
Fake it till you make it: the wolves of Instagram - kawera
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/apr/19/wolves-of-instagram-jordan-belmont-social-media-traders
======
neaden
One thing I've been struck by with movies and films like the Wolf of Wall
Street, the film Wall Street, Fight Club, or even the Great Gatsby is how many
people end up coming away with the exact opposite message of the movie. They
end up idolizing the vapid, shallow lifestyle that the movie is critiquing,
because even though the film is critiquing that it can't help but also make it
glamorous. Michael Douglas has said that he has had people come up to him and
tell him that Gordon Gekko inspired them to get into finance, so it's not
surprising that Belfort is now inspiring a new generation.

~~~
smacktoward
It's because film is a visual medium, and in these movies the protagonist
always _looks cool_. He may be _doing_ terrible things, but he's wearing hip
clothes and driving a gorgeous car while he does them. The visual language is
all screaming "this guy's great!", and it ends up overwhelming the message the
story is trying to tell.

If you want to know what most people will think of a character in a movie,
watch the movie with the sound off.

~~~
lkrubner
I don't know if it's a matter of the protagonist looking cool. When Breaking
Bad was on the air, I had a surprising number of friends who identified with
Walter White. He did not look cool, he did not act cool, and the writers of
the show did everything in their power to communicate "This man is a moral
monster and a horror of a human being." Yet some people that I otherwise
respected still identified with him. They would get angry at Skyler White for
leaving her husband, as if the mother of a new baby should stay loyal to a
drug dealing serial killer.

~~~
bartread
The interesting realisation for me about Walter White came when I started
watching the season through for a second time.

But first... SPOILER ALERT!

I mean the first time around I had some sympathy for the guy - he was a
disappointed and somewhat embittered middle aged man still trying to do his
best to support his family, and then he's given this crappy cancer diagnosis.
I felt bad for him. Fair to say that by the time he just lets Jesse's
girlfriend, Jane, choke to death on her own vomit whilst unconscious I'd
entirely lost that and felt nothing but loathing for the character (which
isn't to say I didn't enjoy the show, or think he was a _great_ character).

But what I realised on revisiting the show a couple of years later is that
Walter White _didn 't_ break bad. He _was_ bad from the very beginning. I mean
look at the way he interacts with people in the early episodes of season 1:
he's largely an asshole. The only thing that changes is that, initially
because he's driven to, he becomes much more comfortable with manifesting his
assholery overtly.

~~~
jstarfish
> Fair to say that by the time he just lets Jesse's girlfriend, Jane, choke to
> death on her own vomit whilst unconscious I'd entirely lost that and felt
> nothing but loathing for the character

> But what I realised on revisiting the show a couple of years later is that
> Walter White didn't break bad. He was bad from the very beginning.

Jesse's girlfriend got him hooked on heroin. Jesse was on a downward spiral
and would surely die thanks to her continued interference. Walter saw the
toxicity of both the drugs and the relationship and did Jesse a cruel but
necessary kindness by letting her asphyxiate. It wasn't ethical, it wasn't
humane, but it served a greater purpose (even if it was so Walter wouldn't be
without an assistant).

