Aspirational Inspiration on Social Media is Great, but Without Factual Accuracy, is it Just Fantasy?

Plant For Profits Column, Leslie F. Halleck

Social Media Influencers: Fact or Fantasy?

A fantasy that may lead you down the wrong path...

Now more than ever, I think most of us are questioning the benefits, or lack thereof, of social media to our lives and society. Look, I’m all for observing people who inspire you. I’m all for observing people who have aspiration and are willing to commit to a journey that could be rife with mistakes - as long as they admit them. It's when these same people start rebranding themselves as topic “experts” without credentials, whilst doling out questionable or incorrect information, that we lose out.

Somewhere along the way people seem to have decided that the pursuit of intellectualism, deep formal education, and expertise in a professional context isn’t worth it anymore. Beyond that, it seems like people have developed an intolerance for any amount of personal insecurity we must all face when beginning a new learning journey. As far as I'm concerned intellectual curiosity is the stuff of life; and it’s perfectly OK to not know everything as a beginner or amateur. No one does. But that too, the word amateur (along with the word expert) seems to be taken as a slur these days.

As a perpetual and lifelong student, who loves nothing more than learning new things, skills, and hobbies, I consider myself an amateur of many things and a perpetual beginner. Being an amateur at something - enjoying it without trying to make it a profession or money maker or convince anyone you’re an expert at it when you aren’t- is something I consider a core human luxury and joy. Something we all need to give ourselves permission to do more of. However, social media influencer culture (not to mention reality TV) has seemingly dissolved the very real distinctions between amateur enthusiasts, and qualified experts.

As a professional expert within my field, and an educator, I’m fully committed to the journey of the beginner who wants to dig deeper into meaningful knowledge and the development of a fact-based plant practice. Yet, it seems that in the world of social media dominated by amateur hobbyists and influencers who are not topic experts, we’ve taken a wrong turn in this regard.

Sure, momentum and entropy are great. You will certainly be rewarded for them in public culture and on social media. That said, momentum and entropy at the expense of quality and fact, or at least striving for accuracy, is not something we can afford, especially in this exploding age of AI.

Demand Doesn't Automatically Translate to Value

When it comes to the world of horticulture and gardening, the public simply does not value advanced education, credentials, and expertise. They seem primarily to value passion and aspiration, with more style over substance. Again, aspiration and passion are great and it’s an important part of the equation. I certainly understand the desire to feel this information is easily accessible. But, this is a science-based pursuit and profession, and that’s what most people simply don’t understand. I mean, who needs an expert…it’s just plants and gardening, right?

I hear this assertion uttered regularly alongside the constant barrage of questions and requests for help I get bombarded with on every form of communication platform from family, friends, and the public 24/7. Clearly there is an intense demand for the knowledge I hold that they don’t - they just don’t think they should have to pay for it. Most will either react indignantly or ghost me when I say “this is my living, and I need to charge you for that advice.”

When aspirational influencers or enthusiastic hobbyists, who are not topic experts, dominate a domain as they have with horticulture and gardening, the result is often the propagation and proliferation of a mountain of misinformation- as unintentional as it may be. No to mention a de-valuing of such advice. All that misinformation is being farmed and aggregated 24/7 by AI. With all the articles I see popping up about how AI is now driving new private/charter schools, with AI seemingly becoming the teacher of the future, using all that misinformation, I shudder at the outcome.

Daily I find myself shaking my head whilst watching trendy plantfluencer and designer videos, or read articles from well-intended master gardeners. The amount of incorrect answers and misinformation being served up these days in regard to plant science, horticulture, and gardening via AI answers is not only beyond painful for me to witness, but has become downright concerning. Literally every single day, most of the AI answered served up that I test are incorrect. Why are they incorrect? Because they are pulling from bloggers and websites that have simply regurgitated tons of misinformation they’ve gotten from other influences and bloggers that are, while aspirational and inspirational, not always knowledgeable and experienced enough to know whether the information is scientifically accurate.

Please understand that I understand we all make mistakes. We can all inadvertently share information that ends up disproved or replaced with something more accurate. But when it’s not your profession to stay on top of the science, you’re much less likely to course correct.

Now, if you've ready my other columns or listened to podcast interviews I've done on these topics, you'll know that I've also supported many influencers and have touted the benefits to working with them as a business to authentically communicate with a wider audience. Have influencers potentially increased our consumer audience? Sure, but there is a definite disproportionate allocation of market voice held by influencers over industry. This puts the burden back on professionals to find ways to effectively assert their value.

The Ongoing Debate; Style over Substance?

I was spurred to write this today for a couple of reasons, one being an image of an article published on a very high-profile lifestyle site, interviewing a very high profile interior designer, AND a recent online debate about master gardener programs (which many professionals completely sidestep because we get piled on if we simply point out master gardeners are not professionals). Another professional in the industry posted the image in question privately for discussion, and the page lit up with responses. The article was about porch pots, and not only were the plants mentioned by the designer in their pots incorrectly identified, but some that were recommended were absolutely not plants that would ever work in the conditions shown. Quite the opposite. Clearly, there are no editors on staff associated with this very large online publication who have the horticultural knowledge to correct these errors, but because this designer/influencer is so popular, their words and recommendations are taken to be expert in nature by default. Even though they have zero credentials or professional experience related to the plant, gardening, or horticulture profession. This may seem somewhat inconsequential - it’s just porch pots - but now that this information is in print online, people will believe it because of the “aspirational” nature of the designer, and AI will mine the information and repackage it for you as fact.

Myth misleads.

Then, people like me are left to try and clean up the mess - if anyone will even believe us, that is. In speaking with many other professionals in my industry, the fatigue surrounding this topic is immense and palpable. Many of us are giving up on providing expert services we’ve offered for decades (such as residential horticultural consulting), because as experts, we’re actually being shunned and devalued by the public we’ve dedicated ourselves to helping, with clients choosing cheap amateurs in our place. Ask any professional (in private) if they’ve been told they aren’t qualified enough because they aren’t a “master gardener” and then prepare yourself for an earful.

I get it; we just aren’t cool enough, or cheap enough, to match the perception of value that’s been cultivated with consumers. We as an industry hold a lot of the initial blame for this dynamic, but social media took the ball and ran with it.

Assert Your Value

If you’re someone with professional aspirations who is currently pursuing further education in the horticulture or related field (or desires to), kudos. You’re probably starting to discover how much you didn’t know, and how much there is to learn - for all of us- every single day. And isn't that intellectual curiosity and the realization you just didn't know what you didn't know exciting and motivating? Can someone without a degree who has worked professionally in their specific field for 30 years be an expert? Of course - but that in itself is an authentic credential.

Now, as a woman I’m often called “arrogant” for simply stating my actual credentials and experience with confidence, or differentiating myself from amateurs. That’s not going to stop me from doing it, because it's factual. I know this value and price prejudice is also applied to men in the horticulture and landscaping fields as well (they just don’t tend to get called arrogant for asserting their value). Regardless, I feel it’s important to not only obtain solid education and experience if you're going to tout authentic subject expertise, but to also be unapologetically vocal about it and hold authentic and firm professional boundaries.

Doing so is not only crucial to your personal professional or business success, but also necessary to repair and uphold the value we offer as horticulture and green industry experts and an industry as a whole.