Authenticity in an age of hype

You may or not believe this but...

... Advertisements lie.

... Products aren't always as good as they claim.

... There is often a lot more lurking in the background that you are told up front.

I have seen lots of examples of this over time but a few have stuck out to me.

The first was for isopropyl alcohol that I saw an ad for when I was in the Philippines a long time ago. It claimed to "Kill more twice as many bacteria as the other leading brand". Which was likely true because if you look in the fine print their product was 99% isopropyl alcohol. The other leading brand was only 50% alcohol.

Another was a clever ad for Tylenol. It showed a woman who had just delivered a baby and was being given Tylenol for her pain. She was surprised because "I had pain after delivery and they gave me Tylenol". The message is that it is strong enough for post partum pain. As a pharmacist I knew it is simply safer after delivery than other options, not stronger.

One other clever marketing tactic was for orange juice marketed with 70% fewer calories. Which was absolutely true. The reason was that they added 70% water to the mix and charged the same amount as the pure juice.

At the end of the day none of those advertisements actually lied but they absolutely misled people. A good reason why I always like to look just a little deeper than accepting what I'm told

Sometimes its people who are branded not products

In the advent of social media influencers are marketed based on their followers. A viral video with a million views draws attention. A person with 100,000 followers gets noticed. Indeed, a social media account with a million or more followers can open doors that otherwise may stay locked shut to "regular" people. With a million followers you can start branding, merchandising, and looking for corporate sponsorships. Or perhaps you just want to flex to someone you met in person.

A Million followers give you an air of authenticity

But what if it's a lie? What if its manufactured?

If I wanted to I could probably buy my way to a million followers. Go onto a micro job site like Microworkers (or similar) and pay for a few hundred authentic comments. Make a bot account which will make dummy accounts to all subscribe to my account. With a little work and a little money I could be a "Big Time" influencer...as long as no-one looked too deep.

.... But then what?

As a general rule it is not going to look very good when you get found out as a fraud. No-one likes to feel like they were duped. Then again, the final goal matters.

If I make a website, a social media presence, and marketing to make a fraudulent product look legitimate? Or a company look legitimate to defraud people? Yeah, that should be criminal. I have little respect for those who dupe the unsuspecting.

But what if I just wanted to get an interview? A chance to impress someone with my actual skills? A chance with someone who wouldn't even look twice without that little bit of sparkle?

Then things get a little more interesting.

I would hazard a guess that men (and women) have just happened to meet someone in public to ask them on a date. Or they have padded their online dating account to get a meet up they may not get otherwise. Thrown in a little half truth on a resume to get an interview. In all of those cases the deception is indeed fraud, but the intent isn't to steal from someone but only to be given a chance.

Quick version: Intent matters

In addition: Potential for harm matters

But there is a little more to the story.

Image Source: Dall-e

I was once watching an interview with Jane Seymour. For those who don't know who she is, she was a beautiful actress well known from the 1970s until the 1990s and has been acting in smaller pieces since then also.

However, one thing I heard he say stuck out:

"When you start believing your own press, you are finished". Perhaps that isn't a word for word quote, but the idea is the same.

She was saying how Hollywood presents hype and markets their actors and actresses as "truly incredible". Of course that is primarily to market their movies and it often works. It's fine for the public to think that these actors and actresses are superhuman but if the actor starts believing they are superhuman? They will soon find out that anyone and everyone is replaceable.

How does that relate to fake accounts? Fake views? Fake subscribers.

• If you fool someone to cause damage or fraud in some way? Shame on you.

• If you make yourself look more impressive to get an honest chance to impress someone? People have been doing that for centuries. I mean just look at makeup and fancy clothes :)

• If you ever actually believe the hype you make up about yourself? Things absolutely won't end well.

But on a personal note. While intent matters... the more people who cheat the system and make fraudulent accounts to make themselves look good? The more distrust becomes common and legitimate hardworking people may get squeezed out in the process. I don't think everyone who works the system is a criminal but I think it is poor practice.

And that's my response to the Hive Learner post prompt

That's my thought on today's Hive Learners prompt about "It's all fake". They ask if people get harmed? The answer is a solid maybe. Should people be prosecuted? Depends on intent. How does it affect society? Depends. Sometimes it is harmless and sometimes absolutely not.

However, one thing I'm sure on. It's important for everyone to check their sources and not believe everything they see and hear. With AI, bots, and scammers seemingly everywhere? Being on guard is more important now than ever.

At least that's my take. Feel free to disgree or leave comments. As always even if there is no comment I always appreciate people taking the time to read my ideas. Thank you.