He did far worse deeds for less grounded reasons as the series went on; there
are better examples to choose from to make a case of villainy. If anything,
what changes through the series is his disconnectedness from everything he was
fighting for. As he lost his son's respect, his wife, his family, and his
friend, his world became significantly more introverted and he was willing to
tolerate greater and greater amounts of collateral damage in the interest of
his own survival (since he had nothing left to care about but himself until
the ending).

~~~
this2shallPass
SPOILERS

It's a great show, and I agree with a lot of what you're saying.

> Jesse's girlfriend got him hooked on heroin. Jesse was on a downward spiral
> and would surely die thanks to her continued interference.

Jesse was on a downward spiral, yes, but the other two points are less clear.
They might be true from Walt's perspective.

> Walter saw the toxicity of both the drugs and the relationship and did Jesse
> a cruel but necessary kindness by letting her asphyxiate. It wasn't ethical,
> it wasn't humane, but it served a greater purpose (even if it was so Walter
> wouldn't be without an assistant).

It's impossible to tell how much Walt's letting Jane die / killing Jane had to
do with helping Jesse. I think it's clearer Walt killed Jane to keep control
over Jesse and to protect himself. And that worked out pretty well, for a
while. Jane didn't fear Walt, and she knew too much about him for Walt's
comfort and safety. So he let her die / killed her.

> He did far worse deeds for less grounded reasons as the series went on;
> there are better examples to choose from to make a case of villainy.

This is true. For me, Jane's death caused a major nosedive in sympathy for
Walt. Definitely previous things he did were villainous and later things even
more so. But there was something about Jane's death. A big step down in his
descent.

------
RIMR
I am always amazed by how many people get into this "Beat the system and make
tons of money" mindset.

If there's anything that has proven itself time and time again, it's that
people who seek immediate wealth, and who fantasize about their "million
dollar idea", are absolutely not the kinds of people who become successful and
wealthy.

The people who become devoted to a field or a technology - who make the
business their passion, and focus on filling a need - these are the people who
earn a fortune.

You can't just make money by trying really hard to be rich, unless, of course,
your business model is funneling cash off of suckers with a predatory get-
rich-quick scheme.

~~~
gowld
Your comment is hosted on ycombinator.com, an enterprise founded with the
specific goal: "Beat the system and make tons of money". The only distinction
is the "immediate" part.

~~~
tlrobinson
Y Combinator's motto is literally "Make something people want."

~~~
jiveturkey
isn’t there an implied, “in order to generate revenue”?

~~~
dublinben
If there were, why would they accept non-profits, which they have done so
since 2013?[0]

[0][https://www.ycombinator.com/nonprofits/](https://www.ycombinator.com/nonprofits/)

~~~
asdsa5325
> Since some people were confused when we funded Watsi, I’d better clarify
> that the money we’re putting into the nonprofits will be a charitable
> donation, rather than an investment in the narrow sense. We won’t have any
> financial interest in them.

For good vibes, tax credits, & marketing

------
throwawaybo
Throwaway because reasons.

Worked for one the biggest - and most "respectable" player in this "industry".

Between terrible security practices - had to fight for basic stuff that would
make any of you grab pitchforks, attempts to get away with as much as they
could with regards to regulation and finally the terrible ethics of the
system, I didn't last long.

Consider spending a few minutes reading this great article
[https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-wolves-of-tel-aviv-
israels...](https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-wolves-of-tel-aviv-israels-vast-
amoral-binary-options-scam-exposed/)

Most of the big players might have moved away from binary options, they're
still the same morally corrupt drain on society.

~~~
throwawaybo
Also the revenue figures seem quite conservative. 90M seems too low. Probably
2x that.

------
Bucephalus355
>”I’m never going to work for someone,” Oyefeso says in one of his videos, in
a somewhat cartoonish, nasal voice, while he drives his Rolls dressed in a
bathrobe.”

What’s with this obsession of not working for someone else? American/British
managers in particular are some of the most democratic and “least power
distance” bosses out there, especially compared to other countries where there
is still a very hierarchical management structure.

The only time I ever hear now seriously about “your boss is horrible time to
quit and start your own business!” or “time to escape cubicle nation!” is with
someone selling a particular product.

~~~
RIMR
That all depends on what you do.

If you have a specific skillset, and your talents and work ethic are obvious
to your managers, you can end being mostly self-managed at your job.

However, if you have no skills and work a job where your raw output is all
that matters, managers will breathe down your neck trying to get the most
output out of you as possible.

These get-rich-quick schemes prey on those unskilled workers. They promise a
world where you have no boss, only work a few hours a week, and make enough
money to afford whatever you want.

It preys on people's fantasies, and their lack of understanding of how
successful people get where they are.

If you want to escape your cubicle farm and get a job where you don't hate
your boss, teach yourself a valuable skill and seek gainful employment using
that skill.

