Why on earth is anyone actually influenced by "influencers"?

I followed one chap on Twitter who identified as an "influencer", and from his tweets it's clear he gets loads of things for free, and also receives a steady stream of what he calls "care packages", various goodies from the companies he shills for.

If your life is basically a stream of free items and microbribes why would anyone take your opinion at face value?

I'd much rather hear from someone who actually paid for a thing TBH.