Most people know that a great deal of what you see on the internet is a load of bollocks, especially if there’s an influencer involved.

I say ‘most people’ because there are those out there who buy into the whole ‘influencer’ thing in a big way, and will believe anything and everything that they see on social media.

YouTuber Natalia Taylor wanted to put her own followers to the test to see just how much they actually trust her.

Per CNN, Taylor decided to fake a vacation in Bali on her Instagram account, with the help of her local IKEA.

Unlike that idiot who pretended to be on a hike, while standing in her backyard, this was a deliberate graft.

“The queen has arrived,” she wrote in the caption. Her location: Bali, Indonesia.

The first set of photos featured a flower print mirror — it sure looked like a fancy hotel room. The baby blue wall phone only helped set the scene. The next shots showed Taylor posed on a sun lounger and in a bathtub, dressed in a white robe with a towel wrapped around her head.

At the same time, she also posted videos of Bali to her Instagram story. Some were sent from friends who had visited. Others she found online.

Her 332 000 followers (at the time of writing), lapped it all up.

Taylor made a video about it. I’ll let her tell you about how easy it was to dupe people on Instagram:

Only one person in the comments section noticed that something was off. They spotted an IKEA price tag on a chair.

Taylor wasn’t trying to trick anyone, she was trying to make a point:

“Today it is easier than ever to become anyone you want. That’s wonderful! But with great power comes great responsibility,” she told CNN. “As we all know, not everyone is transparent online.”

“We could all use a fun reminder to take social media less seriously,” she added. “And don’t believe everything you see online.”

Words to live by.

[source:cnn]