Social media influencing has been a well-established field for quite some time now. Certain categories, such as beauty influencers, fashion influencers, and gaming influencers, have been around practically as long as the field itself. However, as with any other field, there are also constantly new trends developing. New categories of influencers emerge relatively frequently. What are a few of the influencer categories that have emerged and whose popularity has taken off recently?
1. Specific Beauty Niches
As was mentioned above, beauty influencers are nothing new. In fact, beauty was one of the first categories to take off when influencers first came onto the scene. Within beauty, however, there have been changes and developments through the years. One of the biggest recent changes we have seen is that more specific niches within beauty have become popular. There are less general “beauty influencers” now, and more people specializing in one specific area. There are now influencers who focus only on costume makeup, or skincare, or vegan and cruelty-free products. There are influencers who only post tutorials, or who only post reviews of new makeup palettes. So while “beauty” as a category is old news, niches within beauty have developed more recently.
2. Special Diet Pages
With the rise in popularity of a variety of different diet plans has come the rise in popularity of influencers to go along with each. You can find pages dedicated to everything from Keto to Paleo to Dairy Free to Gluten Free. Instead of sifting through hundreds of recipes to find one that fits their dietary needs, people can now go to pages specifically tailored to their needs and preferences. Pretty much any dietary restriction you can imagine, you can find an influencer who focuses on it.
3. Activists
Social media activism is not necessarily new, but it has come to the forefront more in recent years. When influencing first began, a lot of influencers avoided any topics that could be seen as political or controversial. Their channels provided more of an escape from the world than a real look at the world. However, that trend has disappeared lately, as more and more influencers have shown willingness to express their views and talk about less comfortable topics. This has opened the doorway for influencers who focus primarily on social issues to emerge. There are channels dedicated to environmental issues, LGBTQIA+ rights, and a plethora of other social topics.
4. Short Form Comedy Videos
You can thank Tik Tok for the rise of these influencers. It’s like the second wave of Vine stars. These influencers focus on making comedic videos about 15 seconds long. They start trends that other users copy, like pranks and funny challenges. Unsurprisingly, these influencers tend to have light-hearted channels, in stark contrast to the activists mentioned above. They provide laughter and comedic relief more than they provide product reviews or tutorials.
5. Influencing Influencers
There has been a spike lately in influencers whose main focus is talking about influencing itself. Now that influencers are so well-established and it is a source of income for so many, lots of people want to know how to get into the field and build up their following. There is basically a whole category now of influencers teaching other people how to be influencers. They offer social media tips, share the stories of how they got started, provide advice about the best equipment, and much more. As it has become clear that social media influencers are here to stay, the interest in learning how to get involved has skyrocketed.
With so many new trends and categories constantly emerging, we cannot wait to see what the next wave of new types of influencers will be.
