This “influencer” stuff can be pretty confusing. With so many social networks popping put every day, everyone can claim he is an “influencer” as soon as they pick up some followers. Hell, even my mom is an influencer in her neighborhood.

And even if that person is an “influencer,” on which social network does he “influence”? How many followers, who are they? So confusing indeed…

And what is more complicated is the fact that they think that makes them entitled for free stuff. Why? Who made them believe that?

One Yelp reviewer who has 11.000 Instagram followers (like my mom) published a negative restaurant review because the management didn’t think he should get free food or drinks.

Yelper is mad because restaurant didn't them free meal in exchange for potential IG exposure from r/trashy

The person said in the review that they considered the food and the service great but in the end a 1-star review was deserved because, “I thought she would be greatful [sic] for the free advertising but when the check came there was literally no discount at all. I thought at least one of the entrees would be taken off but they didn’t even take off the calamari or even the drinks!”

The person said in the review that they considered the food and the service great but in the end a 1-star review was deserved because, “I thought she would be grateful [sic] for the free advertising but when the check came there was literally no discount at all. I thought at least one of the entrees would be taken off but they didn’t even take off the calamari or even the drinks!”

The review was published on Reddit (it looks like it originated from Yelp) and other Redditors told their own stories as a reply.

“I work at a hotel near Disneyworld, where rooms can reach 300+/night. It shames me how much we comp and how much ass we kiss for bloggers, “influencers” (whatever the fuck that is), social media personalities, etc., only to have the same losers condescend and treat like shit the employees of the hotel. They are a blight.”

“I also work at a hotel where the rates are 300+/night. We tell self-described “influencers” to get fucked.”

“Just so you know, big thing now is to try to pass yourself as an influencer to get discounts and free stuff. You don’t even really need to be one; you just need to tell people you are. Mikey Chen from Strictly Dumpling admits that even before he became a blogger, he’d hound hotels and airlines to get a discount and exploit his status as an influencer.”

Very irritating.

If you have similar stories about your experiences with so-called influencers, please share them in the comments.