WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.280 You know that feeling, right? You're sitting 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:03.740 on the couch. It's maybe 1130 at night. You should 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:05.480 have gone to bed an hour ago. Oh, I know this 00:00:05.480 --> 00:00:08.000 feeling very well. The TV is playing something, 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:11.519 maybe a rerun or just the news on mute, but you 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:13.560 aren't watching it. You're looking at your ham. 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.940 Specifically, your thumb is doing that repetitive, 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.019 almost hypnotic motion. The scroll. The scroll. 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.199 Swipe up, stop, swipe up, stop. You see a photo. 00:00:23.820 --> 00:00:26.640 of a living room that is cleaner than your house 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:30.000 has ever been, then a video of a girl making 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.700 a green smoothie that somehow looks delicious 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:35.039 even though you know it tastes like grass. Right, 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.320 you just know it does. And then a guy recommending 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:39.899 a specific brand of noise -canceling headphones 00:00:39.899 --> 00:00:42.759 that will, you know, revolutionize your workflow. 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:45.500 And usually somewhere in that caption, buried 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:48.039 under a mountain of emojis or maybe hiding in 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:49.960 the first comment, is that little phrase we've 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:52.570 all been trained to look for, link in bio. It 00:00:52.570 --> 00:00:56.530 is the ubiquity of the scroll. It has effectively 00:00:56.530 --> 00:01:00.270 become the default state of modern leisure. But 00:01:00.270 --> 00:01:02.229 what you were describing, that trance -like state, 00:01:02.409 --> 00:01:05.049 it isn't just a passive pastime. It feels passive. 00:01:05.189 --> 00:01:09.430 It feels it, but it is the front end of one of 00:01:09.430 --> 00:01:11.709 the most sophisticated engines of behavioral 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:14.790 modification in history. Okay, that sounds ominous. 00:01:14.989 --> 00:01:18.250 Behavioral modification. It feels like we are 00:01:18.250 --> 00:01:20.730 just looking at people taking selfies or sharing 00:01:20.730 --> 00:01:23.590 their morning routine or doing a dance challenge 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:25.390 in their kitchen. It feels pretty harmless. On 00:01:25.390 --> 00:01:27.950 the surface, absolutely. But today, we are going 00:01:27.950 --> 00:01:30.790 to talk about the sheer scale of this industry. 00:01:31.010 --> 00:01:33.069 Because when you actually look at the numbers, 00:01:33.109 --> 00:01:35.189 and more importantly, the psychology behind it, 00:01:35.269 --> 00:01:38.430 it's just mind -blowing. We are diving deep into 00:01:38.430 --> 00:01:41.129 the world of influencer marketing. And we need 00:01:41.129 --> 00:01:43.310 to be really precise about what that means because 00:01:43.310 --> 00:01:45.969 the term influencer gets thrown around so loosely. 00:01:46.030 --> 00:01:48.189 to describe anyone with an Instagram account. 00:01:48.370 --> 00:01:50.069 Right. Anyone with more than a thousand followers 00:01:50.069 --> 00:01:53.030 is suddenly an influencer. Exactly. But based 00:01:53.030 --> 00:01:55.390 on the materials we have today, we are defining 00:01:55.390 --> 00:01:57.810 influencer marketing strictly as a form of social 00:01:57.810 --> 00:02:00.689 media marketing involving endorsements and product 00:02:00.689 --> 00:02:03.230 placement. But here's the crucial distinction 00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:05.989 that separates it from, say, a celebrity holding 00:02:05.989 --> 00:02:08.909 a can of soda in a magazine ad. It involves individuals 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:12.849 or organizations. with a purported expert level 00:02:12.849 --> 00:02:16.169 of knowledge or social influence in their specific 00:02:16.169 --> 00:02:19.590 field. Purported. That word is doing a lot of 00:02:19.590 --> 00:02:22.050 heavy lifting there. It is. And we will get to 00:02:22.050 --> 00:02:24.729 why that distinction matters so much. These influencers 00:02:24.729 --> 00:02:27.169 operate on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, 00:02:27.469 --> 00:02:30.729 Snapchat, and TikTok. And they have the power. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.060 to affect the buying habits or quantifiable actions 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:36.419 of others just by uploading their own original 00:02:36.419 --> 00:02:39.199 content. So here is our mission for this deep 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.520 dive. We aren't just looking at how much money 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:43.699 these people make, though, spoiler alert, the 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:46.319 top tier is making more than most CEOs. Much 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.379 more. We are going to peel back the filter. We 00:02:48.379 --> 00:02:50.620 want to understand the psychology of why we trust 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:52.379 these strangers on the Internet more than we 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:55.259 trust, you know, established institutions. We're 00:02:55.259 --> 00:02:57.849 going to look at the economy of it. Why a staggering 00:02:57.849 --> 00:03:00.210 percentage of teenagers now view this as the 00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:03.449 ultimate career path, eclipsing doctors and astronauts 00:03:03.449 --> 00:03:05.909 and everything we grew up wanting to be. And 00:03:05.909 --> 00:03:08.969 we cannot ignore the darker aspects. This isn't 00:03:08.969 --> 00:03:11.949 just about selling tea or leggings. We are going 00:03:11.949 --> 00:03:14.370 to explore the shadow world. We're talking about 00:03:14.370 --> 00:03:17.729 billion -dollar fraud, fake followers, and even 00:03:17.729 --> 00:03:20.430 how this whole industry intersects with geopolitical 00:03:20.430 --> 00:03:23.509 propaganda in places like the UAE. And finally, 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:25.780 we'll look at the future. where the influencers, 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:28.139 the people we trust, might not even be human 00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:31.039 anymore. It's a fascinating and, frankly, somewhat 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.960 terrifying trajectory. It is. If we zoom out, 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:37.060 this is really the modern evolution of what sociologists 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:39.780 call the two -step flow of communication. It's 00:03:39.780 --> 00:03:42.240 reshaping global economies, and it is certainly 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:44.099 reshaping our mental health. Okay, let's unpack 00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:46.219 this. I think the