¡®Real or Robotic¡¯: Who Is A Meta Influencer, Why Are People Engineering These Influencers?
A virtual influencer is a computer-generated character, also identified as a "fictional person" or "robot," that is crafted to resemble as human as possible, with unique characteristics, features, quirks, and personality traits.
Kyra, a 21-year-old "dream chaser, model, and traveller," has 100k Instagram followers after only 6 months on the platform. People are unsure whether she is "real" or a "robot."
TopSocial launched Kyra, India's first CGI-rendered virtual influencer, in January of this year.
Who is Kyra?
India now has its own virtual social media influencer, age 21, with nearly 100,000 followers. While Kyra's claim to be the first-ever meta influencer remains unproven, she is growing in popularity on the Meta-owned social network, Instagram.
TopSocial India's virtual avatar, Kyra, was introduced in January. Kyra looks remarkably similar to humans, leading people to question whether she is real. Her bio calls her "India's first Meta-Influencer," a "dream chaser, model, and traveller."
According to reports, Kyra follows the path of 19-year-old Brazilian-American Lil Miquela, who was launched on Instagram in 2016 and now has more than 3 million followers, as well as Rozy Oh from South Korea.
What is the Metaverse?
The Metaverse blurs the boundaries between real and virtual life. The Metaverse is essentially an extension of reality. "Just as you can now do banking and attend meetings and events virtually, your avatar will eventually be able to do nearly everything in the virtual world that you can now do in the real world," said Mike Snider of USA Today, as cited by Talking Influence.
Unsplash
Consider Facebook, now part of Meta, which is developing virtual workplaces and other environments in which an individual can use a virtual reality headset to infuse reality with workplace applications. In theory, everything that is now possible in the physical world will soon be possible in the virtual environment ¨C the Metaverse.
What is Meta Fluence?
A virtual influencer is a computer-generated character, also identified as a "fictional person" or "robot," that is crafted to resemble as human as possible, with unique characteristics, features, quirks, and personality traits. These digital characters are public figures with a first-person view of the world, and allowed access on media networks for the sake of influence.
Some of the challenges that influencer marketing faces, including data collection, payment concerns, and fraudulent online activity, could be addressed by Metafluence.
kyraonig/Instagram
According to reports, Metafluencers have become an influential and futuristic marketing tool in recent times, with an increasing number of sleek virtual characters appearing on Instagram and other social networks and generating a large number of followers. These 3D models, like celebrities and genuine influencers, frequently appear in advertisements, brand collaborations, and public relations stunts.
According to a recent study, these influencers' engagement levels on Instagram are 3 times higher than that of a human. Some virtual influencers are regarded as "virtual idols" in certain states, such as China, and are listed alongside celebrities.
Expanding industry
Virtual influencers are extremely valuable to Meta, serving as both attractants for their existing systems and avatars in the virtual world.
Over the last five years, interest in digital influencers has grown rapidly, attracting large audiences on social networking sites and collaborations with top brands such as Audi, Bose, Calvin Klein, Samsung, and Chinese e-commerce platforms.
Meta
A competitive industry has already emerged that specialises in the creation, management, and promotion of digital influencers, though the industry remains largely unregulated.
So far, India is the only country in which digital influencers are addressed in national advertising guidelines, with companies required to "reveal to customers that they will be not interacting with a real human being" while posting sponsored information.
Ethical guidelines
Experts believe that there is an immediate need for strict standards, both to assist producers and their brand partners in navigating this new territory, and, more importantly, to assist users in understanding the content with which they are interacting.
Meta has warned that "synthetic media has the potential for both good and harm," citing "representation and cultural appropriation" as particular areas of concern.
Second Life
Indeed, despite their brief existence, digital influencers have a record of overt racialization and false representation, elevating ethical concerns for creators who generate virtual characters with demographic characteristics that differ from their own.
However, it is unclear whether Meta's proposed guidelines will appropriately address these concerns.
