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Oh, what a glamorous existence you must lead.

A cracking sunset, a midday lounge by the pool (during the week, nogal), a Boomerang looped video showing glasses of bubbly clinking together.

Just divine, darling.

Of course, by this stage of social media’s evolution, we know two things – every shred of information we put out is being flogged to advertisers, and what you see on the ‘Gram is often far from reality.

There’s a third – you will have one family member who insists on commenting on every picture you’re ever tagged in on Facebook. Those are the rules.

The rise and rise of influencer culture, whether we like it or not, has created a generation desperate for validation online, and many will go to extreme lengths to achieve it.

You really need to follow Influencers in the Wild – you won’t regret it.

A new HBO documentary, Fake Famous, written and directed by veteran technology journalist Nick Bilton, points out some of the more pressing questions of the age of the influencer.

Here’s a synopsis via CNET:

For the film — his first — Bilton attempts to turn [Dominique] Druckman and two other LA residents with relatively small Instagram followings into social media influencers by purchasing an army of fake followers and bots to “engage” with their posts.

The three were chosen from around 4,000 people who responded to a casting call asking one simple question: “Do you want to be famous?”

…it explores intriguing questions for our influencer-influenced times. Will people look at the trio differently as their follower counts rise? Will their lives change for the better? And in a world where numbers equal fame, what is the true nature (and cost) of fame anyway?

Bilton’s doccie isn’t without its critics – some have said it’s not as profound as it tries to be and misunderstands influencer culture – but if you spend a decent amount of time online, you’ll probably recognise one or two of the tactics Fake Famous touches on:

I guess it’s also one of those films you can watch while scrolling through Instagram, without feeling too guilty.

The doccie premiered on Tuesday on HBO Max, so keep an eye out for it and don’t forget to smash that like and subscribe button!

[source:cnet]