文章來(lái)源：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》Nov 11th 2023 期 Culture 欄目 Online influencers 網(wǎng)紅

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The internet?and its cultural impact are most often viewed through the lens of the “tech bro”, the (usually male) geniuses and?fraudsters?behind the corporations reshaping the world.?Biographies, memoirs and?salacious?tell-alls?about these big-tech bosses have shaped readers’ understanding of how the online world changes the offline one.?But these books rarely mention the principal figures who have shaped the experience of being online: social-media influencers.

人們一般通過(guò) "技術(shù)兄弟 "的視角來(lái)看待互聯(lián)網(wǎng)及其文化影響?！凹夹g(shù)兄弟”是指重塑世界的知名企業(yè)背后的天才和騙子（通常是男性）。通過(guò)科技巨頭老板相關(guān)的傳記、回憶錄和桃色故事，讀者理解了線上世界如何改變了線下世界。但這些書(shū)很少提及影響上網(wǎng)體驗(yàn)的主要人物：社交網(wǎng)紅。

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Influencers—the (usually female) people behind the most popular accounts on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube—have large followings, often in the hundreds of thousands or millions.?People like Jackie Aina, Matilda Djerf and Molly-Mae Hague earn a living from a combination of sponsored posts (#sponcon), commissions made through affiliate links and by creating their own brands, from?fake tan?to eyeshadows to loungewear lines.?According to Forbes, more than 50m people globally describe themselves as influencers; Goldman Sachs predicts the industry will double to nearly $500bn by 2027.

網(wǎng)紅——是指Instagram、TikTok 和 YouTube等平臺(tái)上最受歡迎賬戶背后的運(yùn)營(yíng)者（通常是女性）——通常擁有數(shù)十萬(wàn)或數(shù)百萬(wàn)的粉絲。Jackie Aina、Matilda Djerf 和 Molly-Mae Hague 等網(wǎng)紅的變現(xiàn)途徑有：通過(guò)發(fā)帖子 (例如#sponcon)拿廣告費(fèi)、通過(guò)相關(guān)鏈接帶貨賺取傭金、創(chuàng)立自己的品牌（有假日曬、眼影、家居服系列等）。據(jù)《福布斯》報(bào)道，全球有5000多萬(wàn)人自稱是 "網(wǎng)絡(luò)紅人"；高盛預(yù)測(cè)，到 2027 年，這一行業(yè)的規(guī)模將翻一番，達(dá)到近 5000 億美元。

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Though they shape digital culture, influencers are too often dismissed as fame-hungry pseudo-celebrities, who post about the?minutiae?of their lives and mindlessly promote branded products for eye-watering sums.?But a new crop of books takes the influencer industry more seriously by exploring the way social media’s most popular users are reshaping the global economy and changing what the average person views online.

雖然網(wǎng)紅塑造了數(shù)字文化，但他們往往被視為沽名釣譽(yù)的偽名人，他們發(fā)布生活瑣事，通過(guò)盲目推廣品牌產(chǎn)品賺取高額費(fèi)用。但新出版的一批書(shū)籍更認(rèn)真地探討了 "網(wǎng)紅 "產(chǎn)業(yè)，探究了社交媒體上的網(wǎng)紅如何重塑全球經(jīng)濟(jì)，如何改變普通人上網(wǎng)的瀏覽內(nèi)容。

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Taylor Lorenz, a technology writer for the Washington Post, is a leading voice on social-media trends and internet culture.?Her book, “Extremely Online”, argues that influencers hold huge power: “Tech founders may control the source code, but users shape the product.”?Charting the history of the influencer (once called “e-celebs” or “ceWEBrities”) from the 1990s to today, Ms Lorenz argues influencers rose by making fame and luxury less “sealed off”.

泰勒·洛倫茨是《華盛頓郵報(bào)》的科技撰稿人，是社交媒體趨勢(shì)和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)文化的意見(jiàn)領(lǐng)袖。她在《網(wǎng)紅簡(jiǎn)史》書(shū)里闡明，網(wǎng)紅擁有巨大的影響力：“科技創(chuàng)始人能控制源代碼，但用戶塑造了產(chǎn)品?！甭鍌惼澴匪萘?990年代到今天的網(wǎng)紅歷史（“網(wǎng)紅”曾被稱為“電子名人”或“網(wǎng)絡(luò)名人”），她認(rèn)為網(wǎng)紅的崛起是因?yàn)槊蜕萑A不再“局限于少數(shù)群體”。

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Like reality-TV stars, early influencers created a new, niche sort of celebrity, popular enough to draw scrutiny but still unrecognisable to most.?Ms Lorenz makes the case that, despite its bad rap, influencing has “given more people the chance to benefit directly from their labour than at any other time in history”,?regaling?readers with stories about “mommy bloggers” turning the pain of parenthood into six-figure businesses and teens becoming multi-millionaires off short comedy skits.

像電視真人秀明星一樣，早期網(wǎng)紅是一群新奇的、小眾的名人類型，他們的受歡迎程度足以引起人們的關(guān)注，但對(duì)大多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)識(shí)別度仍不高。洛倫茲認(rèn)為，盡管“網(wǎng)紅”的名聲不好，但這“比歷史上任何時(shí)候都讓更多的人有機(jī)會(huì)直接從自己的勞動(dòng)中受益”，她給讀者講述了一些引人入勝的故事，例如“媽媽育兒博主們”將育兒的痛苦變成了6位數(shù)的生意，青少年通過(guò)短片喜劇成為了千萬(wàn)富翁。

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Influencing has also spilled into politics, with the rise of social-media activism and influencers gaining followers by posting about social issues and news. (This sometimes leads to political candidates courting them in order to sway younger voters.)?She also examines influencers’ new role in traditional media, with TV and film studios harvesting stars and storylines from the content on these accounts.?Some TikTokers, such as Addison Rae, have starred in films, as well as reality television. Take “The D’Amelio Show”, about teen TikTokers Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, now in its third season on Hulu.

