Researchers may also need to consider communicating with "influencers" as the UN did using the South Korea K-pop group BTS last year General Assembly. BTS at UN General Assembly – BTS ENCYCLOPEDIA
<https://btsencyclopedia.com/bts-at-un-general-assembly/#:~:text=Septembe...
K-pop - Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-pop>
----
Influencers: The Modern Entrepreneur | National Geographic Society [note from moderator NPW: the text below is reproduced from the website]
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/influencers-modern-ent...
Influencers: The Modern Entrepreneur
“Though there are some key differences between them, today’s social media influencers have much in common with traditional entrepreneurs when it comes to driving the economy.
“Social Media Influencer
“Some social media influencers use their platform to earn money by partnering with companies to advertise services or products, like lipsticks, to their followers. Like traditional entrepreneurs, they jump-start new businesses.
"Social media influencers are individuals who utilize social media platforms to build their own personal brand or influence their followers to act (including buying products, supporting a brand, or vacationing in a certain location). They can share anything from clothes and beauty products to make-at-home slime with their followers. While it might seem like frivolous fun, some influencers are making significant amounts of money from their connection to their fans, making them the modern entrepreneur. While not every social media influencer is an entrepreneur, the ones who have started their own businesses from the brand they created online have much in common with traditional entrepreneurs when it comes to driving the economy.
"Are Influencers Entrepreneurs?
Entrepreneurs are people who organize, manage, and take on the risks of a business. They often start a new business in response to a perceived need for a good or service. An influencer, on the other hand, is someone who has the power to affect or change people and their behavior through social media—often to get them to buy something. Influencers who start their own business certainly fall under the first part of the definition of
entrepreneur, as they are managing their business and taking on risk. But are they fulfilling a need? Many say yes: companies can target highly specific groups of people through employing an influencer—groups that might be missed by traditional advertising. And because influencers form a more personal relationship with their followers, the followers are seemingly more likely to buy what the influencer suggests.
"Getting Started
One area where entrepreneurs and influencers differ the most is in their processes of starting a business. Nearly all traditional businesses have startup costs, which go toward buying materials to create goods, equipment
to manufacture items or provide a service, or office space. But entrepreneurs do not always have to put their own savings into a business. They can get venture capital, or money to start or grow a business, from outside investors, often in exchange for part ownership of the company. Influencers, on the other hand, have fewer startup costs, though it can vary by the influencer’s specialty. Beauty and fashion influencers may have to get new clothes, buy the latest makeup, and hire a professional photographer to start out, but others only need their social media accounts and a smartphone. Additionally, many of the costs that apply to starting a business do not apply to influencers, like renting office space, as many work from home.
----
HIFA profile: Richard Fitton is a retired family doctor - GP, British Medical Association. Professional interests: Health literacy, patient partnership of trust and implementation of healthcare with professionals, family and public involvement in the prevention of modern lifestyle diseases, patients using access to professional records to overcome confidentiality barriers to care, patients as part of the policing of the use of their patient data. Email address: richardpeterfitton7 AT gmail.com
