Influencers, cats, and the idle!

In our current era, new job titles emerge daily that never cross our minds, such as “so-and-so is an influencer” or “so-and-so is a content creator,” or “she is a fashionista.” However, in English, the term is “influencer.” An influencer has an impact on others, whether positive or negative.

An influencer does not have specific qualifications, a particular degree, a defined gender, or sometimes even a specific age. What distinguishes this individual is what is known as charisma—meaning they possess the ability to attract others, have eloquence, are perceived as appealing in appearance, and come across as authentic. This is a source of livelihood for them. For female influencers, aesthetic qualities are important, while male influencers may also exhibit traits of eccentricity, a touch of madness, or a lack of modesty.

The law recently published in Kuwait regarding media addresses such issues. In this era, every influencer, male or female, must obtain a license from a government authority.

Some people envy influencers, believing they earn huge sums of money without effort. While this may happen to some extent, it is somewhat exaggerated. Envy exists, but an influencer’s career is not permanent; it may last only for a period or a specific life stage before ending. Another influencer may emerge and push them out of the spotlight.

I describe the situation as fitting the popular saying: “The livelihood of the influencers is on the idle ones.” In other words, the more active and numerous the influencers become, the higher their follower count and financial earnings from app platforms. Meanwhile, those who follow daily may gain nothing.

A Gulf influencer girl said, “I used to work in a simple job, and I had an Instagram page with a very limited number of followers. One day, I posted a video of myself responding to a juice vendor with a phrase that people liked. When I woke up the next morning, my follower count had increased by thousands, continuing to rise daily until I eventually left my job.”

Some companies, restaurants, or other businesses invite certain female influencers for advertising purposes and pay them money. But will that influencer remain relevant? Of course not. A more attractive influencer will appear, and so on.

I recall a Canadian girl who participated in the recent Olympic Games in an individual sport but did not win any medal. However, her appearance captivated followers, and her follower count grew. She does not practice any profession; instead, she has a website where she records herself waking up in the morning, filming her movements from morning until bedtime. People follow her, and due to the large number of followers, she decided to charge each follower a monthly or annual subscription fee. Many participated, and thousands of dollars entered her account daily, despite her not engaging in any formal work.

An American influencer was asked by a presenter, “Where does this money come from?” She confidently replied, “From advertisements, visits, shares, supporters, and anonymous donors.” The presenter was surprised and asked, “What is an anonymous donor?” She responded, “Occasionally, large sums of money enter my account from unknown individuals whose identities I do not know and who do not reveal themselves.”

Some may believe that life is rosy for influencers, but this is incorrect. They endure pain from bullying and mockery by many, even insults without reason or decency from unknown users. They live in fear of failure. Unfortunately, some, when their follower count declines, feel compelled to degrade their personality through humiliating scenes just to maintain their numbers. Sadly, some exploit children, while others do not respect their family names or degrade their content until they appear like a clown in a circus ring, showing up in torn shirts and ripped pants. This is regrettable.

In Japan, many people live in loneliness. For example, a young man may subscribe to and follow an influencer simply to wake up in the morning, watch them eat breakfast, and feel that someone is with him.

We return to our old popular saying: “The livelihood of the influencers is on the idle ones.” Previously, this referred to a lazy, inactive woman who neglected to store fish brought home for cooking, leaving it exposed in the courtyard. Cats would then come and eat it.

We mean that the category of followers consists of inactive individuals who follow but gain nothing except bitterness, like sour grapes. However, the new law does not specify any fees collected by the state, nor does it impose a tax on earnings made by influencers. In other words, this differs from other Gulf countries. Without fees, how can we know what an influencer earned—5,000 or 50,000? Gulf countries have value-added tax, so any amounts collected go into the state budget. We in Kuwait need such revenue, as we are suffering from the officially declared deficit. Therefore, a law without these provisions is utterly meaningless.