These days, books are coming out every other week and talk about business influencers. How to be buds with an influencer. How to guest post on an influencer blog. How to be an influencer in six easy lessons. Whatever.

The attention is understandable. Influencers are the keys to the kingdom. They are the ones who suggest certain products and companies. They are the ones who study (or create) industry trends. Guest blogging on their blogs can make or break a reputation.

Please do not get me wrong. I have nothing against technology influencers. (Or rap-loving models for that matter.) For the most part, influencers are smart, capable, and well-meaning men and women, and I benefit from their insight. We all do.

But there is a darker side to being an influencer. One is lending their reputation to a product or person that they don’t know much about, and really should have. Witness the Fyre Festival mess. And when you’re an influencer everyone knows your business – like the charmingly-named PewPieDie, a YouTube star whose Disney deal just blew up thanks to his anti-Semitic comments.

There is also the dark side of believing your own press. This happened several years ago but serves as an excellent object lesson. I know someone who was a top technology industry analyst. This man was an influencer among influencers, and he let his reputation go to his head and set up shop there. When he moved from his analyst firm to a senior position on the vendor side, he still believed his own press. And he failed. Big time. He lost his influencer status and never got it back.

Anyone who is at the forefront of their profession can use their influencer status for good or, as Maxwell Smart would say, for badness. Influencers have the responsibility to be smart about their recommendations and fair in their gate-keeping. We’re all people here, and influencers are in a position to help — or hurt. Choose wisely.

 

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