Is it time to regulate social media influencers?

Image promoting the ill-fated Fyre Festival

By Mark Schaefer

Social media influencers have been under the microscope, and deservedly so. A couple of recent headlines:

• The disastrous Fyre Festival has been exposed in the press and two film documentaries. Although the organizers committed fraud in multiple ways, it also served as a lightning rod for the super-model influencers who promoted the event without disclosing the sponsorship.
• Last year, The New York Times published an investigation into the prevalence of social media bots, particularly those purchased by wannabe influencers and celebrities who want to inflate their importance online. Over a period of years, a company called Devumi “sold about 200 million Twitter followers to at least 39,000 customers,” including famous athletes, chefs, and reality TV stars.
• One of the most prominent legal actions against influencers came this year when the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and DJ Khaled for “failing to disclose payments they received for promoting investments.”
• And my favorite case study … an agency created fake social media influencers with purchased followers and was able to attract brand sponsorship for them.