best place to start is with 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:48.300 the history, because it didn't always look like 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:50.039 this. I mean, celebrity endorsements have been 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:51.759 around forever. It's the dawn of celebrity, pretty 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.759 much. A movie star sells cigarettes or cars in 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:57.219 the 50s. You'd see John Wayne or Marilyn Monroe 00:03:57.219 --> 00:04:00.000 on a billboard. But this feels fundamentally 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:02.240 different. It is different, and the shift is 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:05.479 subtle, but it's really profound. As I mentioned, 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:09.539 it moved from celebrity to authenticity, or at 00:04:09.539 --> 00:04:11.879 least the curated appearance of it. The performance 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:14.300 of authenticity. Exactly. In the traditional 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:16.699 model, you have a celebrity. Let's say George 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:19.790 Clooney. You see him drinking Nespresso. You 00:04:19.790 --> 00:04:22.029 know he is a wealthy actor. You know he lives 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:24.870 in a villa in Italy. You know he's being paid 00:04:24.870 --> 00:04:26.930 millions of dollars to hold that cup. Right. 00:04:27.069 --> 00:04:30.009 There is a distance there, a safe distance. Right. 00:04:30.209 --> 00:04:32.329 I don't look at George Clooney drinking coffee 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:34.829 and think he's just like me. I think that's a 00:04:34.829 --> 00:04:36.750 cool movie star. I don't assume we're friends. 00:04:36.829 --> 00:04:39.329 There's no illusion. Exactly. But the influencer 00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:42.029 is different. They are viewed as a neutral authority 00:04:42.029 --> 00:04:45.529 pitch. The source material highlights that. Unlike 00:04:45.529 --> 00:04:48.529 a random celebrity, an influencer is seen as 00:04:48.529 --> 00:04:52.589 having specific niche expertise or just good 00:04:52.589 --> 00:04:55.350 taste. That good taste part is key. It's like, 00:04:55.410 --> 00:04:57.970 oh, I like how she dresses, so I trust her recommendation 00:04:57.970 --> 00:05:01.009 on this shampoo. It feels personal. It's peer 00:05:01.009 --> 00:05:03.709 to peer. Yeah. It feels like getting advice from 00:05:03.709 --> 00:05:07.029 the cool girl in your sorority or the guy at 00:05:07.029 --> 00:05:10.009 the gym who lifts more than you. And the explosion 00:05:10.009 --> 00:05:13.129 of platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube 00:05:13.129 --> 00:05:16.370 just accelerated this. It democratized fame. 00:05:16.970 --> 00:05:19.470 Suddenly, you didn't need a studio contract to 00:05:19.470 --> 00:05:21.670 have an audience. You just needed a phone and 00:05:21.670 --> 00:05:23.529 a point of view. And a good ring light. And a 00:05:23.529 --> 00:05:25.689 very good ring light. But as with any gold rush, 00:05:25.889 --> 00:05:28.470 it started as the Wild West. Oh, totally. I remember 00:05:28.470 --> 00:05:31.290 the early days of Instagram around 2012 or 2013. 00:05:31.529 --> 00:05:33.589 It was just a free for all. People were pushing 00:05:33.589 --> 00:05:36.050 skinny tees and waist trainers and nobody knew 00:05:36.050 --> 00:05:37.829 if they were getting paid or if they just really, 00:05:37.910 --> 00:05:40.370 really. loved loose leaf tea that makes you run 00:05:40.370 --> 00:05:42.730 to the bathroom. It was incredibly murky. That 00:05:42.730 --> 00:05:45.329 ambiguity was actually a major problem, right? 00:05:45.370 --> 00:05:47.589 It was a huge problem. And it brings us to the 00:05:47.589 --> 00:05:51.709 FTC intervention of 2016. Now, for those who 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:54.430 don't follow regulatory history, this was a watershed 00:05:54.430 --> 00:05:57.910 moment. Before 2016, it was truly unregulated. 00:05:58.069 --> 00:06:00.230 But the Federal Trade Commission in the United 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:04.750 States began framing influencer content as testimonial 00:06:04.750 --> 00:06:07.740 advertising. Testimonial advertising. That sounds 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:10.220 serious. That sounds like legal jargon. It is 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:12.660 legally significant. It means you are personally 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:15.240 vouching for the product. So let's go back to 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:17.800 that moment in 2016. This wasn't just a press 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:21.000 release. The FTC sent out what are known as educational 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.980 letters. But that's a polite term for a warning 00:06:24.980 --> 00:06:27.339 shot. A warning shot, right. Dozens of massive 00:06:27.339 --> 00:06:30.839 brands and stars. We're talking about A -listers 00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.180 who suddenly realized they could be liable for 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:35.420 deceptive marketing. So they're on the hook legally. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:37.800 They're on the hook. Imagine the panic in the 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:39.800 marketing departments of these major cosmetic 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:42.100 companies. They had built their whole strategy 00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:45.819 on stealth. on making it look like organic love 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:47.379 for the product. And suddenly the government 00:06:47.379 --> 00:06:49.980 is saying, we see you. The party is over. You 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:51.939 have to tell people this is an ad. And this is 00:06:51.939 --> 00:06:53.920 where it gets really interesting because I remember 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:56.540 this vivid panic among influencers. They were 00:06:56.540 --> 00:06:59.399 terrified. They thought if I put hashtag ad, 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.680 hashtag ad on my post, everyone is going to unfollow 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:04.420 me. They'll think I'm a sellout. My engagement 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:08.019 will tank. They genuinely believed that the magic 00:07:08.019 --> 00:07:10.740 was in the secrecy. That was the prevailing fear. 00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:13.680 They thought the illusion of authenticity would 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:15.660 be shattered if they admitted money was changing 00:07:15.660 --> 00:07:18.939 hands. But the data shows something completely 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:21.740 counterintuitive happened. Yeah, the fans didn't 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:23.639 care. In fact, didn't the engagement actually 00:07:23.639 --> 00:07:26.459 go up in some cases? It often did. Okay, but 00:07:26.459 --> 00:07:27.860 I have to stop you there. That doesn't make any 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:31.569 sense. We usually hate ads. We skip YouTube ads. 00:07:31.670 --> 00:07:34.189 We pay for premium Spotify to avoid them. We 00:07:34.189 --> 00:07:37.389 install ad blockers on our browsers. Why would 00:07:37.389 --> 00:07:39.930 we suddenly cheer for an ad just because it's 00:07:39.930 --> 00:07:42.930 on Instagram? That's a great pushback. It does 00:07:42.930 --> 00:07:45.939 seem completely illogical. But the sources suggest 00:07:45.939 --> 00:07:47.699 that the relationship is different. It's not 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:49.959 a brand -to -consumer relationship. It's a person 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.319 -to -person one. Fans were actually happy to 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:56.139 see the disclosure because it signaled success. 