Marketing and Trolls in Social Media

 Dylan Westmeyer 

dw330019@ohio.edu

Social media's primary purpose was to connect people through the internet, but now many people use it for many different reasons. As a result, social media has become the land of make-believe and the land of opportunity.

The expansion of social media platforms worldwide has led to increased revenue into those services, and many businesses are putting money into social media accounts and paying influencers large and small to support their products. However, the opportunity for people to make a living off these social media sponsorships can be a blessing or a curse. 

The prominent celebrities who are given these sponsorship deals are well accustomed to the ins and outs of disclosing what incentives they were given for a trial of a product. Still, things can be difficult when an average person with not nearly as large of a following get a sponsorship. Ad Age did a deeper dive into this recognition game and states Instagram users with fewer than 1,000 followers have posted pictures of themselves with beauty products and only give a "thank you" to Influenster for sending the products.

The blame should go on the person who was given the sponsorship and the company giving the sponsorship out since it needs to be clear what they would like to receive out of the partnership. 

Social media has also become the land of make-believe for many. The use of editing on photos, fake accounts, and biased reporting posted on many social media platforms makes it a minefield for many users. This uncertainty can leave users guessing about the truth and what isn't.

Many people have probably felt with make-believe tweets or accounts that try to impersonate someone they are not, but what harm do these trolls have. 

According to That Uplifting Tweet, You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It, the primary way these trolls operate is they try to gain a following by posting something uplifting that can blow up and lead to massive follower gain. But unfortunately, once the account has large followers, it peels the audience with messages that promote distrust, division, and doubt. 

Regardless of social media companies' attempts to monitor their platforms, there will always be trolls. Therefore, users need to know how to deal with those trolls is more crucial than ever.