Concerning the Way Influencers Maximize Reach

CURRENT RANK: LOWLY SERF

To the Magnificent Social Machiavellian:

CHAPTER 18 – CONCERNING THE WAY INFLUENCERS MAXIMIZE REACH

Everyone acknowledges how important it is for an influencer to be authentic and maintain trust with their followers. However, experience shows that the influencers who have achieved the greatest success are often the ones who have prioritized growing their numbers by any means necessary, even if it means engaging in deceptive tactics and clickbait. In the end, they have surpassed in follower count those who always posted with full transparency. An influencer must recognize there are two paths to gaining clout - one through genuine connection and quality content, and the other through attention-grabbing stunts and shocking posts. The first approach appeals to our humanity, while the second caters to our more base instincts. But since authenticity alone is often not enough these days, savvy influencers must be willing to unleash their inner showman when needed.

Therefore, an influencer seeking to maximize their reach, being compelled knowingly to adopt attention-seeking behavior, ought to choose the path of the troll and the clickbait artist; because genuine content alone cannot defend against the algorithms and shocking posts are needed to stand out amidst the noise. Therefore, it is necessary to be a master of hype to rise above the fray and an agent of chaos to command the spotlight. Those who rely simply on being real do not understand what they are doing. Thus a wise influencer cannot, nor ought they, remain fully authentic when opportunities for virality present themselves, and when the reasons that first drew people to them no longer suffice in an oversaturated market. If social media were entirely a force for good this principle would not hold, but because there are bad actors, and clout-chasing charlatans abound, you too are not bound to strict truthfulness at all times.

But it is necessary to know how to hide this characteristic well and to be a great pretender. Followers are so simple, and so drawn to flashy content, that any influencer who seeks to go viral will always find an audience who will allow themselves to be hooked. One recent example I cannot pass over in silence. An influencer did nothing else but post shocking clickbait, nor ever thought of doing otherwise. They always found new followers to dupe, because there never was an influencer who could so convincingly promise amazing revelations and deliver utter nonsense. Nevertheless, their hype always succeeded according to their wishes, because they understood this side of social media very well.

Therefore, it is unnecessary for an influencer to have all the good qualities I have described, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have these qualities and always to observe them is dangerous, and that to appear to have them is useful. An influencer should appear authentic, genuine, honest, trustworthy, but should be flexible enough to make use of the opposite qualities when it is necessary to go viral and gain clout.

And you must understand this, that an influencer, especially an up-and-coming one, cannot always post content for which they are praised, being often compelled, in order to grow their following, to act contrary to authenticity, realness, quality, and truth. Therefore, it is necessary for them to have a mind ready to pivot accordingly as the winds and variations of algorithm force it. Yet, as I have said above, an influencer should not turn away from genuine connection if they can avoid doing so, but, if it is truly necessary, then they should know how to unleash their inner troll.

For this reason an influencer ought to take care that they never let anything slip from their posts that is not full of the five qualities mentioned above, so that they may appear to everyone who sees and follows them completely authentic, genuine, honest, trustworthy, and real. There is nothing more necessary to appear to have than this last quality. Followers judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because everybody can see your posts, but few come in touch with you. Everyone sees what you appear to be, but few really know what you are, and those few dare not oppose the opinion of the many, who have the power of the algorithm to defend them. In the actions of all influencers, and especially of rising stars, which it is not wise to challenge, one judges by the result.

For this reason, let an influencer have the success of gaining followers and clout by any means, the tactics will always be considered justified, and they will be celebrated by the masses. This is because the average user is always swayed by what a post seems to be and by how many likes and shares it gets. In the world of social media, only popularity matters when the algorithms have firmly decided.

One influencer of the present time, whom it is not wise to name, never posts anything else but authenticity and realness, and to both they are most opposed. If they had followed what they posted, they would have lost their clout and follower count many a time.

NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI II