Can certain members of this forum be called influencers?

[noname223]

So here is a defintion what influencers are: people who have an high activity on social media with which they attract a high traffic/get a lot of attention
By producing own content they give insights in their life and include sponsored products in their content.

So two remarks: this website is not social media but there are similarities like the notifications
There are no sponsored products on here gladly.

I consider influencers mostly to be toxic they trade integrity for money which would be pretty horrible on a forum about suicide.
I am not sure whether there are really cliques on this forum. In the past there were some but the fluctuation of members can make that obsolete pretty fast

There would be certain standards to evaluate who is potentially an influencer. People who get the most attention which you can see by reactions and views, and who is posting the most posts

I certainly post a lot but I am not getting that much attention. Though the goal should not be to be seen as the most influential person. Still this comparison has some value. I think posting on a suicide forum comes with a lot of responsibilities. One should reflect on one's impact on others. The people here are in a lot of pain. On other platform the damage one might done is not that harmful/potentially irreversible. The people here show their vulnerabilities and attacking them on very sensitive issues can have devastating consequences.

The logic of who shouts the loudest and most extreme from social media applied to this forum would be very toxic. I think people here notice if someone is only attention seeking by posting controversial stuff. And many people don't like that behavior. We gladly have no Andrew Tates, Jake Pauls or other similar narcissists on here. Probably due to the fact you get no money on here and women don't really look for suicidal loners. But this has the side-effect that the people here seem to be more genuine, honest, people who don't put a facade on. It is like anti-instagram. On instagram you win if you pretend you had the perfect life with no sorrows. In contrast the people here like you if you are relatable and honest about your struggle and anxieties.

I think the term could be used as a comparison for example to emphasize the responsiblity one has as a member. In other instances the term influencer is misleading because we don't get money for posting about our lives.

 

[TransilvanianHunger]

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I have a very visceral dislike of influencers and influencer culture in general. At the core, influencers are little more than manipulators and salespeople who use their charisma and personality to earn trust and good will from their audience, and then use it to peddle crap. Back in the day, adverts were periodic unwanted interruptions of the shows you watched on TV, or the music you listened to on the radio. With influencers, watching the salesperson has become a form of entertainment in itself, eagerly waiting for the next advert. It's more insidious than traditional marketing ever was, because being advertised to by some random company bred some degree of cynicism in most. But an influencer is not some random company spokesperson, they're a friendly, trustworthy familiar face that isn't trying to sell you stuff—they're sharing information about a product with you, their beloved audience-who-is-like-family-to-them...

Eww...

Thankfully, I don't think there are "influencers" here, nor do I think that any could emerge. There are popular users that many of us recognise, but they don't post to influence anyone as far as I can tell. And, like you said, this place tends to reward honesty, kindness, and authenticity—many aspects of modern life are hilariously fake and inauthentic, so having a place where we can actually talk to others, human-to-human, is a nice change of pace.

 

[Sprite_Geist]

First of all I would like to say that you have made some good points. Any disagreement that I have with you is not intended to be an attack.

I consider influencers mostly to be toxic they trade integrity for money which would be pretty horrible on a forum about suicide.
I am not sure whether there are really cliques on this forum. In the past there were some but the fluctuation of members can make that obsolete pretty fast

I have a mixed opinion about whether or not cliques exist (or have existed) on this forum. I remember just after the first year that I had joined I got to know quite a few well-known users who had gained a strong reputation such as the late @GoodPersonEffed - for example; these users were considered "regulars", and would often engage with other well-known users in different threads; but there is something that separates them from a clique of people. One of the main characteristics that most cliques have, is that they tend to be exclusionary toward anybody outside of the group who does not "fit in", or in other words: the people within the clique only (usually) communicate among themselves - like a hostile tribe. Whereas the majority of the past and present groups of well-known users here are (or were) mostly very friendly and welcoming, and would respond to anybody else who wanted to have a discussion; this is more akin to just having a good rapport with others rather than a clique. However having said all of this I do understand that there have been certain users who were criticized for forming groups against others - and these could be considered exclusive groups - but thankfully from my own experience they mostly existed in the past, and were few in numbers. As you have said: the turnover (if this is the correct word) tends to stop them from forming; but to add to this: the forum certainly "feels" more impersonal than before, so this might be the reason why cliques do not form as much anymore. On this point I think like you: I am not sure.

There would be certain standards to evaluate who is potentially an influencer. People who get the most attention which you can see by reactions and views, and who is posting the most posts.

I do not think that this is an accurate way to evaluate whether or not a user is an influencer. If a user has created many posts, or has a high frequency of posting, then this is either: a consequence of them using the forum for a long enough time that their posts naturally build up, or they have many thoughts and ideas that they wish to discuss. If a user on this forum gains many positive reactions then this could just be due to others simply relating to what they are saying, it does not mean that a highly-viewed user is creating posts for the sole purpose of trying to sway others for a sinister purpose.

The logic of who shouts the loudest and most extreme from social media applied to this forum would be very toxic. I think people here notice if someone is only attention seeking by posting controversial stuff. And many people don't like that behavior. We gladly have no Andrew Tates, Jake Pauls or other similar narcissists on here. Probably due to the fact you get no money on here and women don't really look for suicidal loners. But this has the side-effect that the people here seem to be more genuine, honest, people who don't put a facade on. It is like anti-instagram. On instagram you win if you pretend you had the perfect life with no sorrows. In contrast the people here like you if you are relatable and honest about your struggle and anxieties.

I completely agree with everything you have said in this part of your post, but this is also the reason why I do not think we have users on this forum who could (or should) be considered social media influencers. From my limited experience with influencers: they do not usually believe in whatever they are promoting, and only claim to support products or services to further their own popularity, but they can only do this if whatever they are promoting is something marketable to their audience. Sanctioned Suicide is about supporting the pro-choice stance on suicide; this cannot be promoted on a large scale due it not being profitable. Currently it is more profitable to promote energy drinks that taste like toilet cleaner, and underdosed pre-workouts that have less nutritional value than a cardboard box.

The people who join Sanctioned Suicide do so because the large majority of them want to actually stand for what they believe in - namely the right to assisted suicide - but they cannot do this on mainstream social media platforms due to the extreme stigmatization of suicide. The fact that a person joins this forum purely to discuss their own thoughts, with no intention of profiteering, shows that members of this forum go completely against what an influencer is.