Mystery with those paid to post to Instagram: False motorcycle accident

Tiffany Mitchell, an Instagram influencer, was riding her motorcycle when she took a wrong turn and went off the street. Motor accidents are rarely nice stuff, but that was it. With incredible luck, Mitchell's only wounds were a few stains on her arm. A handsome man was helping her, and the video camera shot was posted on the Instagram.

When Mitchell had first documented her accident on July 31, her followers looked with sympathy. But then doubts began. Why were her wounds so small? Why was her helmet removed immediately when the protocol dictates that, in most circumstances, it should be kept in place? Why was everything so professionally filmed? And more suspicious, why did they have a glass of Smartwater in one of her pictures? Was this terrible accident intended to win advertising?

Absolutely not, according to Mitchell. In an article published Monday, Mitchell told Buzfeed News that she would never turn a personal story like this into a promotional campaign”. She also asked Buzfeeden to refrain from writing an article on its counterintelligence because it would be “

After Buzfeed's article appeared, Mitchell posted a story on the Instagram accusing the medium that “was sensationalising what I went through that day [of accident], and that he was laughing at the post I had distributed”. She reiterated that this was not an ad, saying she had discovered “any possible sponsorisation”.

But what the hell is going on? Has Mitchell been treated badly? Or, have we achieved a late phase of capitalism where people fabricate motorcycle accidents in order to increase followers in social media? I'm afraid we'll never know the truth, but I have to point out that Smartwater's representatives said they had no sponsorship with Mitchell.

Perhaps the most important issue, however, is the fact that we are arguing about such a thing, which shows how out of control the influential industry has emerged.

During the early days of social media, influencers were people against celebrities. People believed the influences because they were normal people. They were authentic, and the frogs loved them because authenticity sells; you're more likely to buy something that someone you trust buys.

But in the past few years, we've become increasingly disappointed with perfectly filmed versions in social media.

Last year, for example, a 24-year-old influencer named Scarlett London said he was receiving death threats after posting a photo of her sponsored in the Instagram. The best “Days start with a positive smile and thought,” had she said out of bed. And pancakes. And strawberries. ”

A man named Nathan posted later on Twitter: “This is everyone's normal breakfast. The Instagram is a ridiculous factor that makes us all feel inadequate.” The post became viral, and Twitter detectives found that the pancakes were actually dry, folded tortillas. To put it bluntly: The best days do not begin with dry tortillas.

London is not the only influence he's ever lied to in that form. During this year, a vegetarian influenceer named Rawwana was caught eating fish and had to do a tear-in-the-eye research after the many insults by her followers. Shortly thereafter, another vegetarian influenceer known as Raw Aligment enraged the Internet by publishing a video showing that he had renounced vegetarianism months ago. And so on.

And, perhaps the most controversial of all, we have a large group of influences claiming that their posts are sponsored when in fact they are not because you perceive that you have an internal agreement gives them more power.

Mitchell may not have invented anything, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that we are being bombarded with ads as much as our first instinct is to question everything, even in a motorcycle accident, that it is just advertising. What matters is that we are tired of the lies of influence that we believe even when they tell the truth. /The Guardian, Periscope