The influencer wave hit South African shores in the 2010s, around 2015/16 is when we witnessed, for the first time, the emergence of influential and popular figures outside the traditional celebrity landscape.

Until this time, we got the glimpse of our OG influencers through traditional media like newspapers, magazines, radio and TV interviews- big media.

Thanks for reading Cebelihle’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

However, the emergence of social media democratised the space by allowing more people to showcase their talents and interests while building an audience and engaging with their supporters directly, without the middle man, or talent management. I know that influencers now have management, but it wasn’t always this way.

The wave grew gradually, catapulting these influencers into brand campaigns, money and bigger followings. With time, they amassed more wealth than they could have imagined and would have had, if they had chosen different career paths.

While some supporters grew with their day ones, the relationships became parasocial- meaning the richer the influencer became, the more unattainable their lives became, the busier they got. The relationships became one way in the sense that they could no longer engage with their supporters as much as they did in the earlier stages of their careers.

As we now know, many OG influencers live lives that average South Africans can only dream of- from the neighborhood they live in, clothing brands to the cars they drive and they’re still in the game raking in money.

Instagram went from being the app we all used to connect with our friends to this exclusive stage that elevated influencers and their lavish and unattainable lifestyles sponsored by big, multimillion brands.

Then came TikTok. Although the app became noticeably popular in 2018, it was around 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that most people flocked to it. Although some of the OG influencers migrated to TikTok or integrated it into their social media platforms, the app became what Instagram was before it was taken over by influencers. It democratised content creation and opened the door to many creators who shared “relatable content”– whether it’s a young working man or woman who lives in a backroom in a township somewhere, or a shack, TikTok proved to be accessible in that sense.

It opened me up to the reality that the lavish influencer space will become saturated at some point. Not everyone who creates online content will do so from their fancy apartment, driving an expensive, high end car. Although I will admit that the influencer industry in South Africa is still growing, there will probably be levels to the amount of fame and money people make.

This is not a bad thing at all– it just means that influencers on the lower end of the income bracket will find creative ways to share their content and make money out of it. From an observer point of view, it is interesting to witness all these eras from celebrities who were once untouchable to the changing faces of South African influencers.