Does HBO’s ‘Fake Famous’ Doc Showcase The Appeal Of Social Media Influencer Culture?

When I first joined social media many years ago it was so different from the way it is now. You needed a college email to join Facebook. Instagram had filters that didn’t alter your face, but changed your background into moody settings. You had to text to Tweet. And the biggest social problem was getting on someone’s top 8 on MySpace.

Over the years social media has become a monster of consumerism, inadequate feelings, and to put it quite plainly a showcase of how your life may be compared to others; especially on Instagram. With that notion in place, the rise of influencer culture was set in motion. Celebrities are no longer in control of the limelight. Regular people could structure their social media platforms to build themselves up to a level of importance where they have the power to sway a general audience. British-American journalist Nick Bilton, whose work appeared in The New York Times and Vanity Fair, put this theory to a test with a social experiment that took three regular people and set out to make them internet famous in HBO’s documentary “Fake Famous.” SPOILERS AHEAD

Since I have a blog that requires me to be active on social media I was very interested in the subject. Jonah Berger’s Contagious: Why Things Catch On book explores how things become popular and go viral, but “Fake Famous” shows exactly how in this day and age. After an open casting call seeking people who want to be famous, three subjects were chosen: Dominique, Wylie, and Chris. The trio already had a nice Instagram following to me, but Bilton proceeded to buy followers to boost credibility along with comments and likes to make the following look legit, then staged shoots for content to appeal to an audience who gravitates to a lush lifestyle.

I admit I got so much anxiety watching this doc from the amount of work that goes into portraying a certain image online. I don’t have the time nor do I want to make the time to create such a facade, but for those who chose to make this social media influencer jump as a career this is what it would take. Dom jumped in ready to be molded and benefited from the experiment. She got a bunch of free stuff and opportunities to build her audience. She embraced the lie. Chris and Wylie not so much. Chris felt he didn’t need fake followers to pursue his career goals and would rather have a smaller following of real supporters than a large amount of fake ones. Wylie simply couldn’t handle the pressure of the lie and was worried about getting called out for having a false following.

At the end of the day it’s clear that gaining internet fame isn’t all glamorous photo shoots, lavish trips, and expensive material things. It can affect you mentally in ways you wouldn’t think it would. Seeing the hoops some of these “shoots” took (And I feel some people are “doing it for the gram” like this) social media should not be taken too seriously…to a point. Yes it can be a tool to reach brands and people more easily for business purposes, but individuals should not look to social media as a way to validate how and what you’re doing in your everyday life. Take everything that you see online with a grain of salt because it took a whole production, a whole curated perception to present the image before you. Social Media is specifically created to project a certain narrative – whether good or bad. Just have fun and don’t focus on the numbers. Quality over quantity. You’ll attract the right audience being authentically you.

“Fake Famous” is currently streaming on HBO Max. Watch the trailer for the doc in the clip below. How do you feel about influencer culture? Does this doc appear to answer any of your questions? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo: HBO Max