All the Rage with Robots

Mia White

mw964917@ohio.edu

 

It is no secret that social media practically runs society today, but the circumstances have changed a bit in the past few years. From Myspace to Facebook and now to Instagram and TikTok, not much has changed except the platform itself. That being said, now social media influencers are huge in today's day to day life. 

According to Influence Marketing Hub, a social media influencer is defined as "people who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on a specific topic. Brands love social media influencers because they can create trends and encourage their followers to buy products they promote." 

There are some social media influencers such as Kylie Jenner, Brad Mondo and Liza Koshy, who are all different but at the same time all have one thing in common. They are living humans. Meanwhile, one of the biggest social media influencers today, Lil Miquela, is not human in the slightest. 

Lil Miquela debuted on Instagram in 2016 and now has over 1.6 million followers on Instagram. She? It? Lil Miquela made a post telling her fans that she is not human but in fact a robot. 

Picture source: CR Fashion Book

Despite not being human, Lil Miquela still has many followers and fans who look up to idolize her. Why is that? According to The Honey Pop Website, she "doesn't shy away from taboo topics; from social justice (LGTBQ+ and race issues, feminism and, yes, even human rights) to mental health and politics, she is using her platform to encourage people to be more real."

It is possible that her involvement in current events and passionate posts keeps people engaged, but there could be other reasons as well. Lil Miquela seems to be made flawless, in some people's eyes. Lil Miquela has no blemishes, an hourglass figure, shiny hair and so on. 

Lil Miquela has become so popular that she was used in a Calvin Klein campaign with famous supermodel Bella Hadid. 

It is interesting how social media as well as society changes and evolves over time. Now we may have some robot social media influencers but where will we be five years from now? Will robots take over social media or even more so, will they take over the world?

I think it is fair to say that digital influencers are giving typical influencers a run for their money. Especially with the world going through a pandemic, digital influencers and advertising may be the new wave of marketing.