#4. Social Media

“An important part of this shift has been the realisation that media was no longer delivered in a sealed package to audiences but that audiences played a participatory role in its creation.” – Understanding Social Media by Sam Hinton and Larissa Hjorth

Nash asked during our group discussion if we knew of any unorthodox way Instagram is being used but I couldn’t think of any at the top of my head in class. However, when I was scrolling through my following just now, this particular social media influencer stood right out. She’s not just a regular social media influencer, she’s a virtual avatar on Instagram “created by an artificial intelligence company”. (I put it in quotes because I personally do not believe she is actual AI, there are some really interesting conspiracy theories behind her account, it’s almost like a black mirror episode but I’m not going to get into all of that, you can Google about them.) Her username is @lilmiquela and I’ll show some of her posts below.

When I first found out about her I was slightly weirded out but I gotta admit I was so intrigued at the same time, I have been following her for quite some time and I’m always interested to see her updates. She is the first of three “AI” virtual social media influencers on Instagram. I might be wrong because no one knows for sure but this is how I believe her account works. Her Instagram posts are just like any other social media celebrities but her creators branded her as an AI robot. This made her viral, gains her followers as well as the attention of brands who are willing to pay her (creators) to promote them. Social media is a powerful tool for marketing. Although she is not real, she has the influence of 1.3 million followers and I’m one of them.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that Miquela shows how the affordance of Instagram can be challenged into doing something so much more creative than what was expected because of the evolution of technology as it introduces bizarre yet innovative ways that content is being authored, published and distributed.

References

1. Hinton, S. and Hjorth, L. (2013). Understanding social media. 1st ed.