Human Creator Vs. Metaverse Creators: A Reel Threat To The Influencer Economy
In January 2022, the world saw the first ever Meta Influencer, pushing the button for the eternal paranoia of humans against machines taking over our livelihood.
People of all generations think they are special enough to face the apocalypse in some way or the other. When religion and scriptures were the ideal entertainment, people believed that human civilisation would collapse to natural calamities to balance out their sins. With the introduction of personal computers in the early 1980s, 'computerphobia' came into existence in which the aggression was centred on computers, eradicating all forms of human labour.
Soon came the era of the early internet, when the new pace of the world was ingestible by the commoner. But when these xenophobic species were exposed to concepts like artificial intelligence and machine learning, they grasped vaguely and fear completely. If we connect the dots, we cannot draw a picture that we completely understand; we fill the space with threatening possibilities of the next apocalypse.
So, do humans stand a chance against the intelligent machine this time?
In January 2022, the world saw the first ever Meta Influencer. You cannot read the story of a 21-year-old influencer Kyra, who was conceptualised six months before her release onto social media, without chuckling a little.
Kyra, a model and lifestyle influencer struts through social media in fashionable clothes and human-like captions, informing her followers about her next flight or adventure and flaunting and inspiring through her yoga moves.
One of her captions read, "Hi, I'm Kyra. I'm from the metaverse, but now I'm in your world. Just as real as any of you…."
Sure, it's amusing to watch a human-like persona speaking her mind and sharing her life, but not for a moment will you take her to be anything more than a human-like persona with no life behind the photos you see.
Not for a moment will this sheer fascination change to connection. Not for a moment will you take her to be anything real, which is all the reason why the fear of more folks like Kyra taking over the jobs of influencers stay null and void.
Two things sustain the influencer economy:
The people that relate to them and brands leverage this relatability by using them as a mediator for their products and services.
Gaurav Taneja, renowned as India’s No.1 vlogger, famously endorses his favorite protein brand, ‘My Protein'. His brand deals are an extension of his personal brand. An international company like 'My Protein' collaborated with him because they knew that audience connected with the man’s dedication to fitness and had seen him consume the product through his vlogs. This collaboration is a product of the audience’s faith in Taneja for being an accomplished bodybuilder himself.
When Selena Gomez tells her followers that she is touring the world and a particular shampoo is making her life and hair stress-free, or when Kim Kardashian reveals to her fans that a clothing brand makes her confident, it's only convincing because Selena Gomez has hair. Kim Kardashian is a human with a mind that contemplates emotions. The very idea of an 'influencer' is inherently human.
Watching Kyra do her yoga stunts, you cannot for a second distract yourself from the fact that there is no practice, no falling, no learning, and no human experience behind what she can pull off, and it's instantly unreal.
Someday, when we have reached a certain stage in our virtual existence where we regularly buy and sell properties and products for our ‘avatars’ in a forsaken virtual world like the Metaverse, we don’t really have a job for the Metaverse creators.
This doesn't go on to say that there isn't value to this leap in futuristic creativity. It's fascinating; it’s exciting and entertaining. But, it is not influencing, human, real, or threatening to the real influencers on social media. Perhaps in the future, we might have a real place in our hearts, shelves, and life for the metaverse influencers selling us digital products, but we cross bridges when we get to them, only if they come in our way.
