Doing Your Research on an Influencer, Yes! Even in Cannabis!

by Brittiany Ralls

Researching can be fun and also daunting for those that aren’t familiar with the ways or options they have for finding out information about the “Influencer” that they love. But, as we discussed in the last two parts of this three part series where we identified an influencer and some of their qualities, the harder part is doing the research on people or companies to try and decide if they align with your ideals or your company’s mission statement. It has become such a task that some companies have created their own CGI version of Influencers so that they are able to have complete control over the narrative of that influencer. While never having to worry about the backlash of real people making real mistakes.

This is why research is important, especially if you want to continue to follow and listen to real people instead of created characters made by marketing groups.  

 Imagine unknowingly giving a racist a platform, for example. Not only is the influencer an embarrassment, but the companies they represent now feel the shame and hardship that comes along with that. Then, since we are a community that has so many roots in racial injustices we are utterly mortified in allowing a person that is racist to have a platform within the cannabis community. Your determining factors for following or hiring an influencer is about more than what they feel about themselves.

  The primary determining factor should be based on their knowledge.

Which, when you’re doing your research, one should be able to determine rather quickly if that particular influencer is actually knowledgeable in what they are speaking about. But, as we just mentioned racism, obviously how knowledgeable someone is wouldn’t tell you if they are racist. So this is when you may seem like a stalker….. but don’t worry about that. Anyone who is a real influencer will not only have social media profiles but, they should also have a website of their own or some type of information available about them somewhere.

Now when I say social media, that also includes sites that “link” people together. There is obviously just a basic name search you can do online. I suggest doing name searches in several search engines. In all truthfulness, someone who is a public figure should already know where they stand on certain subjects and putting themselves in that position allows for the hard questions to be asked by people that are influenced by them. So feel free to ask the hard questions! Send them a message or email, see if they answer you either personally or at least on one of their social media profiles.  

Having the opportunity to influence others is a privilege.

One that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Holding Influencers accountable is what all of us should be doing. This helps us know that we are promoting those that deserve it. Throughout this series we have learned what influencer means, who an influencer should be and how to find the influencers worth following by doing your research. There may be extra steps but steps worth taking nonetheless. This will hopefully help to keep the bigots at bay and promote those that have ideas of progression and not regression.