Celebrity endorsements have long shaped public opinion. But in the modern sense, influencers are usually people who build an online following to persuade others to buy products, visit destinations, attend events or adopt curated lifestyles. The most successful earn comfortable livings when companies pay them to promote products. I understand the appeal: fame, fortune, popularity and influence.

Still, the premise behind societal influencers can be troubling. It requires influential people to convince followers their lives are lacking, then persuade them to spend money, time or energy filling that gap with products or impossibly perfect lifestyles. It also makes people more willing to base decisions about what they buy, do or believe on the word of strangers.

It’s easy to criticize influencer culture for pushing people to acquire things they don’t need, act in ways they shouldn’t, or feel discouraged by ordinary lives that lack an immaculate home, perfectly accessorized outfits and “elevated” dining. (The word “elevated,” for the record, is a pet peeve of mine.)

Yet in a broader sense, we are all influencers, and we are all influenced.

The word influencer traces to the Latin influentum, meaning “to flow into.” It once described rivers that shape the land wherever they flow, and unseen forces from the stars once believed to hold sway over the human heart.

Everything we say and do can flow into the hearts and minds of others, like rushing rivers or, for quieter people, trickling creeks, moving others silently, the way the stars were once thought to. What would happen if we all took the role of influencer seriously?

Over the years, I’ve been shaped by many people. Those whose influence mattered most were never strangers on a screen, but the people closest to me, whose care for my well-being was never in doubt: my parents, family, friends, teachers, priests and mentors. My colleagues have shaped how I teach and write. My students’ idealism and enthusiasm have reshaped my perspective. The saints whose lives have illuminated the centuries have influenced me through their example.

As I give thanks for those who have shaped my life, perhaps the challenge for all of us, young and old, is this: How will we use our influence? How will what we say and do lead others toward what is good, beautiful and true? How will our influence inspire, console and encourage?

Surveys suggest many hope to become influencers selling lesser, fleeting goods. But what if these ambitious, tech-savvy Gen Zers, and their elders, paused to consider that we all have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to be influencers? Whether in our own small corner of the world or on a broader stage, how might our influence be a blessing to everyone whose life we touch?