Okay, so a highly-anticipated restaurant in my town finally had its soft opening last night and every single story reshare was a story made by local influencers. And I get it, these people have reach, so it makes sense to invite them. (I should probably specify that I live in the biggest "city" in the middle of nowhere but it is not truly a city.)

But... I'm also super irritated? Okay, let's be real, I'm not going out to this restaurant any time soon. However, any time a restaurant has a special event or menu or does something cool, it seems like it's an exclusive club meeting for the handful of local influencers we have. From a business perspective, I know it's free advertising, but as someone who is pretty jaded by the concept of influencing, it makes me less inclined to frequent these businesses who consistently prioritize their influencing patrons over us plebes. Some of them even do partnerships with these influencers. When I saw these influencers "in the wild" when we go out to eat (RIP pre-COVID times) they were always entitled, drunk, or both. We have a very small downtown so it happened pretty often.

Also, maybe I'm just irritated because two of the most notable influencers' signature move is either a photo or boomerang of them taking a bite of food, and I'm tired of seeing it, haha.

What are your takes on local influencers in your area?