I watch bicycling, camping, and bushcraft videos on Youtube all the time, and sometimes I do in fact spend money on the products they feature, and then of course I want to go bikepacking into the forest to try them out. Dang, trying out new gear is fun...when it works. I don't think that my pursuits are any better than a person who likes make-up or shoes or crafts or cooking or whatever. What are people supposed to do with their spare time? Just stick to the advertising that's on TV? Jigsaw puzzles?

I get the feeling that the criticism of the influencers really comes from a feeling that they don't deserve to be successful. That they should be working in a tractor factory or a collective beet farm or at least a Whole Foods, instead of enjoying wealth and fame. Van Jones said that Kim Kardashian's advocacy for prison reform passed the First Step Act for federal prison reform, which freed many non-violent prisoners by the way. I'll include a link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/arts/television/kim-kardashian-prison-reform.html