If John Carmack mentioned a great new debugger he's been using lately, I'd probably check it out. I trust him when it comes to software discussions.
I'm taking a pretty broad definition of influencer. In your family, you may be an influencer if you are the one people come to with tech problems.
The word "Maven" comes to mind. In my circles, there are many different Mavens that I lean on depending on the categorical niche that I'm evaluating.
I think the judgment applies mostly to people for whom "influencer" is their actual job title.