The Narrative Within

Influencers use social media to promote the self, collect followers and, once collected, try to influence the purchasing choices of these followers.

A post on Wikipedia referred to Eleanor Roosevelt as the “original media influencer” and content creator mainly because of her popular newspaper column “My Day”.

Eleanor was very shy and, in her autobiography, she describes her shyness as borderline pathological. Her mom was a well-known beauty who never hesitated to tell her daughter how dreadfully plain she was. And after Eleanor married FDR, she found herself living with a mother-in-law who was more critical and domineering than her own mother. Eleanor felt that she only disappointed her family.

But politics helped emancipate Eleanor. FDR, confined to a wheelchair, could not properly campaign for himself and expected his wife to help him out. So Eleanor had to overcome her shyness and drive across the country campaigning for her unfaithful husband. That’s how she learned to express herself in public and to get people’s attention. She was very successful in her efforts and her success helped build her confidence.

In 1936, Eleanor had a daily newspaper column called “My Day” that, in some ways, put her in the role of an influencer. “My Day” was published six days a week until 1962. FDR encouraged the column as he saw it as a political asset for him and a means of testing out ideas on the public. For example, “My Day” was used to promote WWII before the war had been declared.

As Eleanor built her self-esteem, as her condition of possibility changed, she became the heroine of progressive causes. She wrote: “Of one thing I am sure, in order to be useful we must stand for the things we feel are right, and we must work for those things wherever we find ourselves. It does very little good to believe in something unless you tell your friends and associates of your beliefs.”. Via

Maybe what distinguishes Eleanor from today’s influencers is intention. She was not into promoting products but ideas and values.

Eleanor practiced self-cultivation as a means of becoming a better person. During Victorian times, self-cultivation was a goal for many women. Also called “Bildung“, self-cultivation was practiced as a form of self-improvement and moral development. More importantly, self-cultivation was not just about individual benefit. It was also seen as contributing to society’s overall well-being. And the biggest difference between influencing and self-cultivationing is not only the intention but the difference in the places where they can take you.

Abraham Maslow saw Eleanor as an excellent example of how a person can actualize themselves via self-cultivation. After studying certain historical figures, Maslow believed that “self-actualizers were creative, spontaneous, and able to tolerate uncertainty. Other common qualities included a good sense of humor, concern for the welfare of humanity, deep appreciation of the basic experiences of life, and a tendency to establish close personal relationships with a few people. Maslow also formulated a list of behaviors that he believed could lead to self-actualization. These included such directives as: experience life with the full absorption and concentration of a child; try something new; listen to your own feelings rather than the voices of others; be honest; be willing to risk unpopularity by disagreeing with others; assume responsibility; work hard at whatever you do; and identify and be willing to give up your defenses.” via Self-Actualization

Related: About Eleanor Roosevelt + Mementos + Healthy thoughts for a healthy mind. +

Eleanor Roosevelt: The Introvert Who Wouldn’t Keep Quiet + 4 Lessons From Eleanor Roosevelt That We Can Apply Today + Influencer +

Self-Actualization + Self-actualization profile of Eleanor Roosevelt +