community recs

What do we call people who still write from a point of authenticity?

See, it occurs to me that the problem with writing anything at all about, say, technology on a website like this is that it comes across at first blush as an endorsement. And darn it all I want to write a bit about technology… but I’m not an influencer… just a guy.

When I was sketching out topics to write about here I went through my fall back list of topics from my previous iterations of writing about running and, of course, that list included technology. I have penned articles fawning over my latest watch, written gear posts about shoes, and rambled on and on about the latest action camera that I strapped to my chest during a trail run.

None of it was ever sponsored.

And yet now, a few years later the internet is a vastly different place than in those long ago days of unpaid fandom. Anytime I go online lately I see hundreds or even thousands of running influencers disguising paid endorsements as fitness posts and honestly, it’s all very cringe. I personally don’t intend to follow that path, despite any challenges I get online to the contrary. I am not an influencer, and I don’t plan to be.

But you’re online posting posts, you argue. Well sure, but content creation is a subtly different format than influencer content. And while to the layman it probably all seems pretty much the same, to those who make either, there is a chasm of difference. 

Influencers are a form of advertising (even if they would argue against it.) We think they are content posters mashed up with trend makers swirled about with corporate partnerships, but in reality those folks are selling their internet clout for a marketing paycheque.

More benign folks like me are (idealistically) writing and posting to help build a community, even in our small way. We’re hoping to be read, obviously, and we do post and shill as self promotion all the same, but look; I’m not out here farming for ad clicks or peddling a corporate agenda. This site is self-funded and has no advertising.

So when I write about shoes—and I might—or I gush about my gps watch—and I inevitably will—or I tell you about the photos I took with the action camera I carry around, well, it’s not going to be to try and sway you to click a sponsored link or run out and buy it now. It’s a genuine fan post. It’s a “hey, look at this thing I did and it made my day a wee bit better…” but I really don’t care if you buy it. There is still a degree of authenticity in that, I think.

And I guess I would acknowledge that not only do we not have an easy word or label to talk about that kind of writing anymore, at least not in this iteration of the internet, but earning that kind of authentic trust from my readers is probably going to be one of the biggest challenges I face in writing here.

Are you convinced?