If you said even a small part of you never wanted to be an influencer, I’d think you’re lying – especially if you are a Gen Zer like me. We grew up in the age of influencers. We follow them, we’re inspired by them, and although we may not admit it, we want to be them (sometimes).
What if I told you becoming an influencer was easier than you thought? In fact, you can become an “influencer” right now. There's just one catch: no money and no human connection. Let me introduce you to SocialAI, a social media app where you create a profile and interact with ONLY bots. It’s simple: You create a post, and bots praise you, interact with you through comments, give advice, and answer your questions. Yes, it’s truly as creepy and unrealistic as it sounds. The scariest part? It’s wildly popular.
What is SocialAI?
SocialAI was developed to give people a sense of community – despite the platform having no real community powering it. Sayman designed the app to make people feel heard and provide them with a space for "reflection, support, and feedback, akin to a close-knit community." However, SocialAI falls short of its mission – which may be good news for your brand.
Initially, when creating a profile on SocialAI, you must select the types of followers you want on your page. Depending on your preference, these follower types can range from politically driven to drama queens. The bot's user names are based on their "personalities." For example, “Analytical Andy” is a logical follower type. Each post you make gets a response from each follower type you pre-selected. The developer wanted to create a place where every single person’s opinion mattered and everyone’s voice was heard. While made with good intentions, this sentiment misses the situation's irony. No one's opinion actually matters, and no one’s voice is actually heard. While using the app, it’s impossible not to notice that you’re chatting with a bunch of robots intended to mimic the social interaction of real humans.
So what does this mean for brands?
In a world that’s becoming increasingly automated, CMOs need to create campaigns and build communities that look and feel like they’re crafted by humans. AI severely lacks important human qualities such as empathy, creativity, curiosity, and moral decision-making. These qualities are essential in the workplace and play a pivotal role in advertising. AI can generate useful data and ideas for us, but we, as humans, must leverage our expertise to market effectively to other humans.
In fact, according to a recent study, 84% of business leaders plan to invest more in AI over the next 12 months. In another study, 52% of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI in daily life. To bridge this gap, brands must emphasize (and enforce) the human-like aspects of their marketing. Investing in community management is one critical (and easy) way brands can reinforce their humanity. Besides engaging followers and building trust, quality community management provides a scrappy avenue for your brand voice to shine – especially when done proactively and on other brand’s trending posts. Three brands doing community management exceptionally well are Red Bull, Wendy’s, and Duolingo. Red Bull is an absolute beast at responding to comments and DMs, leveraging gif responses when at all possible, ultimately creating a more human-like feed. In this example, Red Bull posted this image on X, creating an opportunity for community engagement and encouraging followers to interact with one another in the comments by sharing memes. Similarly, not only is Wendy’s humorous on their socials, but they also respond to positive and negative comments in a lighthearted manner. This Facebook post is a great example. Finally, Duolingo’s rapid-fire replies in their comment section on this Barbie TikTok are world-class. Not only do they make their audience feel seen – but their hilarious and thoughtful (sometimes) responses help the language learning app reel in new fans. Because of the niche humor and quality of these engagements, it’s clear these examples aren’t AI-generated – giving these brands a huge advantage with social audiences.
Although SocialAI aims to create a social community for users, it ironically highlights the importance and need for real human interaction. As CMOs sort through this new normal, it’s important to remain focused on empathy, creativity, and moral decision-making to restore the humanity many people long for in a time dominated by artificial intelligence. The future of advertising should highlight our need for genuine human connection and remind us that the most influential thing we can do is restore authenticity.
Sources:
I've Tried The New Deliberately Anti-Social AI
How AI Is Reshaping Global Employment
Does Anyone Need an AI Social Network?
What The Data Says About Americans’ Views Of Artificial Intelligence
Duolingo’s Social Media Strategy
Red Bull’s Social Media Strategy