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:58.459 It was like, oh, wow, look at her. She's landing 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:01.459 deals. She's making it. It validated the creator 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:03.920 status. So it's not an interruption. It's a celebration. 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.860 It's a celebration. When you see a YouTuber you've 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:08.579 watched for years suddenly get a sponsorship 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:11.759 from a major brand, you don't feel annoyed. You 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.029 feel a sense of vicarious pride. That is so wild. 00:08:15.189 --> 00:08:17.750 So the thing they thought would ruin them actually 00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:20.170 made them more popular. It's like they were cheering 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:22.509 for their friend getting a promotion. Good for 00:08:22.509 --> 00:08:25.670 you. Get that bag. Precisely. Yeah. But this 00:08:25.670 --> 00:08:28.649 created a really bizarre side effect. And this 00:08:28.649 --> 00:08:30.930 is one of those details that truly highlights 00:08:30.930 --> 00:08:34.110 the strange psychology of this entire industry. 00:08:34.429 --> 00:08:37.009 Okay. What happened? Some influencers started 00:08:37.009 --> 00:08:39.570 faking sponsored posts. Wait. Wait. Let's pause 00:08:39.570 --> 00:08:41.110 on that. You mean they were pretending to be 00:08:41.110 --> 00:08:44.230 sponsored? When they weren't? Correct. They would 00:08:44.230 --> 00:08:47.169 style a post to look exactly like a paid advertisement, 00:08:47.429 --> 00:08:50.070 tagging the brand, writing the caption in that 00:08:50.070 --> 00:08:53.029 specific ad -speak style, maybe even saying, 00:08:53.110 --> 00:08:56.070 thanks brand name for the gift. But no money 00:08:56.070 --> 00:08:57.909 had changed hands. The brand didn't even know 00:08:57.909 --> 00:08:59.690 who they were. The brand didn't even know who 00:08:59.690 --> 00:09:01.889 they were. That blows my mind. Why would you 00:09:01.889 --> 00:09:04.090 do that? You're giving the brand free advertising. 00:09:04.110 --> 00:09:07.129 You are working for free. To gain credibility. 00:09:07.669 --> 00:09:10.029 They wanted to look successful enough to be hired 00:09:10.029 --> 00:09:12.830 for real. It was a fake it till you made it strategy. 00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:15.929 So if other brands saw you posting sponsored 00:09:15.929 --> 00:09:18.970 content, they might think, oh, this person is 00:09:18.970 --> 00:09:21.190 in demand. We should hire them. Exactly. She's 00:09:21.190 --> 00:09:22.690 already working with our competitors. We need 00:09:22.690 --> 00:09:24.929 to get in there. That is the ultimate inception 00:09:24.929 --> 00:09:28.470 of marketing. Faking an ad to get a real ad. 00:09:28.590 --> 00:09:32.149 It's layers of deception. But surely that couldn't 00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:35.110 last forever. The pendulum did swing back eventually, 00:09:35.289 --> 00:09:37.960 right? The audience had to get wise to it. It 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:41.500 did. By mid -2018, the market became saturated. 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:44.200 You couldn't scroll three inches without hitting 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:47.080 an hashtag ad, a backlash hit. The audience started 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:49.559 to get fatigued. Fatigued. Totally. It became 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:51.740 too commercial. So the market corrected itself, 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:54.240 and the pendulum swung aggressively toward... 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:56.600 authenticity and now we're in this weird phase 00:09:56.600 --> 00:09:59.500 of curated authenticity people trying to look 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:03.240 real to sell products messy hair no makeup crying 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:05.720 on camera but it's all still content it's all 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.200 still a performance is the authenticity paradox 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:11.139 you have to perform reality to monetize it which 00:10:11.139 --> 00:10:13.580 leads us perfectly into the psychology of all 00:10:13.580 --> 00:10:16.879 this because clearly it works if it didn't work 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.899 brands wouldn't be dumping billions and billions 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:21.860 of dollars into it Not at all. Why is this so 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:25.000 much more persuasive than a TV commercial? You 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.539 mentioned trust, authenticity, and reliability. 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:30.100 But I want to dig deeper into the mechanism. 00:10:30.419 --> 00:10:33.500 How does it actually work in our brains? To understand 00:10:33.500 --> 00:10:35.960 this, we have to look at that two -step flow 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:38.659 theory I mentioned earlier. Back in the 1940s, 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:41.440 sociologists realized that mass media doesn't 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:43.639 usually just inject ideas directly into your 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:46.779 brain. Right. Instead, media goes to opinion 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:50.029 leaders first. the respected guy at the barbershop, 00:10:50.029 --> 00:10:52.629 the union rep, the pastor. They digest the news, 00:10:52.769 --> 00:10:54.909 and then they tell their community what to think. 00:10:55.049 --> 00:10:57.809 Okay, so in the 1940s, it was the guy at the 00:10:57.809 --> 00:11:01.250 barbershop. Now it's the beauty guru on YouTube. 