mt227615@ohio.edu
The Rise of Deception in the Media
The internet can be a beautiful, yet dangerous tool for people to share information and facilitate conversation. The use of deceptive tactics in the media has sparked debates about the growing concern around news stations' and influencers' credibility. The media has an obligation to the public to be overtly transparent and truthful about the content they share, but with expanding technology on the rise, the media has been slacking in this regard. Deception is a form of manipulation that media outlets use to increase engagement among viewers. The art of deception greatly influences the way people interpret the media, making it extremely arduous for the audience to distinguish what is real and what is falsified. Numerous factors play a role in this prevalent issue and dynamic controversy, including the use of astroturfing and virtual influencers.
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| Photograph of a virtual influencer known as "Lil Miquela." -blog.hubspot.com |
One of the major forms of media deception in this technological age is astroturfing. Companies and governments use this tactic to launch biased campaigns on social media platforms so the public's interests are in alignment with their cause. These campaigns create the illusion that large numbers of people are either in favor of or against particular policies, brands, issues, products or even people.
The evolution of technology helps guide the efforts of astroturfers through the development of "persona management software." This software holds the power to deceive viewers into believing their is considerable support for a corporation's cause even though that support is merely a figment of every viewer's imagination. Now, astrosurfers are able to create profiles that appear authentic because they contain all the elements of a real commentators' profile: a name, email accounts, social media and web pages. The configuration of these profiles is a chilling concept to grasp due to how challenging it is to decipher a real person from a virtual robot.
A more daunting aspect behind these personas comes into play when human astroturfers are assigned to run a "pre-aged" account. "Pre-aged" accounts allow astroturfers to construct back stories for their persona so it reinforces the notion that the account has been active for months. In short, astroturfing is jeopardizing the integrity of the internet where users no longer feel they are participating in unbiased, constructive debates. Even though we are all susceptible to these deceptive tactics, we need to hold ourselves accountable for what we choose to believe and not believe in the media.
Bot-fluencers
The idea behind virtual influencers is another form of manipulation media outlets use to attract a larger follower base. More and more companies seem to be in favor of virtual influencers due to the fact that they are put under less regulation in comparison to human influencers. The people operating these virtual influencers are not required to disclose their existence in the matter, which makes me raise a very important question: How can consumers trust the messages they receive if they have no insights on where the content originated?
Companies are becoming progressively savvy at creating an idealized version of a custom-made brand ambassador through virtual influencers. As a result, companies are gradually straying away from engaging with celebrities, super models or social media influencers to market their brand. Another major advantage of virtual influencers that companies argue is that they never have an "off day." They are capable of being tapped into the media 24/7, while human influencers remain at a disadvantage because they can not compete with a computer-generated being's efficiency. Some say virtual influencers, or what I like to call "bot-fluencers," are the future of storytelling. Others say there is still hope for humans in this battle because consumers find value in authentic connections and thoughtful recommendations.
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