I suppose that back in the day, influencers were Socrates, Archimedes, etc. but that was completely different as they didn't move so many people (only highly educated)...

They were role models and people with a special skill. Today influencers are defined by the number of followers and it's so obvious what they are doing because it's actually written in their job description lol.

In a way it's so much easier to let others think for us and just follow them. We need to use our brains, think critically and listen to all the sides. Otherwise we just all become dumb sheep that follow a stupid leader ;-)