00:11:01.649 --> 00:11:04.610 Precisely. Influencer marketing is just the industrialization 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:07.230 of those opinion leaders. The brand talks to 00:11:07.230 --> 00:11:09.850 the influencer. That's step one. And the influencer 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:12.009 translates that corporate message into vibes 00:11:12.009 --> 00:11:14.789 for you. That's step two. They launder the corporate 00:11:14.789 --> 00:11:17.330 message into something that feels personal. That's 00:11:17.330 --> 00:11:19.169 a great way to put it. But the reason it sticks 00:11:19.169 --> 00:11:21.370 today is because of the shift from word of mouth 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:24.690 to electronic word of mouth, or EWOM. And that's 00:11:24.690 --> 00:11:26.710 where the parasocial relationship comes in. We 00:11:26.710 --> 00:11:29.350 hear that term a lot. We do. But I think people 00:11:29.350 --> 00:11:32.850 miss how calculated it is. It describes a one 00:11:32.850 --> 00:11:35.970 -sided emotional bond. You feel like you know 00:11:35.970 --> 00:11:38.389 the influencer. You know their dog's name. You 00:11:38.389 --> 00:11:40.049 know what their kitchen looks like. You know 00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:42.409 about their struggles with anxiety. They're sharing 00:11:42.409 --> 00:11:45.480 so much. Right. They don't know you exist, of 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.139 course, but you feel a bond with them. It's true. 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.200 I catch myself doing it. I'll see someone I follow 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:52.019 recommend a book and I'll buy it without even 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:54.159 reading the reviews because I feel like, oh, 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:56.759 if she likes it, I'll probably like it. My brain 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.399 just accepts the recommendation. That is the 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:02.519 mechanism at work. But it's not just that you 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.799 feel like you know them. The research shows that 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:09.279 influencers deliberately use what's called phatic 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:12.059 communication. Phatic communication. What's that? 00:12:12.139 --> 00:12:14.299 That sounds academic. It does, but it's actually 00:12:14.299 --> 00:12:17.320 very simple. These are small, non -informational 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:19.299 exchanges. Think about when you text a friend 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:22.740 just, hey, or send a funny meme. It conveys no 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:25.480 information, really. It just maintains the connection. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.860 It just maintains the connection. Influencers 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:32.509 do this constantly. They ask coffee or tea in 00:12:32.509 --> 00:12:35.149 a poll. They share a photo of a messy room with 00:12:35.149 --> 00:12:39.330 a caption, Monday mood. These acts serve zero 00:12:39.330 --> 00:12:42.029 purpose other than to lower your psychological 00:12:42.029 --> 00:12:44.690 defenses. So they are mimicking friendship protocols. 00:12:45.090 --> 00:12:47.490 Exactly. They mimic friendship protocols so that 00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:50.850 when the ask comes, the product pitch, your brain 00:12:50.850 --> 00:12:55.570 processes it as advice from a peer, not a commercial 00:12:55.570 --> 00:12:58.700 from a corporation. That feels... I don't know, 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.059 a little bit manipulative. It is highly effective 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:03.480 engineering, and it connects directly to something 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:06.519 called self -determination theory. Okay. Influencers 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:08.659 foster engagement by aligning with what consumers 00:13:08.659 --> 00:13:10.779 already want to see, their motivations and intentions. 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:13.399 It's not just shoving a product in your face. 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:15.440 It's showing you a lifestyle that you already 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.019 aspire to. So it feels like they are helping 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:19.960 you, not selling to you. I'm showing you this 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:21.679 blender because I want you to be healthy like 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:23.840 me, and I know you want to be healthy too. Precisely. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.120 This isn't an ad. This is a solution to your 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.919 problem. But the more potent and potentially 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:31.840 damaging mechanism is social comparison theory. 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:33.860 This sounds like the keeping up with the Joneses 00:13:33.860 --> 00:13:37.139 part. It is, but on steroids. And with a direct 00:13:37.139 --> 00:13:40.059 buy now button attached. A researcher named Che 00:13:40.059 --> 00:13:43.259 published work in 2018 showing how influencers 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:46.240 serve as a comparison tool. A benchmark for our 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:49.100 own lives. Yes. Followers view the influencers 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:51.259 having a perfect lifestyle, perfect interests, 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:56.110 perfect style. But here's the twist. Che's research 00:13:56.110 --> 00:13:58.649 found that women with low self -esteem compare 00:13:58.649 --> 00:14:02.149 themselves to influencers. And instead of resenting 00:14:02.149 --> 00:14:04.389 them, they actually elevate the influencer's 00:14:04.389 --> 00:14:07.090 status. They put the influencer on a pedestal. 00:14:07.149 --> 00:14:09.309 So the more insecure you feel, the more you admire 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:12.649 them. That seems backwards. It does. But it's 00:14:12.649 --> 00:14:15.190 about aspiration. The influencer becomes the 00:14:15.190 --> 00:14:17.690 goal. And that's where the brand steps in. The 00:14:17.690 --> 00:14:19.950 brand uses that insecurity. What levered it? 00:14:20.070 --> 00:14:22.360 Yeah. The product becomes a shortcut. You can't 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.159 have the influencer's life. You can't have her 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:26.860 face, her money, or her vacations. But you can 00:14:26.860 --> 00:14:28.940 buy the lipstick she is wearing. You can buy 00:14:28.940 --> 00:14:30.659 a little piece of that life. You can buy the 00:14:30.659 --> 00:14:32.960 vitamin she takes. It is a transactional attempt 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.840 to bridge the gap between your reality and their 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:38.779 curated perfection. You know, hearing that actually 00:14:38.779 --> 00:14:41.379 makes me feel a bit heavy. I think about my niece 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:44.039 scrolling on her phone. It's not just marketing 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:46.580 to her. It's a direct attack on her self -esteem 00:14:46.580 --> 00:14:49.320 to sell a vitamin supplement. That's a very real 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:51.679 way to look at it. It stops being business and 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:55.139 starts feeling predatory. Is the industry acknowledging 00:14:55.139 --> 00:14:58.759 that moral weight at all? In some circles, yes, 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:00.720 there are conversations about mental health. 