Advertisement

Instagram influencer, singer and model – and computer generated: rise of the virtual kings and queens of social media

  • Half Japanese and half American, Liam Nikuro has 14,400 fans on Instagram thanks to his streetwise fashion, and posts that encourage people to talk to him
  • imma gram has a bubblegum-pink bob, models for brands such as Burberry, Bape and Dior and posts videos on TikTok. Neither of them is real

Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Virtual social media influencers such as Liam Nikuro (above) feature photos of themselves at various locations and in a variety of outfits on their feeds. Photo: Hirokuni Genie Miyaji

Liam Nikuro uploaded an image of an “I can’t breathe” poster on his Instagram account in May, mobilising his followers to support the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States.

“We need to stand together and take action in any way we can,” he wrote.

One of his peers, imma gram, posted a list of black Americans killed at the hands of the authorities and demanded change, while her brother, plusticboy, encouraged his followers to learn more about the historical injustices faced by African- Americans.
Socially aware and publicly engaged, these internet influencers look and sound very real – but they are entirely computer generated.
An Instagram post from virtual influencer Liam Nikuro. Photo: Instagram / @liam_nikuro
An Instagram post from virtual influencer Liam Nikuro. Photo: Instagram / @liam_nikuro

Social media is filled with attractive individuals who pose against heavily edited backgrounds and promote aesthetically photographed products. They have turned the online realm into a curated fantasy world, one where it’s hard to discern what is real and what is artful artifice.

Now, a new computer-generated species of social media influencer is taking this escapism to another level.

Advertisement