On Tuesday we had the self-proclaimed ‘Influencer’ Murs Alison come to talk to the class about how he got into the job, what makes him different from all the others and the path he’s chosen. I felt the talk went well delivered and he had great public speaking skills. However, a few of his points left me with many questions. I was really impressed by his graphic design skills with his website and video, but if there’s nothing more than good graphics what else is there? I didn’t see much personality in his pictures or captions and tended to look fake. He’s been working on it for two years and only had 35k followers? Many other people that I know who is also dubbed as influencers have succeeded much faster as they actually have people interested in them.

Another point that stuck in my mind was when people asked about his inspiration for being an influencer and he said ‘color’ explaining that many people in New York City use only dark images. I feel like this is beyond false and only has to do with the fact he really has no passion and just wants to be famous and ‘loved’. I feel like admitting to himself to be the first step in him changing his life, however, I cannot speak for him and don’t know him personally.

Personally, I think there are many different types of influencers. One of my favorites is @diet_prada, a team who comments on the latest coming from the fashion industry and calls companies out. Even some that post pictures of their travels etc. are some that I enjoy. However, Murs, I felt focused more on the design marketing himself than working on his actual self. Yes, you do need to take good photos and know how to work a computer but I think he didn’t check his privilege. Also, it’s possible his followers are fake, you really would need to look into it to see if its true.