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:04.299 But largely, no. The metrics for success are 00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:07.220 sales and engagement, not the mental well -being 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:09.139 of the audience. Right. The algorithm doesn't 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:12.159 track well -being. Not at all. And because the 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:15.000 trust is so high, it leads directly to impulse 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:18.919 buying. High trust in an influencer correlates 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:21.159 directly with a higher likelihood of impulsive 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:24.000 purchases because the trust bypasses the critical 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.480 thinking center of the brain. You don't evaluate 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:29.860 the product, you evaluate the person. So we have 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:32.500 this massive psychological engine driving sales, 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:35.120 which explains why so many people want to be 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:37.120 on the other side of the screen. We need to talk 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.259 about the career aspect of this, because for 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:41.019 a lot of kids growing up now, this isn't just 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:44.720 a hobby. It is the new American dream. It truly 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:48.330 is. The statistics are staggering. A 2023 survey 00:15:48.330 --> 00:15:52.029 by Junior Achievement found that 76 % of U .S. 00:15:52.029 --> 00:15:54.309 teens are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. 00:15:54.909 --> 00:15:57.309 76%. But when you dig into that, the majority 00:15:57.309 --> 00:16:00.509 cited social media influencers as their primary 00:16:00.509 --> 00:16:04.149 inspiration for that. 76%. That is a massive 00:16:04.149 --> 00:16:06.389 generational shift. When I was a kid, the dream 00:16:06.389 --> 00:16:09.289 job was being an astronaut or a doctor or maybe 00:16:09.289 --> 00:16:13.190 a rock star. But now it's influencer. And we 00:16:13.190 --> 00:16:16.240 shouldn't dismiss it as just. vanity or kids 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:20.059 being lazy, Gen Z views this as a reputable career 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:23.379 choice. And the reality is it is a business, 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:25.639 a very demanding one. Yeah, let's give credit 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:27.519 where it's due. It looks easy just taking photos 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:29.460 and talking to a camera, but it's not, is it? 00:16:29.559 --> 00:16:32.159 No, not at all. A group of researchers, Cheng, 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:35.360 Guo, and Zhao, published a paper in 2024 describing 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:38.080 this as requiring a mastery of algorithms and 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:40.179 digital reputation. That's a full -time job in 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:41.980 itself. These are viewed as new forms of social 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:44.600 capital. It's a new kind of currency. Mastery 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:46.139 of algorithms. It sounds like you need a degree 00:16:46.139 --> 00:16:48.480 in computer science. But it's true. You have 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:50.500 to know when to post, what audio to use, how 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:52.679 to edit, how to engage, how to read the analytics. 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:55.799 It's a huge skill set. It is. Internet celebrities 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:58.710 are turning that... window of fame, which can 00:16:58.710 --> 00:17:02.549 be very short, into diverse income streams. And 00:17:02.549 --> 00:17:04.890 this is a global phenomenon. That's not just 00:17:04.890 --> 00:17:07.529 the U .S. and Europe. Research by Okereke and 00:17:07.529 --> 00:17:11.970 Ize in 2025 shows that youth in Nigeria are using 00:17:11.970 --> 00:17:14.190 these digital marketing tools for business creation. 00:17:14.490 --> 00:17:17.769 In Thailand, studies link authenticity and creativity 00:17:17.769 --> 00:17:20.410 directly to marketing effectiveness. This is 00:17:20.410 --> 00:17:23.609 a global economic shift where influence is a 00:17:23.609 --> 00:17:26.160 currency. But there is a cost, right? It can't 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:27.980 all be free clothes and brand trips. You're talking 00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:30.759 about managing a business where you are the product. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:33.099 Your life is the product. The cost is significant 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:35.759 and it's deeply personal. Burnout is rampant 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.779 in this industry. A sociologist named Hund, writing 00:17:38.779 --> 00:17:41.380 in 2023, pointed out that the constant focus 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:44.220 on authenticity creates a massive negative pressure. 00:17:44.740 --> 00:17:47.420 Young entrepreneurs have to maintain these idealized 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:50.559 online personas. You can never turn it off. If 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:52.559 you are a doctor, you take off the white coat 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.319 and you go home. Exactly. If you're an influencer, 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:58.579 your home is the set. Your dinner is the content. 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:02.640 Your vacation is work. Exactly. You neglect your 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:06.039 personal identity for commercial intent. Imagine 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:09.079 if your livelihood depended on you being happy, 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:13.079 beautiful, and interesting every single day, 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:15.700 regardless of how you actually felt. I can't 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:17.400 even imagine. Regardless of whether you were 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:20.500 grieving or sick or just tired, the algorithm 00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:23.440 punishes silence. If you stop posting for a week, 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:25.259 you might as well disappear. That sounds like 00:18:25.259 --> 00:18:27.920 a recipe for a complete mental breakdown. It 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.140 is. And that pressure, the pressure to succeed, 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:33.140 to grow, to beat the algorithm is what pushes 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:35.539 people toward the edge. Because the pressure 00:18:35.539 --> 00:18:37.880 is so high and the competition is so fierce, 00:18:38.059 --> 00:18:40.579 people start looking for shortcuts. And that 00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:42.519 is where the fraud begins. That's where it really 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:44.299 gets dark. This is the perfect transition to 00:18:44.299 --> 00:18:46.240 the dark side. We've hinted at it, but let's 00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:48.339 go there. We need to talk about the fraud, the 00:18:48.339 --> 00:18:50.519 bots, and the really shady stuff happening behind 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:53.220 the scenes. The dark side of influencer marketing 00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:56.099 is extensive. And it's a lot more than just people 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:58.480 being disingenuous. Let's start with the economic 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:01.440 fraud. We assume that when we see an influencer 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:03.940 with a million followers, those are a million 00:19:03.940 --> 00:19:06.339 real people. Right. That's the metric. That's 00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:08.599 why brands pay them the big bucks. But often 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:12.079 it is a mirage. The researchers call it fabricated 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:15.400 veracity. Follower accounts, likes, comments, 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.319 all of the criteria used to determine if an account 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.960 is real and valuable can be bought via third 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:23.700 -party apps. So you can literally just buy popularity, 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:25.779 click a button, pay a fee, and suddenly you're 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:29.299 famous? You can. An analysis of 7 ,000 U .K. 00:19:29.380 --> 00:19:31.599 influencers showed that half of their followers 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:34.660 had low -quality followers themselves, essentially 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:37.480 bots following bots. Another study found that 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:41.079 12 % of U .K. influencers in 2018 had knowingly 00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:43.680 bought fake followers. That is a huge number, 00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:45.279 and that's just the ones they caught. It's probably 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:47.319 higher. It's almost certainly higher. And this 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:50.579 isn't a victimless crime. This is fraud. Businesses 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:53.000 are paying these influencers based on those inflated 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.539 numbers. It is estimated that influencer fraud, 00:19:55.740 --> 00:19:59.119 specifically, from fake followers costs businesses 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:03.710 1 .3 billion dollars a billion three Just gone. 00:20:03.869 --> 00:20:06.690 Gone. That is 15 % of global spending in this 00:20:06.690 --> 00:20:09.750 entire sector. Just vanished into thin air, paid 00:20:09.750 --> 00:20:12.210 to bots. So companies are just lighting money 00:20:12.210 --> 00:20:15.549 on fire, paying robots to look at ads. Precisely. 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:18.190 But if we move beyond simple economic fraud, 00:20:18.390 --> 00:20:21.009 we get into something much more disturbing. Government 00:20:21.009 --> 00:20:23.329 propaganda. This is where the story takes a turn 00:20:23.329 --> 00:20:25.109 I didn't expect when we started looking into 00:20:25.109 --> 00:20:27.589 this. I get selling tea, but selling a political 00:20:27.589 --> 00:20:30.250 regime. Governments have realized the power of 00:20:30.250 --> 00:20:33.079 the influencer. If you can trust an influencer 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:35.400 to sell you a lipstick, you might also trust 00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:37.259 them to sell you a political narrative. That's 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:39.599 a chilling thought. The source specifically mentions 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:42.079 countries like Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. 00:20:42.140 --> 00:20:44.460 They have enlisted influencers to spread positive 00:20:44.460 --> 00:20:47.339 images and, crucially, to distract from human 00:20:47.339 --> 00:20:49.539 rights criticisms. So come visit our beautiful 00:20:49.539 --> 00:20:52.140 beaches and our amazing skyscrapers and please 00:20:52.140 --> 00:20:54.519 ignore the political prisoners. Essentially, 00:20:54.700 --> 00:20:57.660 yes. And this brings us to the Dubai case study. 00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:00.680 This needs a deep dive because Dubai is often 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:03.460 called the influencer capital of the world. You've 00:21:03.460 --> 00:21:06.339 seen it. Oh, constantly. The desert safaris, 00:21:06.339 --> 00:21:09.759 the infinity pools, the supercars. Every influencer 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:12.319 seems to go there. It's like a pilgrimage. It's 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:15.160 not an accident. It is deliberate policy. But 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:17.799 to operate there as an influencer, you often 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:20.640 must acquire expensive licenses or work through 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.059 government -approved agencies. So there are strings 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:25.920 attached. Big strings. They are strictly restricted 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:29.039 from speaking about religion, politics or saying 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:31.500 anything against the regime. It is a curated 00:21:31.500 --> 00:21:33.980 reality on a state level. So when I see those 00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:36.339 vlogs, I'm watching state approved content, even 00:21:36.339 --> 00:21:39.400 if it looks like a fun vacation video. Yes, but 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:42.559 it gets darker. There is a seedy underbelly to 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.779 how this lavish lifestyle is funded for some. 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:48.599 A Dark Side report from October 2022 reveals 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:50.519 some really shocking details. Are we talking 00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:52.579 about the porta potty rumors? I've seen those 00:21:52.579 --> 00:21:54.539 on TikTok, but they always felt like urban legends 00:21:54.539 --> 00:21:56.680 or just misogynistic gossip. Is there actual 00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:58.700 truth to it? We have to be careful with Internet 00:21:58.700 --> 00:22:01.660 rumors for sure. But the source material we reviewed 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.559 specifically cites reports regarding illicit 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:07.359 funding. The report revealed that some influencers 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:10.319 promoting Dubai were engaging in prostitution 00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:13.599 to fund their lavish lifestyles. Wow. So the 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.519 designer bag isn't always from a brand deal? 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.299 Not always. The report indicates the demand was 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:20.960 driven by a rise in ultra -rich expatriates, 00:22:20.980 --> 00:22:23.799 specifically mentioning Russian oligarchs who 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:26.339 had moved to the Emirate to escape U .S. sanctions. 00:22:26.619 --> 00:22:30.039 Wow. This huge influx of wealth increased the 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:32.259 demand and the rates for these illicit services. 00:22:32.859 --> 00:22:36.319 That paints such a grim, grim picture. You have 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:38.859 these influencers posting photos of a dream life 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:42.019 yachts, luxury hotels, living my best life. And 00:22:42.019 --> 00:22:44.759 behind the scenes, it might be funded by sanctioned 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.200 money and sexual exploitation. It really shatters 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.279 the illusion. It highlights the extreme gap between 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:51.740 the digital image and the physical reality. It 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:53.519 is a house of cards. And the influencers are 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.640 often trapped in it, right? Once you start living 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:57.380 that lifestyle, you have to maintain it. You 00:22:57.380 --> 00:22:59.599 can't just go back to flying economy. The pressure 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.779 is immense. So with all this fraud and sketchy 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:05.559 behavior, the bots, the fake ads, the propaganda, 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:08.420 the illicit funding, surely someone is trying 00:23:08.420 --> 00:23:10.539 to police this. We mentioned the FTC earlier, 00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:13.160 but is it actually working? Regulation is trying 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:15.779 to catch up, but it is very much a Wild West 00:23:15.779 --> 00:23:19.160 scenario. In the USA, as we said, the FTC treats 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:22.740 this under native advertising. The rules are 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:25.529 simple in theory. Disclosures must be hard to 00:23:25.529 --> 00:23:27.910 miss. Use simple language and give honest reviews. 00:23:28.230 --> 00:23:30.809 Hard to miss. So no hiding the hashtag ad in 00:23:30.809 --> 00:23:33.190 white text on a white background or burying it 00:23:33.190 --> 00:23:35.990 in a list of 20 other hashtags. Exactly. And 00:23:35.990 --> 00:23:38.289 there have been enforcement actions. In 2017, 00:23:38.430 --> 00:23:40.670 they sent out those 90 educational letters to 00:23:40.670 --> 00:23:43.509 celebrities and athletes. But there was one specific 00:23:43.509 --> 00:23:46.609 scandal that really forced their hand. The gambling 00:23:46.609 --> 00:23:49.390 scandal involving two YouTubers, Trevor Martin 00:23:49.390 --> 00:23:51.589 and Thomas Cassell. Oh, I remember hearing about 00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:53.569 this vaguely. This was the CSGO thing, the video 00:23:53.569 --> 00:23:55.430 game, right? What exactly happened there? This 00:23:55.430 --> 00:23:57.450 is a perfect example of predatory influence. 00:23:57.970 --> 00:24:00.049 Martin and Cassell were massive YouTubers in 00:24:00.049 --> 00:24:02.410 the gaming space with millions of young followers. 00:24:02.569 --> 00:24:04.990 Right, kids, basically. Mostly kids and teenagers. 00:24:05.809 --> 00:24:08.369 They were posting these very slickly produced 00:24:08.369 --> 00:24:11.980 videos where they would go onto a website. a 00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:15.079 skin gambling site and win thousands and thousands 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:18.119 of dollars they'd be screaming jumping out of 00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:20.519 their chairs telling their fans oh my god i just 00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:22.920 won huge you have to check this site out standard 00:24:22.920 --> 00:24:25.420 endorsement stuff look how fun and easy this 00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:29.319 is except for one crucial detail they owned the 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:32.920 site no they earned it they had access to the 00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:35.559 back end they were likely manipulating the odds 00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:37.759 to ensure they won on camera so the whole thing 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:40.319 was fake the whole thing was a setup They were 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:42.740 encouraging their fans, many of whom were minors, 00:24:42.819 --> 00:24:45.720 to gamble real money on a site where they, the 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:47.960 influencers, were the ones profiting directly 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:50.500 from the losses. It was deceptively endorsed. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:53.200 That is evil. There's no other word for it. It's 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.559 stealing from kids who trust you, who look up 00:24:55.559 --> 00:24:57.599 to you. It triggered specific legal enforcement 00:24:57.599 --> 00:25:00.859 and warnings from the FTC. But it shows the danger. 00:25:01.460 --> 00:25:03.819 When you remove the corporate label, people lower 00:25:03.819 --> 00:25:05.839 their guard. They didn't think they were walking 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:07.799 into a casino. They thought they were playing 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:10.420 a game with their favorite YouTuber. And regulators 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:12.380 are now looking at other sectors too, right? 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:15.240 Financial advice seems to be the new minefield. 00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:19.019 Yes, the finfluencers. The UK's Financial Conduct 00:25:19.019 --> 00:25:22.000 Authority, the FCA, is cracking down hard on 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.579 this. You see these guys on TikTok saying, buy 00:25:24.579 --> 00:25:27.079 this crypto or this stock is going to the moon. 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:29.599 Quit your job and day trade from your phone. 00:25:29.940 --> 00:25:32.579 And often they have zero qualifications. They're 00:25:32.579 --> 00:25:35.380 now facing real legal consequences if they fail 00:25:35.380 --> 00:25:37.500 to include risk warnings for investment products. 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:41.859 Because bad financial advice can ruin lives faster 00:25:41.859 --> 00:25:44.339 than bad skincare. That's for sure. It seems 00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:46.200 like every time the regulators catch up, the 00:25:46.200 --> 00:25:47.940 industry just moves somewhere new, somewhere 00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:51.259 even harder to police. Which brings us to the 00:25:51.259 --> 00:25:53.400 final frontier. Right. The place where regulation 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:56.299 might get really tricky. Because what happens 00:25:56.299 --> 00:25:58.740 when the influencer isn't a person at all? This 00:25:58.740 --> 00:26:01.359 is the uncanny valley. We are talking about virtual 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:04.059 influencers. We are talking about computer -generated 00:26:04.059 --> 00:26:07.500 people, not cartoons, but realistic avatars designed 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:11.519 to look like us. Yes. Defined as 3D characters 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:14.369 designed to look like real people. They have 00:26:14.369 --> 00:26:16.470 biographies. They conduct interviews. They act 00:26:16.470 --> 00:26:19.490 like models or singers. But they're created and 00:26:19.490 --> 00:26:22.490 managed entirely by 3D artists and advertisers. 00:26:22.910 --> 00:26:25.190 The most famous one is Lil Miquela, right? I 00:26:25.190 --> 00:26:26.789 remember when she popped up on Instagram and 00:26:26.789 --> 00:26:29.170 everyone was so confused. Lil Miquela is the 00:26:29.170 --> 00:26:32.490 prime example. When she first appeared, she was 00:26:32.490 --> 00:26:35.390 so realistic that she prompted this massive wave 00:26:35.390 --> 00:26:39.220 of speculation. Is she real? Is she an art project? 00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:41.519 Is she a heavily edited human? Right. Nobody 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:43.380 knew what to believe. It was eventually revealed 00:26:43.380 --> 00:26:45.500 she was an advertising creation from a tech startup, 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:48.140 a product. But she has millions of followers. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:50.240 People engage with her like she's a human. They 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.839 leave comments saying, you look beautiful today 00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:55.740 or I love your outfit. They're having a relationship 00:26:55.740 --> 00:26:57.839 with the computer program. And from a business 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:01.200 perspective, the implication is incredibly seductive 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:04.509 for brands. Think about it. Why hire a human? 00:27:04.630 --> 00:27:07.690 Humans are messy. Humans get tired. Humans age. 00:27:07.970 --> 00:27:10.690 Humans have scandals. Humans might say something 00:27:10.690 --> 00:27:12.710 offensive on Twitter 10 years ago that gets them 00:27:12.710 --> 00:27:15.630 canceled today. Yeah. Humans demand raises. A 00:27:15.630 --> 00:27:18.230 virtual influencer is always on brand. Always 00:27:18.230 --> 00:27:21.349 perfect. Always. They never complain. They never 00:27:21.349 --> 00:27:23.869 renegotiate based on ego. And they can be in 00:27:23.869 --> 00:27:26.650 10 places at once filming 10 different campaigns. 00:27:26.990 --> 00:27:29.869 Some are now so realistic they can fool users 00:27:29.869 --> 00:27:32.269 entirely. But let's look at the philosophical 00:27:32.269 --> 00:27:35.349 implication here for a second. If a brand owns 00:27:35.349 --> 00:27:38.829 the influencer, they own the parasocial relationship. 00:27:39.009 --> 00:27:42.329 That is the absolute key. With a human influencer, 00:27:42.569 --> 00:27:45.000 there is still a person there. They might refuse 00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:47.200 to sell a product they hate. They might have 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:50.000 a moral compass. They have some agency. A virtual 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:52.880 influencer has no agency. It is a puppet. It's 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:55.440 a puppet. The corporation can change its personality, 00:27:55.619 --> 00:27:58.519 its politics, or its values with a software update 00:27:58.519 --> 00:28:01.099 to better match the target demographic. It's 00:28:01.099 --> 00:28:03.140 like the ultimate realization of the industry. 00:28:03.339 --> 00:28:05.500 We started by trusting humans because they felt 00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:07.619 authentic. And we might end up trusting code 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:10.339 because it's perfectly calibrated to seem authentic. 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:12.910 It brings us full circle. We sought connection 00:28:12.910 --> 00:28:15.690 and we found a simulation of connection. So let's 00:28:15.690 --> 00:28:17.630 recap this whole journey. We started with a teenager 00:28:17.630 --> 00:28:19.690 with a camera in their bedroom, just wanting 00:28:19.690 --> 00:28:22.509 to share their outfit of the day. And we ended 00:28:22.509 --> 00:28:25.849 up with a multi -billion dollar industry that 00:28:25.849 --> 00:28:29.490 is deeply integrated into global economies used 00:28:29.490 --> 00:28:32.190 for government propaganda. riddled with fraud 00:28:32.190 --> 00:28:35.089 and potentially moving toward a post -human future. 00:28:35.269 --> 00:28:37.789 It is a massive tension. We crave that connection, 00:28:37.930 --> 00:28:40.869 that parasocial relationship, but we are engaging 00:28:40.869 --> 00:28:44.150 with a highly commercialized, potentially artificial 00:28:44.150 --> 00:28:46.809 entity. And that leads us to the final thought 00:28:46.809 --> 00:28:50.430 for today. The source mentions that 86 % of brands 00:28:50.430 --> 00:28:54.450 plan to use influencer marketing in 2024. The 00:28:54.450 --> 00:28:56.930 industry is not slowing down. Influence is moving 00:28:56.930 --> 00:28:59.869 from advocacy to what they call loose interactions. 00:29:00.269 --> 00:29:03.500 It's just becoming the water we swim in. So here's 00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:05.640 the question for you listening right now. Next 00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:07.720 time you are doing that scroll and you see that 00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:10.099 perfect face recommending that perfect product. 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:12.680 Ask yourself this. If the most effective way 00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:14.980 to sell a product or a political regime is through 00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:17.240 a friend on your screen. A friend who might be 00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:19.720 faking their lifestyle, engaging in illicit activities 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:21.640 to fund it, or might not even be a real human 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:24.200 being. What does that do to your ability to discern 00:29:24.200 --> 00:29:27.079 truth in the real world? When the person you 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:31.099 trust most is a marketing construct. Who is actually 00:29:31.099 --> 00:29:33.740 making your decisions? That is the reality behind 00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:36.119 the post. Thanks for listening. Stay curious.