Why Skilled Workers Are Replacing Influencers
- Jayda Jacobs
- Apr 7
- 7 min read
The Quiet Collapse of Influencer Culture: A Shift in Power
There was a time when having massive influence meant being the loudest person in the room, a time when online growth was fueled by virality, shock value, performance, and polished delivery.
And for a while, that worked. It captured attention, created momentum, and even sparked the hope that anyone could become a sensation.
But as these high-impact moments continued to dominate the digital space, a quiet shift began to occur.
Not in the form of another viral trend or hashtag.
Not through a trending soundbite or choreographed video.
The shift began in how people valued content, and how they consumed it.
We saw platforms rewriting their algorithms.
We saw attention spans shorten.
We watched content evolve from long-form narratives to bite-sized clips that required no thought, only reaction.
So what caused this change?
How did we move from glorifying viral content to being so overstimulated by it that we can only take it in small doses?
Was it the algorithm?
The thumbnails?
The titles?
The creators?
Were platforms sabotaging organic creators to push an agenda, or were users simply done?
In this article, we’ll explore how influencer culture didn’t just shape platform behavior, but human behavior too, and what this shift means for skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and overlooked professionals trying to find their footing in a digital world no longer satisfied with empty hype.
Table of contents:
1. How Online Platforms Were Shaped (and Hijacked)
When the pandemic hit, life as we knew it migrated online almost overnight.
Work, school, shopping, even our most basic social interactions, were forced into digital spaces, whether we were ready or not.
That sudden shift didn’t just change how we communicated. It redefined what opportunity looked like.
People were laid off, isolated, or simply burned out. And in search of stability, many turned to the internet not just as a resource, but as a lifeline.
Online spaces began filling fast.
Former 9-to-5 workers, midlife career changers, new entrepreneurs, and side hustlers all entered the scene, hoping to build something of their own.
At first, it felt like a gateway. A new beginning.
But it didn’t take long before that gateway became a bottleneck.
Because while opportunity was available, visibility became the price of admission.
And the louder the internet got, the more people felt like they had to perform just to be seen.
Soon, attention replaced connection.
Desperation became fuel.
And the internet shifted from a place to build… into a place to compete.
Influencers began selling visibility without value, promising overnight success, passive income, and digital freedom. But what they delivered were polished performances, carefully wrapped in hype.
And while it looked like they were gaining momentum, status, and lavish lifestyles, it was their audiences who quietly paid the price.
And that price wasn’t just financial.
It was emotional. Mental. Even spiritual.
People weren’t just burned by overpriced courses or gimmicky offers. They were left questioning their own worth, direction, and trust in themselves.
2. The Rise of Skilled, Disillusioned Professionals
As life moved online, the internet, once a playground for starry-eyed youth chasing virality, became a new starting point for a different kind of user:
Midlife professionals. Career pivoters. Educators. Business owners.
People with real-world skills they had spent years building.
People trying to rebuild.
And the tech-savvy gurus knew it.
They saw this new wave of users as fresh meat: a more financially stable audience with deeper pockets and deeper pain. And just like that, the digital landscape morphed into one massive sales funnel, targeting people at every stage of their reinvention.
Starting over? There’s a guide for that, but it’ll cost you.
Trying to refine your skills? There’s a blueprint, but you’ll have to pay first.
Looking for a way out? Here’s a course, but the promise won’t match the return.
And while these strategies made millions for the sellers, the buyers rarely saw results.
Instead, they found themselves on an endless treadmill, spending more, hoping harder, but staying stuck.
Social media, once a place to connect with our tribe, learn, and grow, morphed into a space of empty promises, unchecked greed, and subtle manipulation.
A gap began to emerge, not just a wealth gap, though for many, that too was undeniable.
It was a gap between what people genuinely needed… and what they were being offered.
3. The Gap Exposed
The overwhelming surge of influencers selling products, services, and promises, with little to no return, left audiences disillusioned and searching for something else.
People stopped clicking.
They stopped watching all the way through.
They began to scroll past anything that looked too polished, too performative, or too eager to sell.
They weren’t chasing glitz and glam anymore.
They were looking for substance.
For healing from what the hype had cost them.
And this quiet shift in behavior?
It changed platform dynamics completely.
While tech-savvy gurus were still chasing the algorithm, hoping it would shape the audience, it was the audience that was shaping the algorithm.
4. The Shift in Platform Behavior
This shift triggered something massive: a quiet but powerful transformation in how platforms operate.
Viewers stopped engaging with flashy, over-edited content.
Clickbait titles and urgency-driven thumbnails were being skipped.
Watch times dropped. Follower growth slowed. Engagement cratered.
According to data from SocialBlade and YouTube Analytics, average watch time across influencer accounts declined by over 22% from 2020 to 2023.
Instagram engagement rates dropped 44% between 2019 and 2023.
TikTok saw a 33% decrease in completion rates on highly edited content between 2021 and 2024.
