The rise of virtual influencers: What are their benefits, and are they a danger?

Показать описание

비대면 시대…더욱 확대되는 버추얼 인플루언서 영역, 그 가능성은?

Influencers use their personalities to help promote brands or products.
But some are not real people.
These virtual influencers, free from real-life scandals, able to travel anywhere in an instant, are gaining a lot of attention.
Seo Eunkyung gets us better acquainted with some of the stars.

A beautiful woman dancing catches viewers' attention.
Her name is Oh Rozy meaning "one and only" in Korean, a 22-year-old who is interested in fashion and pursues an eco-friendly life.

"Rozy is a three-dimensional character. She is gaining lots of attention mainly because she brings benefits to both companies and customers. Virtual influencers have zero possibility of having a personal scandal which could have negative image on companies that hire them. And... customers… especially in the era of the pandemic... get vicarious satisfaction from virtual influencers who can freely travel anywhere they want without wearing a mask."

Virtual humans' activities go beyond just advertising products. They upload posts that fit their worldview… such as releasing their own music or encouraging their fans to minimize plastic use.
A virtual human from LG Electronics… Keem Reah appeared as a presenter at the Consumer Electronics Show this year and introduced a series of the company's products.
And the popularity of virtual influencers is not only limited to Korea.
Lil Miquela, one of the most famous virtual humans in the U.S., has three million Instagram followers, earned more than 11 and a half million U.S. dollars last year, and was even listed as one of the 25 most influential people on the Internet by Time in 2018.

“There are some high expectations over virtual influencers, but at the same time, their “perfect” image could be their biggest weakness.”

"It feels somewhat frightening that virtual humans look so real that I can't even recognize they are not. Their hyper-realistic faces could be misused. And… from a woman's perspective, I feel bad to see their body shapes are almost identical which can pose a risk of advancing impossible body-image standards toward women."

With virtual influencers becoming more common, especially during the pandemic era, it seems more discussions are needed to picture our future with virtual humans.
Seo Eunkyung, Arirang News.

#virtual #influencer #benefit

2021-08-27, 22:00 (KST)