Reality check: What I learned from playing 'sugar daddy' to a YouTube celebrity

It speaks volumes that the big viral moment coming out of this year’s VidCon was a kid dressed up as an influencer apology video. Clearly, this is yet another signal that the influencer craze has jumped the shark, adding to the list of decreasing engagement, reprehensible stunts, increasing backlash against perceived entitlement, inauthenticity and follower fraud. Right?Not so fast. Take a closer look and you’ll likely see that influencers are only now just hitting their stride,