PARASOCIAL INTERACTION
What if that social media influencer or media personality wasn’t real to begin with? The real question is...does anyone care?
MOVEMENT 002
Parasocial relationships often refer to the one-sided, unreciprocated relationships that individuals develop with media personalities, such as actors, social media influencers, and other public figures. These relationships are called parasocial because they are not based on actual interactions or mutual communication between the individual and the media personality, but rather on the individual’s perception of the personality through a particular medium.
But what if that social media influencer, or media personality wasn’t real to begin with? Thanks to advancements in AI, that’s exactly where we find ourselves. And the real question is… does anyone care?
Miquela, a self proclaimed ‘19-year-old robot living in LA’ has amassed 2.6 million followers on instagram and has already worked with brands such as Prada, Dior, Calvin Klein and BMW.
Lu Do Magalu, an AI influencer from Brazil with 30 million social media followers tied to a large corporation (think Alexa and Amazon) brought in $552 million in 2019 alone.
The money is certainly real - so we know the brands will care. And the little blue verification check next to their name - the historic universal stamp of platform autheticity - is, too.
The research suggests parasocial relationships are unhealthy - they can lead to a loss of real-life social skills, empathy, and emotional intelligence. But in a world becoming increasingly digital, and a generation who now doesn’t understand a life without it - who’s to say that’s not already our future?
In our movement 001 report we touched on the increase in loneliness among young adults and its affect on their well-being. Among the increasingly lonely is a cohort of young men producing some alarming statistics.
More than 60 percent of young men (ages 18-30) are single, compared to only 30 percent of women the same age. One in five men report not having a single close friend, a number that has quadrupled in the last 30 years.
A rise in digital girlfriends isn’t exclusively to blame, but with the ability to create a partner whose sole existance is based on an algorithm trained on your every desire; it’s not helping. And men are undoubtedly the most susceptible.
Another contributing factor - higher education, more specifically the continued ascent of women’s enrollment in higher education. Educated women are earning more money, and naturally they’re looking for partners of equal or higher status. While this reality is long overdue, there are fewer and fewer educated and economically viable men to match.
It might come as no surprise that with an increase in young male isolation, an increasingly fluent generation of young women seeking comparable partners that don’t exist, the continued transfer of wealth from young adults to old, and a generally concerned outlook on the future - we’re seeing a steady decrease in population.
However, the universe has an odd way of balancing things out. Are these the faint signals of an impending reversion in household norms?
Will men slot into the roles left empty in an economy powered by women and lubricated by AI? With a lack of education they just might.
Will this new landscape see a resurgence in skilled tradesman needed to fill the jobs AI is incapable of performing? Probably.
Will the youthful blurring of gender and distaste for historical norms alter our idea of household pairings? Most likely.
Will we continue to observe an erosion of what we once classified as reality? Definitely.
MARKET SIGNALS:
01 Brand spokes’person’
Artificial representatives or ‘avatars’ will increasingly represent brands that we know and love. A new wave of Geico Geckos, a new face to identify with, a chance to reinvigorate the brand-to-consumer relationship. Brands will discover new audiences and evolve their existing ones.
02 Authentic rise
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. One outcome of an economy increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence is the opportunity for imperfection to shine, the admiration and reverence for human-made product to remain - if not elevate.
03 Pairing shift
Hinted at in the conclusion of this report, the youthful blurring of gender is an ever-growing statistic. This blurring will inevitably alter the frameworks of relationships and household pairings. Paired with an increasingly hostile socioeconomic environment, our youth may start finding solace in relationships based on a variety of metrics. Brands will need to break free from pre-historic categorizations to stay relevant.
04 SELF-INDULGANCE
We are seeing a generation forced to make decisions on whether to purchase a home, start a family, or indulge in the passing of time. The reality is that many are forced to choose one or two of the aforementioned ‘luxuries’ - luxuries that for many years were an expectation of the American way of life. Throw in national tension, geo-political conflict, and a disintegrating atmosphere and it’s no surprise many are opting for indulgence. This is an opportunity across product, service, and communication from a brand perspective.
05 Normative blend
Apple Vision Pro, self-driving cars, alternate (digital) universes, space travel, the continued acceleration of compounded growth, digital currencies. The inventions of today provide me with little to no doubt that the future will have a virtual component to it. The writing is on the walls (or maybe a screen somewhere). The autonomy with which we will be able or required to participate is unknown, but its presence seems almost inevitable. How will brands navigate an entirely new universe? How will they connect, communicate, and exchange?