Influencers in “Le Monde”, with increasing visibility at the legitimacy trial

NOTe more promote cosmetic surgery, under penalty of criminal sanctions; stop touting misleading cancer cures, or questionable financial investments; put an end to masked paid partnerships: after the deputies, at the end of March, the senators adopted, on May 9, a bill regulating the activities of influencers on social networks.

The two co-rapporteurs of the initial text, MEPs Arthur Delaporte and Stéphane Vojetta, underlined the “a real need to structure and supervise a sector which is taking on an increasingly important place in the consumer society every day”, noted journalist Pauline Croquet on March 28.

Long ignored by the public authorities, the figure of the influencer – defined, upon entering THE robert, in 2017, as a “person who influences opinion, consumption by his audience on social networks” –, is at the center of attention, against a backdrop of the digital Far West and accusations of scams. France would now have 150,000, even if only a minority have made it a full-time job.

Go beyond traditional advertising

Far from this mass phenomenon, the neologism “influencer”, used in this particular sense, appears discreetly in The world October 5, 2001. In the course of an article entitled “trendy profession”, on agencies wishing to anticipate consumer expectations, Véronique Cauhapé and Marc Couty explain in a short box who are the “early adopters”.

The era is in Anglicisms: “They are at the forefront of fashion, write the journalists, live in large cities, discover before anyone else the restaurants and nightclubs that, tomorrow, will attract trendy people. THE early adoptersthe “early adopters” (also called leading edges – scouts-clearers – or trend setters – influencers), are lookouts for brands as well as for style firms, pointing out the new lands on which the trends of tomorrow will thrive. »

Internet is not mentioned. It is no more question during the second occurrence of the word in the newspaper… four years later. Macha Séry then tells how brands are trying to go beyond traditional advertising, using “opinion leaders” to praise a shampoo or a clothing line.

“Unlike the sandwich men and leafleters, these lawyers of a third type receive, in fact, no remuneration, just gratuities”, explains the journalist. Very mysterious rewards: “Information about “influencers” are kept secret. » Already, Macha Séry is pointing out the concern of the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association, which has just drawn up “an ethical charter enjoining recruits to be honest, and not to conceal their motivations or their true opinions”.

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