Real Not Real.

Musician and Model? Guru? Influencer? Instagram star? Cult following? These are a few of the statements made about Lil Miquela… but, is it Fake news?

Have you ever seen the movie Shrek? Yes, you have, who hasn’t? The ugly troll’s story brings you into his life, makes you appreciate his feelings, and ultimately relate to him. He becomes the unlikely hero, and we all cheer him on to find his true love. The end. Back to reality. We know he’s a computer-generated character and that his life was fictitious, so we don’t think of him again. That’s because after the movie ends there is no need to think about “I wonder what he’s doing now”, or “I wonder what brand of sneakers Shrek would buy?”…

However, there is a new character in town, her name is Lil Miquela, and she is showing you what’s she’s doing now - and what shoes to buy. The minute I write this, she’s just Insta’d that she had a sherbet ice-cream, even though “it’s kinda cold in LA rn”.

Lil Miquela exists, she has feelings and thoughts and most importantly, she has fashion sense. Her 1.5m+ Instrgam followers can also equate to Instar-dom being another one of her strengths. Oh, did I mention she’s an almost-perfect CGI human avatar?

This isn’t a really new concept, think about the Gorillaz and also the vocal synthesizer Hatsune Miku – both first gen cyber celebs if you like. Something like this was bound to be created and has been brewing for a while, but this still comes as a shock to me. My mind boggles.

Lil Miquela makes me ask questions about the future of social media? Or all Influencers alike?

Do I get excited?

Yes, totally. What this is, is a multi-million-pound industry about to take off. Get your chips in. The company that owns this pixel cluster is now worth a whopping ￡97m and counting. As well, Lil M is about to drop a new line of fashion, and I doubt she’ll need to do any product launches. As well, this “Ava-star” is no doubt about to meet more friends (she already has two), and each one donning a different brand… Think: Lil Miquela has a lunch date with her new friend ‘Flora Gucci’ – on the table opposite them sits, ‘Adi Das’ – who’s just finished his gym session. This is brand personality in the closest form so far.

Do I get scared?

Yeah, of course. Not only for the cyber creeps out there, that could pollute what could be an insane business strategy into something worse, but equally worried about the kids that will be targeted. I’d like to think these curators are taking their influence seriously, and not breaking any laws - but how can something like this be policed anyway? Lil M is “19” but clearly being curated by a multitude of people, meaning her voice is ambiguous regarding age and experience. This will definitely need another family set of rules determining who you’re allowed to follow under the age of 14? 16? 18? But that’s all part of parenting - we’re constantly forced to rethink what to tell our kids is cool and OK, and what isn’t.

Do I think it’s ethical?

I don’t know. Probably not. However, I know I’m not going to look like the person in the advert that wears that dress, or equally, that I just need to put green liquid into my lunch box to get it squeaky clean. I am an adult, I know if I’m looking at advertising. And that’s really it, will these Avastars come out and say they’re backed by a corporation and actually not real humans? Sometimes you can’t tell. Or will they rely on the viewers thinking they’re real as part of the strategy for selling their digs? Would you buy a shirt from a picture? Hmm. Actually, you probably already do.

Do I exist?

I’ll get back to you on that.