No place for fake influencers

If you are a true blue millennial, chances are that you might be following a lot of online influencers through your social platforms. Maybe knowingly or unknowingly, the popular set of bloggers, vloggers, YouTubers, and Twitterati's are brain-washing you into buying something that really has no relevance in your life – but that’s how the influencer marketing works and in the race to stay ahead, a lot of influencers are now thriving on controversies and scandals that get them instant likes on the Internet. If you look at the recent online scandal between Beauty YouTuber Tati Westbrook and fellow YouTuber James Charles – the war of subscribers continue as the two influencers are now posting videos to bring the other one down.  

No wonder according to a recent report, most global internet users lack confidence in what they see and read online, with only 8 per cent believing that the bulk of information shared on social media is true, dropping to 4 per cent when it comes from influencers.

The figures come from media agency UM, which found just a tiny minority of internet users agreed that the 'three-quarters or more' of the insight they gleaned from platforms like Facebook and Instagram was correct.

On the same measurement, even governments were seen as more trustworthy than most celebrity influencers or bloggers/vloggers, with 12 per cent of people globally saying information shared by governments was 'mostly truthful'. Which brings us to a very important question – in 2019, do you trust the influencers and their marketing strategies?

The influencer market is a big sham and compromised beyond belief, says Swati Rai, a Delhi-based blogger.

Swati Rai

She points out, “With PR and others jumping on to the bandwagon for a quick game, the integrity of real influences is also under a scanner. Brands need to do an in-depth study and more importantly, read of the influences posts and background.

On the influencers part, there needs to be authenticity and commitment. I personally choose the products/ services that I would be genuinely interested in and can add my own relevant insights over a period of time. One can easily identify fake when the same people comment every time and the same things also, and lack of good content.”

While consistency is key to be popular, being an influencer is not just about joining a Whatsapp group and supporting each other’s posts to sabotage a brand’s trust. Advertising professional Nalin Sharma, opines, “In the digital age, almost every other person claims to be a social media influencer with their followers soaring at a mammoth speed. It is, however, hard to tell if their followers would actually buy the products the influencers are endorsing. Brands, on the other hand, should be very considerate about picking the right people because quality is of high importance. It is always better to run across your product to someone who talks sane even though they might have very little following than going for those claiming to have a massive following of bot followers.”