Cast your mind back to kindergarten.  You may remember grabbing your favorite stuffed animal or toy car and carrying it into school for Show & Tell.

You stood proudly (or timidly) and told your classmates about the item.

It was a right-of-passage to be able to do that!

Come to think of it, “showing” was a big part of our culture then, whether it was in school or while out riding the Peanut Circuit in a cool car with the top down.

As times evolved, so did the means of—dare I say—bragging.

Along came Facebook and Instagram, where you could post a photo of your supper and all your “friends” could admire your cooking skills.

In the early days of social media, whatever you bragged about was typically something of your own.

How things have changed over the course of time!

Today, Show & Tell has become its own economy, bringing in millions of dollars through a “creator economy” using social media “influencers” who are paid for their endorsements.

In fact, 58% of consumers over age 18 purchase products because of an influencer endorsement, according to the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs.

With more than 50 million content creators across the globe (not including AI), the market is flooded with influencers.

And it’s often subtle. Influencers may not obviously sell you an item, but you can bet your last dollar that there will be a link in bio that will take you to where you can buy the item and have it sent to your door, posthaste!

We’ve become a consumerism society thanks to the influence of influencers.

Sure, we’ve always had ads influencing us.

From “I wish I were an Oscar Mayer wiener, that is what I’d truly like to be!” to “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz …”, brands have found clever ways to catch our attention.

Look at the Super Bowl ads—people are excited to watch the creativity of brands who have spent millions of dollars to sell us something.

Jingles may be things of the past and Big Game commercials may be a flash in the pan, but influencers have become daily instigators of consumerism because we want the latest thing and we want it NOW!

But is the influencer culture eliminating the individual thought process?

Aren’t we just waiting for somebody to tell us what we need? And it’s as easy as scrolling.

Factor in that as the AI market expands, nearly 90% of video content is expected to be AI-generated by the end of 2026.

So where is the trust? Where is the authenticity? Have we become a society that panders to something we used to snub?

Think about the old stereotypical used car salesman—he was loud and in-your-face and would tell you anything to get you to buy.

Those methods weren’t genuine. Neither are most influencers.

I think people are beginning to crave authenticity.

For what it’s worth, auction gives you an opportunity to not only see, touch and feel before you buy, but it also gives you the chance to relate to real people.

Auction allows you to think and decide for yourself what the item is truly worth.

Real experience. Real value. Real people.

It’s so simple, we learned it in kindergarten!