Real or Fake? An Everyday Question

Luke Steiner
ls290516@ohio.edu

In today's world, the way that companies market their products is ever-changing. With social media continuing to grow, companies are starting to market their products on all of the social media platforms. Instead of using celebrities in a TV commercial to market a product, companies are starting to use social media influencers to promote their product on social media, which could reach more people. However, it is becoming tougher for social media users to figure out if they are looking at an advertisement or a normal social media post, forcing the users to ask the question "Is this Real or Fake?" every time that they look at a post.

An example of ads posted by social media influencers. Photo Courtesy of Onlinebrands.co 

How can I answer Real or Fake?

The best way to decide if a post is real or fake is by understanding the multiple types of social media influencers, and deciding if your favorite account is one of these types. 

Virtual Influencers

Social Media Marketing is becoming such a success for companies in promoting their products, that there are tech companies that are making their own influencers that are computer personalities. The Virtual Influencers are made to look exactly like what the target audience is for a certain product, to make the customers see themselves in the virtual influencers. The posts that the virtual influencers post mimic real situations that real people could be in, trying to show a product in a situation that a customer could be in. It can be confusing for viewers to differ these influencers from normal social media users.

NanoInfluencer

There are even influencers that are not incredibly popular on social media platforms, they are nicknamed NanoInluencers. NanoInfluencers are social media influencers that have usually less than 5,000 followers. These influencers are endorsed by companies that are not as big but still trying to market their product to people on all social media platforms. All companies are getting into Social Media Marketing, therefore the smaller companies still have to find their own influencers to promote their product. It is easier for viewers to see an advertisement on these types of accounts because there is a good chance the viewers know them. 

MicroInfluencer

The word public figure has had a change in definition in the past decade. It used to just be people that had political stature or other social leaders, but now it has changed to include more than that. That even includes MicroInfluencers. MicroInfluencers are people that have achieved their fame from social media and did not have any other fame before social media. Companies like to have these types of influencers endorse their products because of the attractive lifestyles that they live. MicroInfluencers are known to not disclose advertisements on their page, so viewers may believe they are living a great life, but it is an advertisement. 

Celebrities

Almost all of the big social media accounts are celebrities. These high follow numbers make it very attractive for companies to use these celebrities as influencers on social media. Celebrities are making massive amounts of money for posting advertisements for companies even though they already make incredible amounts of money. Celebrities may not always include if a post is an advertisement or not, but as of late, there is legislation that forces celebrities to disclose the information.


It is always going to be tough to figure out if a social media post is a real post or if it is an advertisement. For viewers, they need to just use common sense. If the post is featuring a certain product, even if it does not say it is an ad, it is extremely likely to be an advertisement for a product. People just need to think before they decide to support a post based on if it is real or fake.