Attention and influence are not the same thing.

Your favourite creator might have more power over you than you think. Not just over what you buy. Over what you believe about them.

Watch someone long enough, and they stop feeling like a stranger. They feel familiar. And familiar can start to feel like trust.

I know it did for me.

In 2016, I'd just finished fashion school and was getting ready to move to Sweden. What did I know about Sweden? H&M. ABBA. IKEA.

Did I research it? Nope. My ADHD brain decided I'd do that later. Learning makeup felt more urgent.

So I watched A LOT of YouTube. Future marketer. Great priorities.

Peak Beauty YouTube. Tati. Manny MUA. Jaclyn Hill. Jeffree Star. I watched ALL of them.

I watched Jeffree more because he had Ru girls on his channel, and I'm a BIG Drag Race fan. It felt less like tutorials and more like gossiping with friends.

Which was a problem because I was there to learn makeup.

I still can't do makeup. I'll poke myself in the eye, finish, forget I'm wearing it and rub my eye.

But I watched. Then I bought his weird-coloured liquid lipsticks and first palette.

The palette wasn't great. The lipsticks did NOT stay on. Maybelline was right there.

And I kept watching.

Then I learned about his racist past. His message was basically, "That isn't who I am anymore."

And I believed him. Not because racism is okay. IT NEVER IS. But because I believe people can change.

Megan Phelps-Roper grew up in Westboro Baptist Church and left. I used to think Paris Hilton was just an out-of-touch 2000s celebrity. Then I learned more about her life and the work she's done to change the troubled-teen industry. My opinion changed.

We HAVE to leave room for that. People change. Sometimes WE change when we learn more.

But sometimes people don't change.

A LOT of people believed Jeffree had. Even Kim Kardashian defended him at the time and said people should be allowed to change.

But years later, I don't think he did.

He's still getting attention for hateful comments.

And this is where attention and influence are NOT the same thing.

People watching because they hate what you're saying isn't trust.

Sure, hate can get views. It can get comments. It can keep people talking about you.

But that doesn't mean they like you. It doesn't mean they trust or like you. And it doesn't mean they want to buy something because you told them to.

Creators don't need to be perfect. Nobody is. But when a brand works with someone, it's choosing who it wants its name next to.

We don't need hate for clicks.

There are SO many creators making funny, smart, weird and interesting things without making the internet worse.

I'd rather see brands give more of them a chance.

We don't have to reward the loudest person just because everyone is looking at them.