These women all shared two characteristics: they were young and extremely well-connected. It was a rare and powerful combination. There are a lot of young people in the workforce, but few are also born into the kind of wealthy New York family that confers access to and even power over A-listers at an early age.
Back then, the internet was still young and there was no social media. People learned about new products or hot places by reading reviews or stories in newspapers or magazines – or better yet, about a rich or famous person enjoying them in the gossip columns.
Now the world is different. Social media has democratised information, and influencers have largely replaced PR people. Getting into the papers is less important. If you want to build hype and make a brand, you hire or engage an influencer. Today’s power influencers are also young, but they might come from anywhere. They don’t need wealth or connections. They don’t even have to live in New York.
All they need is a phone, a little charisma, a loud voice, and a willingness to document 90% of their waking hours. About 75% of Gen Z/millennials say being a “content creator” is a viable career, and 45% say they are creators, most as a hobby.
It is a much more democratic way to wield power. Audience size is critical; you must court an economically diverse population. Whereas those “Power Girls” had to know how to please only a relatively small subset of the right people.
The displacement of nepo PR people by influencers offers a preview of how the economy is changing. Public relations jobs still exist, but technology has made the narrow skills of the Power Girls less valuable. The influencer economy is more accessible and employs more people, but is also more chaotic and uncertain. If a brand works with influencers, it is not cheap or guaranteed to work, but it is still cheaper than hiring a PR firm used to be.
What influencers sell is also more accessible. Only a limited number of people ever had the means or ability to go to a party at Moomba. All anyone needs to procure the crispiest sourdough bagel in Manhattan is time and an alarm clock. Hawking somewhat affordable goods also helps an influencer build an audience. In a New York where more people wait in line for food than at nightclubs, that matters.
Influencing is still a winner-take-all market, like much else in the US economy. But who the winners are, and who they need to please, has become more democratic. Such is the nature of technological change: almost everyone laments the jobs it destroys, but few appreciate the ones it creates.
This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Allison Schrager is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering economics. A senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, she is author of An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk.