Meet Lil Miquela, an Instagram ‘influencer’ with over 1.9 million followers.
Something about her looks a little off, right? That’s because she doesn’t exist in the physical world. She is an AI created by a start-up called BRUD. She is depicted as the creator of her own posts, music, and serves as an advertisement for high-end brands like Samsung and Calvin Klein. Her Instagram bio reads “change-seeking robot with the drip,” but it might as well be “nothing on this page is real” because, like the America’s Last Line of Defense page, what she’s selling is completely fake, and people are buying it.
Lil Miquela and Instagram’s social atmosphere are examples of what Frankfurt is referring to on page 38 of On Truth, Lies, and Bullshit. He claims that “the amount of lying and misrepresentation of all kinds that actually goes on in the world … is enormous, and yet productive social life manages somehow to continue.”
Instagram allows influencers like Miquela to thrive because of the lies presented in their profiles. These lies are giving their followers exactly what they want to see.
Take a look at this recent ad on Miquela's Instagram.
Miquela calls herself a ‘robot’ in posts like these and in her bio, but even that isn’t the whole truth. Her images are fabricated using CGI, some with real people like her supposed 'boyfriend' above, to make it seem like she lives in the world we do.
As a CGI, she has perpetually flawless skin. It's hard to say whether her face has been photo-shopped on a human who took this selfie, or if the whole body has been inserted in the blank space of the original photo with CGI. Either way, Miquela is lying in this ad about having a physical Samsung Galaxy S20 and that the camera makes her look like that.
She has a steady following of people who are deeply invested in what she has to say, with comments on this post like "this is the content I'm living for," and "really wanna try that phone." Samsung benefits from her users buying the phone based on the lies on this ad. Samsung will partner with other 'influencers' on Instagram who will likely twist the truth for their followers.
This situation arises from this fundamental function of Instagram - users like only what they want to see, even if they know it's a lie.
Later in the chapter mentioned above, Frankfurt discusses a poem by Shakespeare about a couple who lies to each other and both partners are aware of the other's lie. They lie "happily together."
Miquela, and other 'influencers,' and their followers have a similar relationship to the Shakespearean one. Both sides are aware that there are many lies weaved into their Instagram identities. The followers like the posts depicting a cute love story and selfies of attractive 'people' taken with a highly-sought-after phone. Miquela gains followers, likes, and money from the Samsung ad. Both are content and got what they wanted.
That's the bottom line of relationships on Instagram and why Instagram will continue to thrive. Miquela's followers will support the things they want to see. The company who created Miquela will gain a following by posting content curated for those people. That following will lead to more paid advertisements, and the followers will buy brands they're told they should have.
And so the "productive social life" of Instagram will continue on exactly because of this phenomenon.
Laura. Really great improvement from your last post. This one is much stronger and is more refined. Adding the second photo was really good to show the extent of Lil's fake life and removing the stuff about you personally made this a much more cohesive and compelling argument. Your understanding of Frankfurt is really good and you definitely listened to the comment on the last one by making the Shakespearean analogy more understandable. Its crazy how much lying is on instagram yet how we are all ok with it. Great job and great improvement.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is wild. I definitely learned something from your post. Including details about Lil Miquela's advertisements, fans, and boyfriend emphasized how real something blatantly fake can seem, and I thought you offered great insight into that at the end of your post. I liked how you incorporated Frankfurt's ideas throughout your entire post. The connections were clear and well written. I particularly liked the Shakespeare example.
ReplyDeleteThis post is really interesting to read and the fact that it's so true is really scary. Instagram is so important in our lives these days that something like this is a threat to anyone using instagram.I agree that people follow things and if they are told to buy something from an advertisement, if not all, a lot of people would buy it. I was really fascinated by how you using the Franksfurt's reading and using that as the fundamental idea of your post. Also expanding on Lil's identity and creator is a great addition as it makes it easier for the reader to engage with the reading. Overall, a great post!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was such an interesting topic for our generation as Instagram is literally a big part of our daily lives. I loved how you introduced to us about Lil Miquela because it really helped me to know who she is. The way you connected to the readings was also very clear and easy to understand. I think everything was great except there was a lot of words towards the end. So, maybe you could add one more photo or something. Overall, great job!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post, and I thought you did a nice job polishing up your original post with more concrete evidence. I liked how you expanded on who she is, because that provides more context and background that I can use to understand your main point. I do like the addition of the Frankfurt reading, but I think you need to add a more direct connection, either by explicitly laying out the parallel, or describing in more detail how it relates to the rest of your post. Overall, it was a good read, and you refined your original post nicely.
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