"Inhuman accounts": how virtual influencers are conquering the Internet

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It's easy to become popular on the Internet if you sing, play movies, or just a cat. More recently, invented people have also conquered the blogosphere.

Who are they?

A virtual influencer is a computer-generated character with a human appearance. He has an invented biography, exists only on the Internet, is active in social networks and is very popular among users. There are dozens of photos on his blog where he meets with friends, eats delicious meals, relaxes on the sea, and is also reflected in the mirror and casts a shadow - everything is like people. Only this is an imaginary reality.

How it all began: popular "cartoons"

The first digital celebrities appeared 20 years ago. At the turn of the century, a couple of adventurous guys - Blur frontman Damon Albarn and graphic designer Jamie Hewlett - formed the virtual band Gorillaz. During the concerts, live musicians played behind a translucent screen. Video clips were broadcast on it so that only the contours of real people were visible. Few wondered what the real Gorillaz members looked like and how many there actually are. After all, this music was associated precisely with cartoon characters, the number of which varied from album to album. And one of the most frequent comments on videos from the band's live performances, where Albarn is no longer hiding from the audience, is surprise that he is real.

In Russia, the "Gluk'oZa" project, created in the early 2000s, picked up the baton. Until 2003, there was an intrigue about who was hiding under the virtual avatar of the "lady with the dog". Then the fans were shown Natalia Ionova, but although the secret had already been revealed, the producer of the project, Maxim Fadeev, continued to use the avatar and animated videos. And the real Ionova appeared only at concerts.

In both cases, these were not completely virtual characters - in fact, just masks of real people. That all changed when, in the late 2000s, the Japanese created Vocaloid, the digital pop singer Miku Hatsune. In her homeland, she became a real star. Her songs are at the top of the charts, her image is used in video games, Miku participates in advertising and performs as a duet with live performers. And although the image of Vocaloid is completely cartoonish, her popularity interested the fashion industry so much that the famous fashion designer Marc Jacobs designed concert clothes for Miku. The creation of Japanese programmers is perhaps the final stage in the transition from real personalities to virtual influencers.

How virtual influencers came to the blogosphere

Real stars are too far from common people. Therefore, it is not surprising that often those who are closer - bloggers, received no less recognition. Many of them are strongly associated with the "guys from our yard", who were helped to become popular not by venerable producers with thick wallets, but by their own charisma and a smartphone camera.

That is why today's bloggers have thousands or even millions of people, and the most grateful, in order to take an example, age - schoolchildren and students. Bloggers have long become influencers for them - people who can influence others with their opinions or preferences.

At the junction of technology and the blogger market, virtual influencers appeared.

CGI-models (Computer Generated Imagery - images generated by a computer) have become the new stars and muses of designers. The images of such characters are collective qualities that, according to the developers, ideally meet the needs of a wide audience.

The popularity of virtual influencers at first was brought about by their realistic appearance. And there is also a heated debate among fans: is this a real person or a talented digital model? Nowadays, development companies are actively promoting virtual influencers.

You have to understand that not every animated character, even one with millions of fans, is a digital influencer. For example, the already mentioned Miku Hatsune does not apply to them, although it was created using computer graphics, has a background and millions know it. The key feature of virtual influencers, as mentioned at the very beginning, is that they “live” like ordinary people. They share their thoughts and emotions, talk about realities, post moments of their day on social networks, as each of us does.

Virtual influencers: from popular to almost unknown

1. Shudu Gram

A dark-skinned supermodel is at the origin of the digital sphere. At the moment, her Instagram profile has almost 200 thousand subscribers. Shudu's creator, fashion photographer Cameron-James Wilson, claims to have never profited from Shudu's look. Its sole purpose is supposedly to add variety to fashion and play space.

The popularity of the digital supermodel brought with Rihanna's Fenty Beauty lipstick: the record was reposted by the brand itself.

2. Lil Miquela

(or Mikela Sousa) is a virtual character created by Brud. Souza's Instagram account has existed since 2016 and has already collected 2 million subscribers. The popularity is due in part to the fact that the developers did not leave her in splendid isolation, but added a friend BLAWKO and a rival girlfriend Bermuda. The digital model fills her Instagram with photos, collaborates with fashion brands and communicates with the press, and at a fairly serious level. For example, in an interview with The Business of Fashion, Mikela shares her plans for the future. She also insists that she be considered an artist "who is not afraid to express unpopular opinions, even if they cost her fans."

3. Bermuda

At the beginning of 2018, fans were diligently fans of Michele Souza, when suddenly one day all the photos were deleted in her account, and instead of them only one was published - an unfamiliar blonde who introduced herself and said that she had hacked Michele's Instagram.

The dispute between the two digital characters lasted for some time, actively supported by individual media outlets. Bermuda was allegedly invented by Brud's rivals, Cain Intelligence. According to legend, it also created Lil Mikela herself to make her a “digital slave”. But Brud bought the character out, freed him, and made him popular. The success of the former ward did not like Cain Intelligence, so the company decided to take revenge. As a result, it turned out that Brud's creatives were behind the hack. Today, digital models work in pairs, and Bermuda has about 10 times fewer subscribers than her friend.

4. BLAWKO

Friend Mikela Sousa has 158 thousand followers on Instagram. He publishes photographs in which he communicates and relaxes with real-life people. From time to time he is engaged in quite responsible matters: for example, he goes to interviews with his girlfriend. For the influx of subscribers, the developers organized Ronnie's "relationship" with Bermuda, and then their loud parting.

5. Noonoouri

The digital model has amassed 350 thousand followers on Instagram, although she does not resemble a living person, but a doll. This does not prevent her from keeping her finger on the pulse of life and taking pictures with real people. Her modeling career is enviable. The digital girl virtually performed at the shows of Gucci, Tom Ford and other world-famous fashion houses.

6. Imma

The Japanese digital model is almost indistinguishable from a real person, even on close inspection. Some pictures show how the roots "grow back" on her dyed pink hair. For i-D magazine, Imma posed for close-ups and answered questions in interviews with real-life models. Judging by the description in the profile, the girl is interested in Japanese culture, cinema and other arts. In one of the last photos, Imma complains about the quarantine and is glad that she managed to visit the cherry blossoms this year.

7. Laila Blue

The virtual one was created in 2018. The developers settled her in the UAE and made her half French, half Lebanese. Laila's subscribers are disappointingly few - less than 1,000. The reason, apparently, is that no one has been promoting her for more than a year. She holds the title of the first virtual influencer in the Middle East and is proud to be on the cover of the women's magazine Grazia.

8. Kira

- the first digital model created by Russian developers. Kira also has few subscribers - just over 2,000. But in any case, this shows that she is also interesting to someone. There is not much information about Kira on the Internet, but the girl still gave an interview to Wonderzine. The model talked about studying at MGIMO, about her favorite places and even about how her parents met. True, then she called all the memories fake, which is not surprising.

What is this all for?

A virtual character most often appears when its creators want to get some hype on the Internet. It is difficult to imagine how quickly these models can be monetized, but the direction seems to be very promising. After all, marketers who work with digital people are insured against their scandalous antics, communication problems and missed deadlines. In addition, you can seriously save on operators, makeup artists and other accompanying human influencer.

A digital “employee” can simultaneously participate in different projects, which people cannot physically afford. It also fully meets modern realities, including the need for self-isolation in the context of the coronavirus. No disruption to production - the digital blogger is always ready to go.