UAE Influencers Fight Back: Navigating the “Most Distrusted Profession” Label
A recent survey ranking social media influencers as the “most distrusted profession” in the UAE has sparked a significant response from the content creator community. While acknowledging the industry’s challenges, influencers and marketing experts are pushing back against the broad-brush label, arguing that trust is being rebuilt through authenticity, transparency, and a strategic shift away from purely transactional promotions.
The findings come from the seventh annual “Worst Reputation in the UAE” survey by Insight Discovery. Influencers topped the list, with 21% of respondents giving them the lowest trust rating, followed by telemarketers (19%), credit card issuers (13%), recruitment firms (11%), and real estate agents (8%).
Industry Reaction: A Call for Nuance
For many within the industry, the survey result was unsurprising but overly simplistic. A key argument is that the term “influencer” has become a catch-all that fails to distinguish between different types of creators.
Tatum Greig, founder of the MENA-focused agency Bees&Honey, emphasizes this distinction. She notes that the public often conflates “influencers” with “creators.” According to Greig, while some influencers may focus on promotional content, true creators build trust by producing original, community-rooted content. This shift in perception is seen as crucial for rehabilitating the profession’s image.
The Rise of Authenticity: Micro-Influencers and Community Building
The industry’s path to rebuilding trust appears to be led by smaller-scale creators. So-called “micro” or “nano” influencers are often highlighted for their stronger, more genuine connections with niche audiences. Their success is attributed to more intimate, consistent, and authentic communication.
Fitness coach Nik Naidoo, who has around 9,000 Instagram followers, acknowledges that the negative perception is partly earned. He notes that many in the UAE have prioritized visibility over genuine relationship-building. His strategy to counter this involves radical authenticity: sharing both successes and failures, engaging deeply with his community, and even learning Arabic to foster a stronger cultural connection.
Transparency as a Non-Negotiable Standard
Beyond authenticity, clear disclosure is repeatedly cited as a cornerstone of rebuilding credibility. Tech and gaming creator Tamim Al-Ali (with approximately 12,700 followers) underscores that transparency about paid partnerships is essential. When reviewing products, he makes it a point to clearly disclose specs, costs, and whether the content is a sponsored promotion. This honesty, he believes, is fundamental to maintaining audience trust.
The Future: Regulation and Relational Storytelling
The industry’s evolution is also being shaped by external factors. Tighter regulations in the UAE, including influencer licensing and clearer disclosure rules, are helping to raise professional standards and weed out bad actors.
Looking forward, experts like Tatum Greig argue that the future lies in moving from transactional campaigns to “relational storytelling.” This means brands and creators engaging in long-term collaborations that allow for authentic messaging and emotional resonance, rather than one-off promotional posts.
Conclusion: Trust is Being Renegotiated
While the “most distrusted profession” tag is a stark wake-up call, the consensus within the UAE’s creator community is that trust is not irreparably broken—it is instead being actively renegotiated. Many influencers recognize that their long-term success depends not only on reach and follower counts but on the depth of credibility they hold with their audiences. The blueprint for rehabilitation is becoming clearer: a steadfast commitment to honesty in collaborations, deeper and more authentic community engagement, unambiguous disclosure in all advertising partnerships, and the creation of content that is both culturally thoughtful and socially responsible.
By embracing these principles, creators believe they can gradually shed the negative stereotype and move beyond transactional interactions. The goal is to cultivate more meaningful, lasting connections with their audiences—relationships built on transparency, shared values, and genuine dialogue rather than short-term promotion. If executed consistently, this shift could transform influencer culture in the UAE from one plagued by skepticism into a model of trust-driven digital engagement.