隨著社交媒體激進(jìn)主義的興起，網(wǎng)紅影響力也滲透到了政治領(lǐng)域，他們通過(guò)發(fā)布社會(huì)問(wèn)題和新聞來(lái)吸引粉絲。（這有時(shí)會(huì)導(dǎo)致政治候選人爭(zhēng)取他們的支持，以影響年輕選民。）她還研究了網(wǎng)紅在傳統(tǒng)媒體中的新角色，電視和電影制片廠從網(wǎng)紅發(fā)布的內(nèi)容中挖掘明星和故事情節(jié)。一些 TikTok 網(wǎng)紅，例如Addison Rae曾出演電影，還參加了真人秀節(jié)目。以《達(dá)梅里奧秀》為例，該劇講述了少年 TikTok網(wǎng)紅Charli 和 Dixie D'Amelio 的故事，目前該劇已在 Hulu 上播出了第三季。

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Ms Lorenz’s?take?on influencing is optimistic. She is not alone.?“Bad Influence” reflects on a decade of influencing, and also paints a honeyed picture of influencers’ function in culture.?“We are photographers, videographers, copywriters, directors, editors, models and marketing team all rolled into one,” Oenone Forbat, an influencer, writes in her memoir, which offers?intimate?details about the haphazard quality of influencers’ fame.?However, despite its?Panglossian sheen, the strength of “Bad Influence” is its meditation on the deep-seated?paranoia?that comes with being constantly exposed to so many people.

洛倫茲對(duì)網(wǎng)紅的看法是樂(lè)觀的，且無(wú)獨(dú)有偶?！恫涣加绊憽芬粫?shū)描寫(xiě)了10年來(lái)網(wǎng)紅的影響力，也描繪了網(wǎng)紅對(duì)文化的正面積極影響。網(wǎng)紅奧諾涅·福巴特在她的回憶錄中寫(xiě)道：“我們既是攝影師、攝像師、文案師，又是導(dǎo)演、編輯、模特和營(yíng)銷團(tuán)隊(duì)，一人承擔(dān)所有工作?！边@本回憶錄記錄了網(wǎng)紅成名之路上的各種私人細(xì)節(jié)。然而，盡管《不良影響》具有樂(lè)觀的光彩，這本書(shū)的強(qiáng)大之處在于它反思了不斷暴露于眾人視線下而引發(fā)的深層恐懼。

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And there are plenty of reasons to be anxious: for every fan, there is a critic.?A?vehement?one is Symeon Brown, who looks at the industry’s?underbelly, full of scammers, surgeries, racism and exploitation, in his entertaining “Get Rich or Lie Trying”.?Mr Brown, a journalist, tells?gory?stories of influencers who took part in scams.?Sometimes people who get tricked end up becoming “influencer scammers” themselves.?He chronicles the experience of one woman losing tens of thousands to the now-defunct Trump University, which ran real-estate training programmes; she then launched a similar scheme.?He argues that this is influencers’ real impact: making exploitation more accessible, widespread and far?wilier?than it was in its pre-internet days.

網(wǎng)紅感到焦慮的原因有很多：每個(gè)粉絲都是一個(gè)批評(píng)者。西蒙·布朗就是一個(gè)激烈的批評(píng)者，他在《底層網(wǎng)紅》一書(shū)中以?shī)蕵?lè)的方式揭露了網(wǎng)紅行業(yè)的陰暗面，包括騙子、整容手術(shù)、種族主義和剝削。作為一名記者，布朗講述了一些網(wǎng)紅參與詐騙的血淋淋故事。有時(shí)，上當(dāng)受騙的人最終自己也成了 "有影響力的騙子"。他記錄了一位女士因投資特朗普大學(xué)而被騙數(shù)萬(wàn)美元的故事，該大學(xué)現(xiàn)已不存在，此大學(xué)曾開(kāi)設(shè)了房地產(chǎn)培訓(xùn)課程；隨后她又推出了類似的體系。他認(rèn)為，這才是網(wǎng)紅的真正影響力：讓坑蒙拐騙變得更容易、更普遍，而且比前網(wǎng)絡(luò)時(shí)代更加肆無(wú)忌憚。

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The argument that runs through these very different books is that influencers have changed the rhythm of our culture, as well as who in society holds power.?How long influencers will stay top of their game, however, is not something any of the books try to answer.

這些截然不同書(shū)籍中共同的論點(diǎn)是，網(wǎng)紅改變了我們文化的節(jié)奏，以及權(quán)力的掌控。然而，沒(méi)有一本書(shū)回答關(guān)于 "網(wǎng)紅能保持多久領(lǐng)先地位“的問(wèn)題。

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Some experts estimate as much as 90% of online content could be AI-generated by 2026.?As the number of believable posts and photos produced by AI soars, influencers will face significantly more competition for internet users’ attention.?No influencer, regardless of how skilled they have proved to be at leveraging the internet into popularity and profits in the past, is guaranteed to retain any kind of influence in the next technological transformation.

一些專家估計(jì)，到 2026 年，多達(dá)90%的在線內(nèi)容將由人工智能生成。隨著人工智能生成的可信帖子和照片數(shù)量激增，網(wǎng)紅將面臨更多爭(zhēng)奪網(wǎng)民注意力的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。無(wú)論過(guò)去網(wǎng)紅多么成功地利用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)杠桿贏得知名度和利潤(rùn)，但沒(méi)有一個(gè)網(wǎng)紅能確保他們?cè)谙乱淮渭夹g(shù)變革中依然保持影響力。