<p>There are a reported 13 million full time influencers in the U.S. today. According to Goldman Sachs, the influencer economy is worth around $250-billion, a number expected to double by 2027. </p><p><br></p><p>Despite its quick rise, the influencer economy remains a nascent industry that, in many ways, has no meaningful oversight or standard and practices. </p><p><br></p><p>We're joined by Emily Hund, author of 'The Influencer Industry: the quest for authenticity on social media' to better understand one of our quickest growing cultural and economic sectors, and the need to professionalize the industry, before it's too late. </p><p><br></p><p>In this episode, we refer to a previous installment of Front Burner, which you can find below:</p><p>The Dark Side of Family Influencers Apple/Spotify</p><p><br></p><p>For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts</p>