What’s In This Issue?
This Week’s Main Stories
Story 01The Age of Digital Supermodels and Avatar Influencers Is Here
Story 02Disturbing Study Shows Driving For Lyft Or Uber Is AwfulEven More Stories
- SXSW UPDATE - My session on Non-Obvious Trends has been moved to a larger room and is now a FEATURED SESSION! Join me in Austin >>
- 60 Best Panels From SXSW This Weekend That You Can't Miss
- Edible Burger Billboard (Three Words You Don't Expect Together)
- BrewDog Launches Pink Beer For Women As a Joke. No One Gets It.
- To see my full presentation slides from the conference, click here >>
- What United Airlines Management Can Learn From Buffalo Wild Wings
- Once-In-A-Lifetime Trips and Destination Free Tourism
- The Amazon-pocalypse Has Quietly Arrived
The Age of Digital Supermodels and Avatar Influencers Is Here
Shudu Gram is not real. Her creator Cameron-James Wilson, a British fashion photographer, not-so-humbly describes her as the "World's First Digital Supermodel." Others describe her as a racist example of a white male exploiting the image of an African female for profit. Then there is Miquela Sousa, a virtual avatar and real life influencer with more than half a million followers. Together they signal an interesting new future of influence where virtual characters don't need to pretend to be real, but rather grow in popularity because they aren't. This is "invented influence" and in the hands of the right creators, it seems to be working.
Disturbing Study Shows Driving For Lyft Or Uber Is Awful
This week MIT researcher Stephen Zoepf released new research which indicated that more than half of all Uber and Lyft drivers were making less than minimum wage. Routinely under reported income also amounts to an estimated billions of dollars in untaxed revenue. The study illuminates the forgotten downside of the convenience we now expect through having a ride available at the press of a button. As responsible consumers, we should know not only what that ride is really costing us ... but also what it's really costing the person who delivers it to us.
