# Social Media Influencer Social Media Influencer describes a social media user with a large following who gets paid to endorse products. Once a marketing buzzword, the label moved center stage in 2018 when Kylie Jenner started pulling $1 million per Instagram post, Fyre Festival made influencers a punchline, and Payless pranked fashion accounts into praising $20 shoes as $1,800 luxury goods. ## Origin "Influencer" existed as advertising jargon well before Instagram made it a career. The modern Social Media Influencer usage locked in around 2009, when the Federal Trade Commission ruled that paid endorsements by bloggers and online personalities fall under native-advertising rules, requiring disclosure on sponsored posts[7]. That decision recognized influencers as a distinct paid channel years before their rates hit six and seven figures, and KYM traces the term's broader rise to the same shift of marketing dollars onto social platforms[5]. - **Platform:** Blogs (term origin) / Instagram (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2009 ## Overview The Social Media Influencer label covers celebrity models, beauty vloggers, and lifestyle accounts whose follower counts convert directly into rate cards. Hopper HQ's 2018 Instagram Rich List put Kylie Jenner at roughly $1 million per sponsored post, Selena Gomez at $800,000, and Cristiano Ronaldo at $750,000, with the wider influencer market estimated at $1 billion that year[1]. Brands increasingly hired influencers to speak on their behalf rather than run traditional ads. Alongside the paid work, the culture picked up a joke identity: the Social Media Douchebag, also called the New Media Douchebag, a self-styled expert accused of manufacturing authority for clout. Blogger Kelly Stewart's October 2007 YouTube video "New Media Douchebags Explained" was an early swing at the type[6]. The stereotype stuck as brands poured money in and follower-buying pushed advertisers to publicly fight back[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Social Media Influencer? A social media user with a large audience who gets paid by brands to endorse products, with top Instagram earners commanding around $1 million per sponsored post as of 2018[1]. ### Where did Social Media Influencer come from? The word predates social media as advertising jargon, but the modern paid version was formally recognized in 2009 when the FTC classified influencer endorsements as native advertising requiring disclosure[7]. ### What does Social Media Influencer mean? It refers to an online personality whose follower count lets them shape purchasing decisions, monetized through sponsored content and brand deals rather than traditional advertising[2]. ### How do you use Social Media Influencer? Brands hire influencers to post sponsored content, though Unilever announced in 2018 it would drop influencers who buy fake followers to protect trust in the channel[2]. ### Is Social Media Influencer still popular? Influencer marketing was valued near $1 billion in 2018 and projected to double by 2019, with celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Cristiano Ronaldo pulling six- to seven-figure fees per post[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/31/kylie-jenner-makes-1-million-per-paid-instagram-post-hopper-hq-says.html]() 2. [https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/unilever-social-media-influencers-advertising-1202848790/]() 3. [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/payless-pranks-influencers-into-think-theyre-buying-luxury-shoes_n_5c02f349e4b0a173c02394cb]() 4. [https://time.com/5024571/conde-nast-italia-social-media-influencer-degree/]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/social-media-influencer]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSP8xm_gaK4]() 7. [https://johnbell.typepad.com/weblog/2009/08/influencers-dont-call-them-bloggers.html]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/social-media-influencer Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library