Who says influencers contribute nothing to society?

WHERE would we be without social media influencers to show us what the inside of rented private jets look like when parked on the tarmac, or where they just had the best free lunch of their lives?

For years, a chorus of curmudgeons (possibly envious print journalists, possibly people who pay for their own meals) denounced these by-products of the attention economy as parasites, hissing bitterly that influencers contribute nothing to society.

Dubai happens to disagree. In fact, the emirate has a gross domestic product target for them.