Looking back at trends, it’s clear that beauty and aesthetics have always been fluid, respectively. Dominated by constantly evolving norms, this can lend itself to a lot of creativity — and that’s great! So what? Well, it’s worth nothing how in the age of instant, often monetized gratification on platforms like Tik-Tok, Instagram, and Youtube, things can get arguably messy. In a world of questionable algorithms, endless filters, buy-able followers and fake follower counts, it’s hard to see through the smoke and mirrors sometimes.
It may or may not come as a surprise that influencer accounts in particular are often sponsored, push products they’re being paid to, are gifted and choose not to disclose, and commonly haven’t even tried or don’t actually use — anything to get clicks and go $$$ viral $$$. You can also absolutely buy fake followers. Rarely are these facts disclosed in the actual posts; there is little to no oversight. That was only one part of the de-influencing puzzle many are trying detach themselves from in order to stop spending so much on endless products that never seem to quite address root concerns.
There’s more tea though.
Deepfakes have been popping via dozens of accounts on #SkinTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube that feature fabricated medical professionals (including taking the face or ‘likeness’ of those who are real), giving fake medical advice or sell products related to beauty, wellness, and weight loss through independent websites or well-known online marketplaces. Making bogus claims about “miracle cures” or “guaranteed results” is a lot more convincing when you have a convincing-looking person pushing them. Fake medical claims and deceptive marketing practices get folks hurt, and unfortunately only some of the websites mentioned earlier have made an effort to reasonably remove such content. It also speaks to a larger and equally important problem of a large and concerted effort to distort facts, pollute the information space, and make it harder for the public to believe or trust experts in their field.
“Transparency may be the most disruptive and far reaching innovation to come out of social media”
— Paul Gillin, “The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media”
But wait – there’s more.
According to 404 Media, social media is being flooded with generative AI with accounts and posts to promote ‘viral’ products like supplements and massagers by using “phone farms” or “click farms,” an organized bank of hundreds or in the case of the article, roughly a thousand, phones to fake online engagement on platforms like Tik-Tok:
“Another Doublespeed-operated TikTok account named pattyluvslife posted dozens of slideshows of a young woman who, according to her bio, is a student at UCLA. All the posts from this account talk about how “big pharma” and the supplements industry is a scam. But the posts also always promoted a moringa supplement from a company called Rosabella. The AI-generated woman in these TikTok posts often holds up the bottle of supplements, but it’s obviously AI-generated as the text on the bottle is jumbled gibberish. Rosabella’s site also claims the product is “viral on TikTok.” Rosabella did not respond to a request for comment.”
Next time your screen is telling you that you must or must not buy this new viral Skin-Tok product, consider this new information and save yourself the money and a headache by consulting a licensed professional one-on-one. Even with the recent pivot to tell you products not to buy, these folks have shown they are not equipped to be making decisions for you, who – to them – is a stranger through their screen and likely just another “click”.
Additionally, per Nadeem Alam at NDM Marketlatch:
“Questions to ask yourself before clicking “add to cart”
Before you purchase, ask yourself these critical questions: Does this influencer regularly wear this brand in non-sponsored content? Can you find the same product from multiple retailers, or is it exclusively sold through affiliate links? Have you seen this item styled by anyone other than the promoting influencer?
Check if the influencer provides honest feedback about fit, quality, and styling challenges. Do they mention if they received the item for free? Are they showing you how it looks after multiple […] wears? Most importantly, would you want this piece if you’d never seen it on this particular influencer?”
Seek out local practitioners in your area by going by referrals, searching for “#yourcityhere esthetician” on social media or using search engines, and don’t be afraid to ask that person whose skin is glowing at the store if they have an esthetician they recommend (it’s a compliment either way!).
Some of us also offer online services.