While many creators blamed shadowbans or algorithm changes, a deeper shift was underway.
Human behavior had changed.
Overly curated content was being ignored.
High-SEO, keyword-stuffed videos, the kind that once shot to the top, began to stall. Audiences were scrolling right past them, seeking out creators who offered something real, relevant, and rooted in lived experience.
Platforms noticed. Algorithms began responding, not to noise, but to relevance.
Now, instead of rewarding the loudest, they reward content that sparks real engagement, real watch time, real value.
5. The Myth of Short Attention Spans
As user behavior evolved, platforms scrambled to keep up.
They introduced short-form videos, optimized for endless scrolls, assuming users simply couldn’t focus, that attention spans were shrinking, and that people needed constant stimulation to stay engaged.
But that wasn’t the whole truth.
People hadn’t lost the ability to pay attention.
They had lost interest in what was being presented to them.
They weren’t tired of watching.
They were tired of being sold to, tired of recycled messages, empty hype, and content that never really said anything.
It became clear that audiences had hit saturation.
They were no longer searching for “how I made six figures from home”, they were searching for how to navigate grief, how to rebuild after layoffs, how to start over after loss.
They didn’t want hype.
They wanted help.
And that shift didn’t just affect engagement, it reshaped the entire digital landscape.
6. The Change in Human Behavior
As creators kept pushing performative content, viewers clicked off faster, swiped away, or ignored it entirely.
And in response, platforms assumed shorter, faster, flashier was the answer.
But underneath the surface, something else was happening.
People hadn’t lost their attention spans.
They’d lost their tolerance for content that didn’t serve them.
After years of clickbait, overpromises, and shallow “value,” audiences were exhausted.
The pandemic accelerated this, bringing financial pressure, emotional burnout, and digital fatigue.
They weren’t just burned out from the internet.
They were burned by it.
As scrolling habits evolved, algorithms adapted. Flashy content no longer converted.
SEO couldn’t push what users didn’t care about.
This created a gap. And within that gap, a need.
A need for people who could actually create the kind of content users are searching for.
7. What This Means for Creators Moving Forward
Here’s what that means:
We’re witnessing the rise of a new kind of user. One actively searching for transparency, substance, and creators who actually live what they teach, not just those who shout the loudest.
And that’s why your skills are needed now more than ever.
Because the same people who are tired of hype…
The same ones who are burnt out from empty promises…
Are now shaping a market that’s demanding truth, value, and real-world knowledge.
This demand is bigger than content.
It’s changing platforms. Shifting brand partnerships.
Reshaping hiring practices.
LinkedIn reported a 35% increase in demand for creators with “industry-specific knowledge” in 2023.
Hiring managers across marketing, education, and consulting are actively sourcing creators who can teach, guide, and communicate, not just entertain.
Now, platforms need skill-based creators to hold attention.
Now, brands want real voices over high-volume hype.
And here’s the best part:
The users who’ve been watching quietly…
The ones who’ve been learning, analyzing, and absorbing…
Already have the tools.
They just need a place to apply them, and align them with purpose.
8. Final Thoughts: The Quiet Shift We’ve All Felt Coming
Many of us felt this shift long before we had the words to describe it.
It didn’t come with a viral hashtag.
It came quietly, through burnout, disappointment, and the gut feeling that something about the online world wasn’t adding up.
That shift wasn’t driven by algorithms.
It was driven by lived experience.
By educators, service providers, and skilled professionals who showed up online, only to be met with hype and hustle culture.
By communities who watched influencers chase attention, but offer little value in return.
And out of that disconnection came something powerful:
a quiet demand for authenticity.
People stopped chasing the loudest voice in the room.
They began listening to the ones who had actually done the work.
Not the ones with the biggest followings, but the ones with the deepest integrity.
And maybe, just maybe, that’s you.
Not because you’re the most polished.
Not because you have perfect branding.
But because you’ve lived something real.
Because you’ve built something quietly.
Because you know how to help.
Why You Should Start Creating Again
If you’ve been sitting on your skills, waiting for the noise to die down, this is your moment.
The internet doesn’t need another guru.
It needs you, the educator, the builder, the doer.
Start sharing what you’ve learned.
Speak to the pain you’ve walked through.
Create the kind of content you wish existed when you needed it most.
Because what’s rising now isn’t another wave.
It’s the calm after the crash.
And in that calm, real people are finding their place, and their power.
There is so many truth in this article. Not only were things polished and flashy, they just weren't helpful or useful. So many times I clicked a post from someone and found nothing. It might be a differently worded title but the post was the same negative content as before. It worked for them so they decided to continue.
I am glad things have shifted. I was surprised to see the number of "influencers" try to use their "fame" to get special treatment. To hear people quote something one of these people said. Acting like it was relevant or useful
The time for common sense, useful, relevant, transparent content is now. I am thankful for creators like yourself who ar…