What De-influencing Tells Us About the Creator Economy從“反種草”浪潮看創作者經濟

伊萊恩·穆爾/文　劉伊婧/譯

As the influencer market grows up， investment in its stars is beginning to evaporate. 隨著網紅市場逐漸成熟，大牌“種草”網紅所獲投資卻開始縮減。

If you make your living telling other people what to buy online， “de-influencing” might sound like a direct threat. The trend of glossy videos advising users not to waste their money has been hailed as a challenge to overconsumption and a return to authenticity. It is nothing of the sort. De-influencing is just as manipulative as any other social media perform-ance. It is instead a sign of economic anxiety.

如果你以直播帶貨為生，那“反種草”可能聽上去就是個直接威脅。“反種草”已掀起浪潮，用制作精良的視頻建議用戶別浪費錢。人們贊譽這股浪潮是在反擊過度消費，回歸真實。事實并非如此。如同社交媒體上的其他作秀行為，“反種草”也是在操縱觀眾，但它更像是經濟焦慮的一種體現。

The polished， pampered class of influencers， people who make money from their online audiences and the brands they partner with， are part of an estimated $16bn market. Their reach extends beyond ad campaigns. Emily Hund， author of The Influencer Industry， points out that even the White House employs someone to work with online creators.

網紅們光鮮亮麗、深受寵愛，從網絡觀眾以及合作的品牌方身上賺錢，在估值高達160億美元的網紅營銷市場中占有一席之地。他們的影響力不僅體現在廣告宣傳上。《網紅產業》一書的作者埃米莉·亨德指出，連白宮都雇專員與網紅打交道。

But the market they operate in is close to two decades old. The youthful sheen1 of vloggers who documented their lo-fi everyday lives for the sake of it is long gone. An entire generation of popular YouTubers have stepped away. Their replacements operate in a sector in which both brands and social media companies are more demanding about curated content.

然而，網紅所處的市場已經營了近20年。曾經單純為記錄自己日常生活而發布低畫質視頻的年輕博主早已風光不再。整整一代優兔視頻創作紅人已淡出公眾視野。取而代之的新人如今身處更為挑剔的環境，品牌方和社交媒體平臺都對內容策劃有更高的要求。

The audience has changed too. Younger viewers have spent their entire lives online and are wise to the tricks of traditional marketing. Grabbing their attention requires something new. The most popular YouTuber in the US is MrBeast， who uses money from brand deals to carry out spectacularly wasteful stunts， including blowing up a Lam-borghini and giving away a private jet.

觀眾群體也已改變。新一代年輕人在網絡環境中成長，對于傳統市場營銷伎倆了如指掌。要吸引他們，得有新招。美國最火的優兔視頻博主是MrBeast，他利用品牌贊助的資金進行吸睛又燒錢的表演，包括炸毀一輛蘭博基尼，贈送一架私人飛機。

In 2023， the influencer economy reached an even more uncomfortable turning point. Audiences are huge but growth is stalling. Even TikTok has plat-eaued. The app reached a billion users in late 2021， then growth slowed. Daily active users of BeReal2， a social media app sensation in 2022， are down nearly 50 per cent from their high point， according to data from Business of Apps and Apptopia.

到了2023年，網紅經濟出現了一個更令人不安的轉折點——其受眾數量雖龐大，但增長停滯不前。連TikTok的發展也進入停滯期，該應用的用戶數量在2021年底達到10億，隨后增長放緩。市場研究機構Business of Apps和Apptopia的數據顯示，2022年爆火的社交媒體應用BeReal的日活用戶數較高點下降了近50%。

Companies are still keen to do deals with popular creators. Social media companies are building creator programmes and finding ways to make it easier for users to spend their money. TikTok and Instagram have integrated marketplaces that let users buy the things they see on the app directly.

眾多公司仍熱衷于與知名的創作者合作。各社交媒體平臺正在打造創作者項目，想方設法讓用戶更輕易地掏錢。TikTok和Instagram已經整合了各自的商城，方便用戶直接購買他們在應用程序上看到的東西。

But a downturn in digital advertising spend means payouts may be easing. YouTube offers one of the most generous programmes going， allowing creators to keep 55 per cent of ad revenue on their videos. However， Alphabet reported that YouTube’s ad revenue was down almost 8 per cent in the final three months of 2022 compared to the previous year. Meanwhile， investment in companies that help creators make money directly from fans has evapor-ated. The FT reports that funding fell from more than $3bn in 2021 to less than $1bn in 2022.

但數字廣告預算縮減意味著花在內容創作者身上的錢可能會減少。優兔的分紅政策一直相當慷慨，允許創作者拿走自己視頻廣告收益的55%。然而，根據Alphabet的數據，優兔在2022年第四季度的廣告收益同比下滑了近8%。同時，那些幫助創作者直接賺粉絲錢的公司，所獲投資也已逐漸縮減。據英國《金融時報》報道，投資金額從2021年的逾30億美元降至2022年的不足10億美元。

If creators are fighting harder for subscribers and brand dollars， performing authenticity is one way to stand out. De-influencing videos are a way to prove autonomy and create a closer connection with viewers.

如果創作者要更拼命地拉攏訂閱者、爭奪品牌投資，展現真實性是條可以脫穎而出的路子。通過發布“反種草”視頻，他們能夠證明自己的自主性，與觀眾建立更緊密的聯系。

They also fit neatly into a broader shift towards more impromptu online posts. All across social media， users are trying to appear more casual and less guarded. So-called “0.5 selfies” uploaded on Snapchat3， Instagram or BeReal are purposefully blurred or taken at odd angles. Videos on TikTok are often made while someone takes off their make-up or eats breakfast. Others are filmed as if in a hurry. The phenomenon of someone grabbing their phone and hitting record before setting it down has been dubbed the “Gen Z4 shake”. It makes the video appear spontaneous instead of planned out.

“反種草”視頻也完全符合網上普遍轉向即興分享的風潮。現在，不論在哪個社交媒體平臺，用戶們都試圖展現更隨性、不拘謹的一面。例如，把故意拍得模糊或角度奇特的“0.5倍廣角自拍”發在Snapchat、Instagram和BeReal上。TikTok上的視頻則往往是博主邊卸妝或邊吃早餐拍攝的。還有的仿佛是匆忙拍攝的。這種似乎是拿起手機，隨手按下錄制鍵，再迅速放下手機的手法被戲稱為“Z世代搖晃”。這個手法讓視頻更具即興感，不像是事先設計好的。

All this is the equivalent of documentaries that show the supposedly candid moments in which an interviewee sits down and adjusts their jacket or attaches a microphone before the “real” filming begins. It is all a performance of authenticity from people who are extremely aware that they are being watched.

所有這些與展現所謂抓拍瞬間的紀錄片如出一轍。在那些瞬間，受訪者落座，整理衣裝或戴上麥克風，然后才開始“真正的”拍攝。其實，所謂的“真實”瞬間也只是一場表演，表演的受訪者深知自己正受到關注。

De-influencing is not a rejection of consumerism or social media. You can tell that by the fact that many of the videos follow up negative reviews with suggestions of things their followers should buy instead.

許多“反種草”視頻在對某些產品作出負面點評后，緊接著會向粉絲推薦更值得購買的東西——從這一點就可以看出來，“反種草”并不是拒絕消費主義或社交媒體。

Instead， it is an illustration of how difficult it is to seem credible and trustworthy online. For many users， the objective of social media is not to share how they see the world but how the world sees them. Or how they wish it saw them. Being seen to try too hard is cringey. But appearing effortless is even more work.

事實上，這揭示了在網絡上建立真實可信的形象是多么不易。對很多用戶來說，使用社交媒體的目的不是分享他們如何看待世界，而是分享世界如何看待他們，或者他們希望世界如何看待他們。讓人看著用力過猛不免尷尬，但要顯得不著痕跡更需花心思。

［譯者單位：中國石油大學（北京）］

1 sheen光澤。? 2一款照片共享應用程序。該平臺致力于提供無濾鏡的社交體驗，會提示用戶每天發布一張未經修圖的真實照片。

3一款社交媒體應用，可以與列表好友互發圖片、文字和視頻。

4 = Generation Z一般譯為“Z世代”，通常指1997年至2012年出生的一代人，他們受互聯網、智能手機和平板電腦等科技產物影響很大，因此也被稱為“網絡世代”。