In case you didn’t know, “digital influencers” are individuals with large social media followings who can sway the purchasing decisions of consumers.

Sure, they are largely insufferable narcissists whose only sustenance comes from subscriber counts and likes, but they are otherwise harmless to people with lives grounded in real human relationships.

Once marketers figured out that these influencers could get people to buy their products, and the influencers realized they could profit from it, the whole exercise developed a rather shady side. It’s difficult to tell whether you‘re getting an honest opinion from someone whose Instagram feed you enjoy, or a paid promoter.

With the advent of the pandemic and increasingly sophisticated CGI, together with the government’s prohibition on real human relationships, the exercise has developed a rather creepy side, the “virtual influencer.”