A NEW HORIZON: THE INFLUENCER.

In a generation where we spend most of the day using mobile phones, laptops and other technological devices, new jobs have developed such as the INFLUENCER.

In particular, an influencer is a person who works in a certain area, for example, to promote their merchandise, or they can be a mediator for important causes (projects to save children in Africa, to defend animals which are threatened by humans); but the most important influencer job in the world regards fashion. Influencers have built up their own reputation for many years and they write about all matters. They publish posts, comments in the social apps they prefer; obviously, many people follow them on Instagram and Twitter (they are the most used apps in this period). Influencers are also important for the most powerful companies.

Like I said before, we can divide the world of the influencers into different parts: in fact, we can group them according to the type of content and followers. Based on the number of followers, for example, we have:

• the mega-influencer: they are people with a vast number of followers (usually, they have at least 1 million followers). Some of them have earned their fame offline, so they are actors, athletes and entertainers; instead, others have become famous thanks to various social networks. An important Italian influencer is Chiara Ferragni, an emblem of professionality, and a powerful woman: in 2009 she started a fashion blog known as “The Blond Salad”, then, she introduced her own brand on the market. Today, she is one of the most important influencers in the world. She works especially with fashion brands.
• the macro-influencer: they are people with a modest number of followers (about 40.000/1 mln on the social media); this group can be divided in two categories: 1) celebs, like actors, musicians and singers; 2) successful online experts that are more useful for companies. We have more macro-influencers than mega-influencers, but this is the category which can commit fraud of any kind.
• the micro-influencer: they are normal people who have become popular because they have had important connections with other famous people. The people who follow them range from 1000 to 40.000. The micro-influencers have built a community with specific followers and they do not want to damage their relationship with their fans by promoting a bad product. Some of them are from 16 to 20 years old (the Z generation) and they are excited to sell their brands;
• The nano-influencer: they have very few followers but they are experts in certain areas. Unfortunately, some companies do not consider them at all.

We also have other types of influencers, based on the type of content. They are:

• Bloggers;
• Youtubers;
• Podcasters.

Finally, we have another category: the influencer based on influences:

• the celebrities: the first influencer;
• the opinion leader: they are journalists, professional consultants and academics.