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The word 'influencer' is now in the Mirriam-Webster dictionary

The word 'influencer' is now in the Mirriam-Webster dictionary

Merriam-Webster recently announced it has added in the word “influencer” to the 2019 dictionary, along with a large grouping of other words.

'Influencer' has been a term mostly used these days as part of various industries involving social media to describe individuals with a large following.

The original definition of the term won’t change, but the word will be given an additional definition with it as “a person who is able to generate interest in something (such as a consumer product) by posting about it on social media".

“Marketing and branding are fields that are now better understood and studied than ever before, and awareness of the terms used in the profession goes along with awareness of visual imagery and messaging for informed readers," Mirriam-Webster editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski explained to AdWeek.

"All of us are consumers, even if all we are consuming is information.”

In addition to the term, Merriam-Webster is also adding other words used frequently in marketing and social media, including 'buzzy', 'tweetstorm', 'gig economy' and 'on-brand'.

Sokolowski also went on to add, “it’s natural for writers covering these fields to adopt the specialized language of the people they cover, and that use spreads to fans and followers and all readers paying attention to this coverage.

"The simple fact is that we are all dorks of one kind or another, and professional jargon spreads quickly, often becoming less specific along the way.”


Staff Writer