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The Age Of Influencing

What do you want to be when you grow up? Today, when you ask kids that question, one of their most popular responses: an influencer. That’s right. Move over pilot, firefighter, and the other popular occupational aspirations of yesteryear. Many kids today want to make a living by amassing followers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube and peddling products and services to them.

Kaz Fantone/NPR

All this week, The Indicator from Planet Money is breaking down the economics of social media influencers and how their rise in popularity, fame, and power makes influencer marketing a viable career… for some. Star influencers can earn millions of dollars a year. But, as the show reports, only a teeny-tiny fraction of influencers actually earn enough to do it full-time. Most, instead, do it as a side-hustle while working a full-time job.

In this five-part series, The Indicator will be covering the history of influencing, the basics of what it means to be an influencer in 2023, and why Gen Z is so enthralled with the occupation. They will be diving into how influencers make their money. And, they will also look at the dark side of influencing, including the mental health challenges that come with social media attention and the disparities in pay that are seen in the industry.

So tune in! This series will be entertaining, informative, and very much in the zeitgeist.

Kaz Fantone/NPR

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The hidden history of race and the tax code — This past January, researchers uncovered that Black taxpayers are three to five times as likely to be audited as everyone else. One likely reason for this is that the IRS disproportionately audits lower-income earners who claim a tax benefit called the earned income tax credit. And this, says law professor Dorthy Brown, is just one example of the many ways that race is woven through our tax system, its history, and its enforcement. Listen here

A tech billionaire goes missing in China — Earlier this year, Bao Fan, a prominent Chinese banker and tech billionaire, went missing in China. According to a statement from his company, he's "cooperating in an investigation being carried out by certain authorities in the People's Republic of China." The details are very murky, but his disappearance raises questions about doing business in China right now. The Indicator has the story. Listen here

Also on The Indicator: The dating game that does your taxes; Can forcing people to save cool inflation?; and Gloomy global growth, Tupperware troubles, RIP HBO Max

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The Age Of Influencing

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