The Brief

It's an unexpected place to spot a recession indicator — from videos reviewing the latest in skin care to picturesque posts of summer vacations — but the impact of turbulent financial markets and seesawing tariff policies threatens to upend the multibillion-dollar influencer industry for millions of online creators.

Recession jitters have made online audiences and brands more discerning about their spending, possibly roiling the traditional income streams that influencers have come to rely on.

"It really does beg the question of what do creators do if the economy isn't there to support them?" Sam Ogborn asks. Ogborn is a content creator and marketing strategist who has worked with brands like Red Bull and Walgreens. "If they're so reliant on fans to buy from them and support them, what happens when that starts to go away?"

Recession fears grow as consumers' confidence declines

Posts sharing luxury handbag collections or exotic vacations were once popular on TikTok and Instagram, but now influencers are facing backlash in their comment sections for what some followers see as excessive displays of wealth during an economic downturn.

It comes as a majority of Americans say they feel "stressed" or "concerned" about their finances, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll. Over half (54%) said they feel the economy is doing poorly. And it has impacted what audiences want to watch online.

Peyton Knight, a marketing executive at Ladder and founder of Last Digital, which assists companies in managing their social media presence, says the financial anxiety has contributed to a decline in trust between followers and content creators. She says, "The consumer is what really dictates what's happening in the market. And I think the consumer has pushed back and said, 'Enough.'"

Hauls and headwinds

Despite influencers' ability to harness their followers' buying power to promote a business or sell out a product with a single post, as recession fears grow, consumers' confidence in their spending power declines, causing brands to recalibrate.

This year, nearly 76% of brands are dedicating advertising funds to online creators. That's a 10% decrease since 2024, according to Influencer Marketing Hub. Only 12% of those brands said they plan to allocate more than half their budgets to influencer marketing, a 12 percentage-point decline since last year.

Knight explains, "Where brands may have used 20-plus creators on a particular campaign, now on average [they are] using single digits for their influencer campaigns, just depending on the scale."

The influencer bubble

Nearly 12 million people in the U.S. consider themselves full-time influencers, according to one study, earning an average of $178,000 a year, a number boosted by the earnings of mega-influencers like Addison Rae and MrBeast. However, economic stressors and increased scrutiny from online audiences could cause the industry — and incomes — to shrink.

Knight believes that the inability of some influencers to innovate as monetary support from brands dries up will cause the decline of what she calls the "one-hit wonders": "Some people just have their moment and then they go away. They try, but they don't become the next Doechii."

But the influencers who have staying power will survive, she says. "These people actually create the content I want to consume, that is, in some way, shape or form, is bettering my life or making me interested in a topic."

Weathering the storm

Ogborn encourages influencers to take an unconventional approach to weathering the storm by looking at how brands reacted during the 2008 recession. "If I were a smart creator, that's what I would be doing right now — is studying what that looked like and starting to understand how behaviors shifted, instead of scrambling to figure out what to do next. Because creators at the end of the day are brands," Ogborn says.

For some influencers, it may mean pivoting their content away from shopping hauls and more toward embracing underconsumption. Ogborn says as consumers want to buy less and save more, "it makes sense that a lot of people now watch that kind of content and find ways to be scrappy in their own lives, because they don't want to just buy a new item anymore and pay the cost of the tariff."

"The only constant is change" 

A recent Instagram post from content creator and former model Caralyn Mirand Koch.

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Caralyn Mirand Koch

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For many influencers who grew up during the 2008 Great Recession, financial turbulence is nothing new. They remember the housing crisis, banks failing and the feeling of economic unpredictability. Yet content creators Kira Abboud and Caralyn Mirand Koch, who remember that time well, remain hopeful about the future of their industry despite the feelings of instability.

Mirand Koch, a lifestyle and fashion creator who has over 400,000 followers on Instagram, says she tries not to operate from fear, but instead remains adaptable, "whether that means shifting partnerships, or fine-tuning my content mix, or just leaning deeper into what my audience is asking for. Whether it's more lighthearted humor or more lifestyle content and not just necessarily so focused on selling."

Diversifying, Mirand Koch says, has been key to her success: knowing that social media platforms can come and go, but that "you still want to have your roots and your core of who you are and where your community can find you." For her, it has meant growing her audiences on other platforms like TikTok and Pinterest, as well as promoting her website.

Abboud, a fashion and styling creator who has over 600,000 followers on Instagram and over 200,000 on TikTok, also encourages creators to look inward and work to better understand where their followers are emotionally and financially during this uncertainty. She says it's important for her community to feel secure, whether it's by offering clothing at lower price points or promoting more local brands: "I need to think about what my consumer is doing, so I can give them what they need so they do feel as though their buying power is with me."

While there is uncertainty of what the future will look like for creators and their followers, for Mirand Koch one thing is clear: "The only constant is change, and you just have to constantly be open-minded and adapt to what's happening — which is a scary place to be comfortable with."
Copyright 2025 NPR

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.