What is it that makes people trust social media influencers? Why are we persuaded to buy products by people we don't know? The essence of influence is hard to pin down, but it is important if we want to understand how modern social media operates.

1. HI, TECH.
The act of posting is akin to
self-disclosure, which activates
the suspension of disbelief.
THE ESSENCE OF INFLUENCE
A 2016 STUDY ON SOCIAL MEDIA COMPARISON
REPORTED THAT:
There is a deft interplay between artifice and authenticity on social media.
Influencers seem more "authentic" than traditional celebrities, but the idealized life
they present in images is, at best, an enhanced version of reality.
They create a sense of envy, but not in the same, distant fashion as a perfume
advertisement. There is a sense of attainable aspiration at play on social media.
Even people with a couple of hundred followers pose like professionals and curate
their profiles.
Social media promised us self-expression; instead we have crammed ourselves into
conformity, one 1080 x 1080 box at a time.
There is a connection between influencer and follower; they are like us, but not. Our
life could be like that, if only just.
Influencer marketing puts a price on that aspiration, thus making it material. We can
be a little more like them if we click to buy.
That is a lucrative tension, for those that get influencer marketing right.
Brands that do not understand the basis of that binding influence will struggle to
avail of its persuasive potential.
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