Any thoughts regarding 'tech influencers'?

[SylverReZ]

I have a huge problem regarding influencers, such as those who review retro technology like LGR. Every time these people start to show off products that aren't of interest that you can find on places such as eBay for a very low price, they start rising up in popularity and demand, and then they start hoarding them up and sell them for a really high price, calling them 'rare' and such.

Or those people who drive around in Teslas thinking they are up-to-date with the latest trends, but don't realise the consequences like auto-driving cars which can swivel off the road, or the fact that the batteries are reported to blow up. They also never care about their phone's anti-consumer features that track your data.

This is my own opinion on the matter. Place your thoughts down below.

 

[SylverReZ]

Here's another that I have in my head regarding Linus Tech Tips. Who the fuck even watches this guy? The only people who do, are the ones who buy his merch like that LTT-branded screwdriver, of which you can buy one for cheap at a dollar store. Don't know why he's still likable after the controversy arose of him bossing employees, and the poor environmental conditions in the workplace.

 

[KleinesSinchen]

How to get started?
Tech influencers, or better tech influencers, the word alone sounds like fingernails on chalkboard. Who in their right mind gets influenced by somebody posting stuff on YouTube? No matter if the topic is "tech" or "makeup" or "fashion" or "politics" or whatever a person is supposed to be an "influencer" for.
The usage for that English word in German language goes as far as sometimes almost all the girls of a elementary school class say they wish to be be influencers as a profession when grown up. That is not a joke.


Complex topics about "tech" can not be adequately addressed in the standardized mash of how "successful" YouTube videos are cranked out in arbitrary numbers. Nothing of all that clickbait (even after removing all the sponsor and advertising and self-advertising and introduction and whatnot) has any substance. Nothing goes deep. Videos aren't always a suitable format for bringing across complex topics, but nowadays everything has to be in video form.
You can see it here on the forum looking at the masses of people, who ran into some trouble following shameless, inferior video adaptations of 3ds.hacks.guide. People naturally assume knowledge, tutorials, manuals have to be delivered in video form.
That does not say videos can't be a good source. If done right they surely can. But for complex topics this will go beyond what I personally call the "YouTube Attention Span". Watching a long video is not even considered. People may spent hours watching rubbish clips of seconds to some minutes, but would not even consider watching a single in-depth description of an hour.

Of course there might be excellent videos, including such on tech topics, but YouTube doesn't push those. Clickbait and the already mentioned standardized mash that is what shows up. More of the ever same.
The best is to not bother watching too much of a channel that turns out to be some kind of "influencer", no matter what topic.

Don't let somebody take influence on you. Inform yourself about topics of your interest and develop your own opinions.

 

[tech3475]

The first part sounds like a 'damned if you do' scenario, you may have people unaware of such products but are legitimately interested and unless they're scalping themselves it's not like the 'influencer' can control scalpers.

As for phone tracking, I'm not exactly sure what you're expecting them to do depending on who we're talking about, I'd say this also extends beyond 'influencers' as it's not a common issue I see mentioned on more traditional review outlets, especially when allot the time the less obvious ones require looking deeper into the OS (IIRC that spyware on some sketchy phones a few years back).

AOSP also has it's issues and isn't for everyone, speaking from experience. I can also tell you from my retail experience, with exception e.g. dirt cheap Fire hardware, people want Google services, we had issues after the Huawei ban where I had a few customers who had in their head Android means Google services even though the description said it didnt have them.

This is also assuming they even care, I've seen comments by people online who would rather get rid of GDPR entirely in the UK because of the pop ups, regardless of privacy.

As for Linus, I mainly watch his stuff either for headlines I might have missed or more often their fanciful projects like buying the ridiculously large TV no one in their right mind would buy for personal use alone, which I had on as background the other day whilst I was doing something else. Also no, I'm not buying the screwdriver or subscribing to their subscription service. Anything that might actually be useful like their jellyfin video is still something I'd take with some level of skepticism until they become consistently reputable/reliable as a source for things like this.

That said, even more traditional media can have these types issues, I still remember one tech show where a 'stand out' feature of the PSP Go was that it had downloadable games and apparently Zune prices went up after it was featured in a film.

Overall, I'd say the biggest issue with influencers is if you blindly follow them.

 

[Marc_LFD]

I'm subscribed to a bunch on YT, but I might follow their advice rather than necessarily do whatever.

There's a guy who tries his hardest to make Windows 11 look usable though it just got tiresome as it feels like reuploads.

Example:



If people did want to install 11 on a unsupported computer, they'd have done by now because it's super easy. Still, why would you downgrade.

M$ better not fuck up 12 or 10 will be my final OS. Ironic I say 10 will be the final because that was their original plan or so.