Child, Adolescent & Adult Psychiatrist | Founder at ACES Psychiatry, Orlando, Florida
Answered 3 months ago
Influencer culture is an engine that runs on narcissistic traits. It's a bit of a chicken-and-egg question, but the platform itself is a strong shaping force. People who already crave constant validation are drawn to it, but the algorithm trains them. It provides a 24/7 feedback loop that rewards performance over authenticity. If you get thousands of likes for a filtered photo but silence for a moment of real vulnerability, you are being behaviorally conditioned to "perform" your life, not live it. The image becomes the goal. It is a massive red flag. A relationship with anyone who must "maintain an image" at all costs is built on a very fragile foundation. In my psychiatry practice, I often see the partners of people like this, and they are almost always exhausted and lonely. They feel less like a partner and more like an audience member—or worse, a prop. A healthy, lasting relationship requires real vulnerability, and vulnerability is the one thing a person pathologically focused on their image cannot tolerate. It will almost always be an empty pursuit. Dr. Ishdeep Narang is a board-certified adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist and founder of ACES Psychiatry in Orlando, FL. (https://www.acespsychiatry.com/psychiatrist-orlando-dr-narang/)
The influencer space has never been as dynamic as it is nowadays. Personal content was personal in the early days they shared lives and not brands. Algorithms are now rewarding visibility and not vulnerability. The need to sell has made authenticity more of a marketing product as opposed to a human attribute. Most influencers even confide that they filter even their unfiltered poses. It is not less accessible, but it is more expensive in terms of psychology. It is true that authenticity can still prevail, but it is no longer the case that it comes naturally and effortlessly. The most effective producers have developed credibility with micro-imperfections now, appearing to make mistakes, burn out or backstage mess but it is all under control. Filters will not disappear but will develop. We are heading to the AI-based aesthetic moderation, in which there will be no more real and edited. The rarest yet most valuable tips to creators? Master the art of being emotional. The coming wave of influence will be the people who can be relatable but restrained the type of honesty that gets close without getting over-sharing.
The job is harder than it used to be in the early days because it's all video, constantly, across a million platforms; trends die quickly; algorithms change frequently, and fans think you're supposed to feed them content constantly; rules around advertising and disclosure keep expanding — leading to more burnout and more income volatility. Authenticity does matter and can win, but it's also deployed as a strategy, and I see two clear paths: some creators blow up being real, simple (behind-the-scenes posts) and direct (Community tab talks), others go for polished looks, which also happen to get Googol-level reach. Filters and AI editing won't disappear; they'll go subtler and more on board, even as audiences respond to honest stories and proof. I suspect the highest numbers will be with polished content, but the most viable businesses will be ones that come from niche, trusted creators who show their actual process and build many relationships.
I manage marketing for a portfolio of luxury apartments across multiple cities, and I've noticed something critical: the "influencer" model completely fails in multifamily housing. We tested partnering with lifestyle influencers to promote our Chicago properties--beautiful content, thousands of likes, zero lease conversions. Meanwhile, our maintenance tech posting a 90-second iPhone video showing residents how to start their oven generated actual applications. Authenticity isn't just winning--it's become the baseline requirement. When we implemented UTM tracking across our $2.9M marketing budget, I finded our highest-converting content was unfiltered virtual tours shot on basic equipment. We reduced our cost per lease by 15% by eliminating the polished agency photoshoots in favor of real unit walkthroughs. People signing 12-month leases need to see the actual grout lines, not a filtered fantasy. The image-obsessed vendors I negotiate with are always the hardest to work with and deliver the worst ROI. I've walked away from contracts with agencies that spent more time crafting their pitch deck aesthetic than understanding our occupancy data. The vendors who show up with spreadsheets instead of mood boards are the ones who helped us achieve 25% faster lease-ups. flyingcolourmarketing.com/about
The Illusion of Authenticity The use of filters and other identity modifiers has graduated from simple vanity to calculated commercial use. There is a specific use of "aesthetic value" within a framework of user generated content and under the "influence" of social media. Curated trends reward manipulation over authenticity. For social media, subtle, imperceptible AI touch-ups, are economically favored over more aggressive, visible edits or the use of no filter at all. The most realistic forgeries will prevail over the most exaggerated authentic presentations. For unfiltered content to retain value, it must be rare. Influencers who are unfiltered in fleeting, valuable moments will be the ones who gain true prestige.
The influencer world has transformed significantly, and in most aspects, it has turned into a more challenging place to deal with. In the era of Instagram and Tik Tok when everything was organic, the audience was more engaged and authenticity was simpler to achieve. Algorithms now prefer paid traffic and slick content, and without an investment, it is more difficult to make the small or independent voice heard. This change has occurred directly in our experience at Ready Nation Contractors while working alongside creators in the home improvement industry. There is a reduction of nearly half the engagement rates on some of the niches as well as audiences are much more suspicious of sponsored content. True storytelling remains an effective strategy, yet it needs to be more transparent and interchanged between platforms. The space of influencers does not always have to be worse--it is more transactional and saturated. What used to be a sense of community is now a performance marketing, where one needs to prove their worth over and over again, it is not the number of followers or good design, but the value. People who adjust to such reality are successful, but times when it is easy to be viral are far behind us.
1 / The weight of social media has increased but it has not become more severe. People enjoyed the initial stage of social media because they did not understand how to use it which brought them greater freedom. Every social media post now carries an intense sense of obligation. Users must maintain their appearance while participating in a race that requires them to wear high heels. People now experience mental health issues and burnout because social media requires them to present themselves as brands instead of human beings. 2 / People need to present their authentic selves through carefully designed content which matches the standards of online reality. The paradox exists between our desire for genuine content and platforms that favor perfectly edited material. The upcoming trend in social media could involve emotional vulnerability through showing softness and grief and imperfections particularly among women. People discover beauty through the process of learning to accept their own flaws. 3 / Being an influencer does not automatically turn someone into a narcissist. Your survival depends on performing when your image serves as your main source of income. The process of performing for others creates a separation between your emotional self and your outer persona. Women must constantly display confidence to their followers yet they experience mental breakdowns in private moments. People survive in a competitive world by showing one specific type of visibility. 4 / A person can maintain their love for someone who presents an image-driven persona as long as their heart remains accessible from within. People with narcissistic tendencies fail to recognize or reflect the emotions which others experience. The need to transform everything into content or competition prevents people from experiencing genuine visibility. The true warning sign appears when someone lacks inner depth even though they have many social media followers.