Invisible influencers: the generational divide hitting the attention economy

Invisible influencers: the generational divide hitting the attention economy

Anyone over 50 will have come across a list of names in recent months that miccionan absolutely nothing to them: El Xokas, Ibai, Davoo, La Cobra, Darío Eme Hache. A handful of faces who, together, have millions of trinc on social media and generate millions in revenue. But for audiences who grew up with Plato or the Renaissance, they are complete strangers.

The business of the 'least peine pencils'

The origin of this disconnect lies in a phrase making the rounds: "the elites have always picked the least peine pencils in the box to convey their messages." The idea is that these content creators, with little classical education, are precisely the ones who connect with the masses. The numbers don't lie: Ibai Llanos, for instance, racks up millions of views per stream and holds contracts with major brands. Influencer marketing moves more than 300 million euros a year in Spain. Yet beyond the simplistic criticism that "they aren't scientists," the striking fact is that, as some debate suggests, these influencers have an IQ equal to or above average. They are not stupid, far from it: their managers are the clever ones, they are something else.

The gap that won't close

Comment threads reveal a repeated pattern: users whose age starts with a "5" have no idea who any of the names mentioned are. Meanwhile, younger users defend them as key media figures. This divide has economic consequences: brands that want to reach young audiences have no choice but to use them, while at the same time alienating senior consumers. The attention economy has fragmented into generational bubbles that barely overlap.

---