Shira: Why should we care about influencers?

Taylor: Influencers are part of a massive industry that drives retail, marketing, entertainment and more. Companies’ marketing deals with influencers are projected to be far larger than advertising sales for the entire newspaper industry in the United States. The products you see in Target and Walmart are often the influencers’ own products, use their names, are developed with them or are promoted by them.

People who say they don’t follow influencers might have scrolled through updates from an Instagram mommy blogger, taken a cruise after seeing someone’s YouTube review or bought needlepoint kits from a person they follow online. Those are probably all influencers!

How will this crisis change how we and social media stars behave online?

It might cull influencers who seem out of touch, like those showing off lavish lifestyles. More of us are likely to adapt what young people are already doing. They’re ditching the hyper-perfect aesthetic online, and embracing the chaos of livestreaming and TikTok, where humor and personality matter more than beautiful pictures.

How do you feel about people spending more time online now?

I worry about the lack of healthy boundaries, and internet companies don’t make it easy to escape. These sites need an option to pause activity, and a universal “away” message to signal that you’re taking a break. I deactivate my Twitter account on many weekends so people can’t message me. Many people do that with Instagram. That’s a sign that people want easier ways to tune out and come back.

That’s it for this briefing. Indulge in some coronavirus hip-hop. See you next time. — Isabella

Thank you

To Melissa Clark for the recipe, and to Theodore Kim and Jahaan Singh for the rest of the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.

• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about coronavirus testing around the world.

• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Shape of a toilet seat (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here.

• Tara Parker-Pope, the founding editor of our health site Well, hosts a Q. and A. with Lisa Damour, a psychologist, and a group of teenagers on how they are managing stress and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. R.S.V.P. here for the call, which will happen at 4 p.m. Eastern (9 p.m. in London), or catch up with it afterward here.