Virtual Influencers and Lil Miquela

We all have our favorite people that we follow on social media and trust their opinion and decisions. Social media influencers have been a big part of our lives for so long that most of us got comfortable quickly accepting a new figure and adopting their beliefs and ideas about different subjects. There are now fitness influencers, gaming influencers, cooking influencers and now… virtual influencers.

The virtual influencer phenomenon began in 2016 when this new forever 19-year old computer-generated social media influencer, Lil Miquela, captured the attention of thousands. In the beginning, she would only post pictures of nature and products and maybe you would be lucky to see a hand or her shoes but later she revealed herself and her legacy started.

Brud, the Los Angeles based company developed this project and as of now has released three of these virtual influencers which are still believed to be the top dogs of the new industry.

So what is special about these influencers?

When I said “forever 19” I meant that Lil Miquela and the other Brud influencers don't really age… Miquela still celebrates her birthday every year but every year she is 19 which is goals <3

Initially, they did not acknowledge the fact that they were computer-generated. But although they were professionally designed in the beginning the uncanny valley was too deep. They looked close enough to be perceived as humanoid but different enough to be perceived by some as creepy.

“The uncanny valley hypothesis predicts that an entity appearing almost human will risk eliciting cold, eerie feelings in viewers”

The jig was up after people started calling them a “sims marketing stunt” and a “horrifying social experiment”. So they had to come clean. Yes, it is advertising. But the way they came clean was through this beautifully scripted story that had love… betrayal…and just enough ambiguity to lure people in for more. Oh, the drama…

I won’t spoil you the story because I legitimately value it as an art form but there are speculations of them escaping Brud after being exploited. They have relationships with each other. This second influencer Blawko which always wears a mask or covers his face (even pre corona time) was in a relationship and cheated on the third virtual influencer, Bermuda, who is more of a Barbie-doll-Paris-Hilton-always-dressed-in-pink kind of influencer.

Why did they do this and why am I writing an article about it?

Influencers are difficult, they are expensive, unreliable and sometimes entitled. Virtual influencers are the solution to all of the problems people have previously encountered with real-life influencers. A conventional influencer might not wear the dress you want to promote quite as you want it or might not post that ad at the time you agreed to. A conventional influencer might have some political opinion that might affect your brand in a bad way. They might go to a party one day and post some drunk stories that will, in the end, affect the look of your brand. To attach to someone, they do need some sort of likes, goals and desires. So virtual influencers have really shallow ones. For example, Lil Miquela likes pizza and One Direction. No one can be upset at her for that but it gives people just enough to connect with her and listen to what she has to say. They will always post on time, in the exact position, the perfect setting and using the perfect description and hashtags that you need.

The risks of using such virtual influencers are way lower than using conventional ones. So that's why big brands such as Calvin Klein, Prada and Samsung are using them as they are brand proof. It doesn't stop here but the subject is too vast to cover in just one article but as an ending, I will give you some more information that might persuade you to read more about the subject:

• Lil Miquela has a YouTube account and makes vlogs and songs in different styles and voices.

• Brud’s website is a one page google docs file.

• Knox Frost is the first virtual influencer that has partnered with the WHO and has helped gather donations for the organization.

• Countries such as Japan, England, the UK, the USA and Russia started developing their own virtual influencers, some already having over 100,000 followers.

• Last year the first Dutch created, Esther Olofsson, entered the virtual influencer market and is now the official ambassador of the "Postillion Hotels" in Rotterdam.