How Coachella Became the Influencer Olympics

If you scroll through the TikTok page of Linda Cuadros, a social media strategist and podcaster based in Miami, you will see viral videos of what she calls the “pre-influencer era’” of Coachella. There are images of flower crowns, the occasional celebrity sighting, and, most notably, way fewer social media influencers.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, taking place in Indio, Calif. and now entering into this year’s second three-day weekend, has changed since Cuadros attended in 2014, 2015, and 2016. According to the comments on her videos with nearly 1 million views, she’s not the only one nostalgic for the Coachella she once knew. “This is what made me want to go, but now it’s a money pit for mostly influencers,” writes …