When I first started in the industry, I generally believed that tech influencers were in two camps – some were really helpful, and some were not.

A few years in, and I have a much more pessimistic take: I would argue that the vast majority of them are unhelpful, and that the only good ones are few and far between.

Problem #1: Sponsorships

This one is hard to highlight without being hypocritical. I have never personally taken sponsorships (though the reason for this is obvious. My most popular blog has like three followers), but I have a little experienced with a monetized Medium blog. Sponsorships are not inherently bad…probably.

But there is a limit to everything. Some content on YouTube, Medium, and Instagram seems to exist solely for the sake of sponsorships. They are not small, hidden things sandboxed into the background, the way TV shows used to have seven minutes of advertisements per episode – this is content where maybe 60-90% of information is either promoting something to sell, or building up to some sale.

The most frustrating example of this, in my opinion, is when content pretends to be something other than a sponsorship. How do you get ahead of 99% of software engineers? What are some skills we can gain to maintain an advantage?

Whole videos are created that simply build up to ads. The solution to whatever problem they pose is, surprise, you (the content producer) buying something they are sponsored by.

Problem #2: Copy-And-Paste

Ever search a topic on YouTube, such as software engineering, only to find 100 videos with a nearly identical thumbnail, title, and format?

Social media rewards this behavior. Keywords trend. What you get as a result, however, are social media influencers who take the same idea and spin it in their own way. Is this still original? Not exactly.

Content becomes increasingly generic. Tech influencers blur together.

Problem #3: The “Fame Paradox”

In the beginning, many “tech influencers” are barely influencers at all. The ones who become famous generally start out producing valuable content (note to self: Citation needed).

Over time, they grow in fame and…for lack of a more repetitive word…influence. Some begin to wonder why they should continue with the confines of a 9-5 tech job when they can make more money producing content.

When the content becomes a sole source of income, they begin to lean more into their sponsorships and less into the tech content itself. Now they have a quota to meet, and what they produce becomes less substantive.

Finding Good Influencers

I generally find that the good ones:

• Either do not take sponsorships, or focus the vast majority of their content away from sponsorships
• Focus on tech. If you want to look up a specific tech topic, that is what they talk about. As an analogy, if you look up the MDN page on promises you will find that the vast majority of content is about promises. There are ads in the background – this is not inherently bad – but imagine how different your experience would be if the top result was some blog post I made about how you can understand the topic better if you invest in my AI company

Closing Thoughts

All of that being said, I constantly run the risk that someone will leave me a comment about how influencers DO deliver value and I should NOT call them out.

To which I would say, at least I have refrained from naming any.