The creator economy has officially won, and periodic waves of influencer backlash have become a perennial feature of online discourse. Some recent examples include the “no influencers sign” in Nantucket, whether “hating influencers has become a socially acceptable way to hate women,” and talk of an influencer recession as the landscape becomes more crowded and competitive. To parse legit grievances from convenient moral cover for envy, we turned to the writer and strategist Ochuko who you might know from her newsletter “as seen on.” We discuss why waiting for the end of influencers is like waiting for the end of the Kardashians, where we’re at in the five stages of acceptance, capitalism, honor, meritocracy, and scrounging for scraps on TikTok Shop. IG: @sideprojects__ YouTube: @SideProjectsPodcast Substack: https://sideprojectsco.substack.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don’t Hate the Creator, Hate the Economy

Side Projects Podcast

Okay, welcome back. You're listening to the Side Projects Podcast. We help marketers understand what cultural relevance means and requires from the people shaping media, art, tech, and cultural discourse. Wow. So excited. You know how much I'm loving and living for the discourse. I know you are. And that is why we are very excited to welcome Ochuko to the podcast. Our first mononymous podcast. I know. Who next? Yes, it's really exciting. Share. See you soon. Prince.

She is a writer. She has also worked brand side as a strategist, but you would probably know her from her sub stack as Scene On, which is a cultural intelligence newsletter covering fashion, beauty, tech, media, and the business of culture. And the best dispatch from Cannes Line Festival of Creativity 2026. Oh my God, ruthless plug. But suffice to say, she knows it all. She covers it all.

So it was, of course, hard to narrow things down. But we wanted to hone in on one subject in particular, which is top of mind. But influencers slash creators slash posters slash makers. Where do you draw the line, Eli? What do you call people who make content for the Internet? You know, Clara, first of all, I'm so glad you asked that question. I knew that you would have a thought. Critical juncture. I know.

In the cultural discourse. But, you know, I do recognize that this focus on vocabulary can be kind of trite. It can be kind of absurd. It's the whole kind of killing two birds with one stone, feeding two birds with one scone type of thing.

Don’t Hate the Creator, Hate the Economy

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Don’t Hate the Creator, Hate the Economy

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.