But don't ever expect that there's some magic lifehack that let's you stop
working and make enough money to afford every luxury you ever wanted. Just
because there are some examples of people doing that doesn't mean anything.
For every Bitcoin millionaire there are ten Bitcoin bankruptcies.

Yet all people have to do is wave around "This is the next big thing", and
gullible people will swarm it in hopes of getting in on the ground floor.

There's big money in FOMO.

~~~
mrguyorama
There absolutely IS a magical way to get rich quick.

Be born rich. Or otherwise get lucky.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
What a defeatist attitude. The people I know who "got rich quick" did it by
providing a valuable service and working hard at it. I can't think of any in
my circle who came from money.

------
eksemplar
Maybe it’s time the EU took a look at advertising. I mean, we’re building
things like the GDPR and a lot of legislation to protect minors from the
dangers that come from social media. We see loot boxes, underage gambling,
traders selling you recommendations for their own products, scammers, young
people prostitute them selves to get photo shoots at exotic locations or for
luxurary stuff for likes. Probably worse than that too, and at the heart of it
is advertising and how it makes money on popularity, lies and knowing every
about everyone.

Popularity will always be worth money to someone, but the current business
practices surrounding it just don’t seem healthy.

~~~
21
> young people prostitute them selves to get photo shoots at exotic locations
> or for luxurary stuff for likes

So what's the alternative, working 9-5 in retail for minimum wage and after 10
years you are still nowhere?

Unless you are in a highly demanded domain like software, there are few
opportunities for young people.

~~~
simonbarker87
The alternative is genuine entrepreneurship or working your butt off in school
in an area that is actually in demand rather than a pointless degree. There
seems to be an assumption now that everyone is entitled to a nice cushy
lifestyle but if you don’t work in school, don’t develop in demand skills or
find a gap in the market to exploit then it’s not going to happen.

~~~
lovich
Ah shit, that was my mistake, I didn't just pick an in demand niche that no
one else had already identified and filled. Good thing I had this safety net
to fall on after I spent my savings that took me 30 years to build up to make
an attempt on a business.

As it stands in the US currently if you don't receive help from your parents
or some other rich connection, the average person is winning the lottery if
they start a business and succeed. There is nothing between you and
homelessness if you don't have the business succeed, and any sort of health
problem will nuke what savings you have immediately

~~~
asdffdsa321
Yeah, seems like wealth is generally created over generations, rather than
lifetimes (common case might be something like: 0 - 1 your grandparents
immigrate and work hard to survive, 1-10 your parents work hard to go from
subsistence to middle class, 10 - 100 you have enough safety net to take
risks/follow passions/start successful bussinesses). Of course there's always
exceptions.

------
vwcx
I was hoping, based on the title, that this was going to address the exploding
popularity of people starting IG accounts for their huskies and then claiming
the animals are part-wolf. This is a real phenomenon with (albeit smaller)
consequences.

~~~
bayological
LOL

------
TaylorGood
I know of a guy who “pivoted” from exotic car rental operator in Florida to
Forex and Drop Shipping coach via Instagram. His Lamborghini, chartered jets
and 30k followers really shine but I also know he still buys fake shoes.
Wouldn’t trust him with $1.

Gary Vaynerchuk is spot on in that there are too many experts and not enough
practicioners. Showing others how to make it is how these guys are trying to
make it.

~~~
giarc
I suspect many of these people touting their nearly purchased Lamborghini and
the like are actually just renting them.

There was a reddit post where a similar "influencer" described the process of
faking the purchase. He would go to a showroom and ask to sit in the vehicle
and film it. Most of the time, if the salesperson isn't busy they will let you
do this. Sometimes even let you start it if they are nice. This influencer
would just then record a conversation in another car about buying and taking
delivery etc and dub over the video of him in a show room. Pretty straight
forward.

~~~
okmokmz
>I suspect many of these people touting their nearly purchased Lamborghini and
the like are actually just renting them.

Yes, this is incredibly common in the entertainment industry (particularly Hip
Hop), and I also saw a lot of people like this when I lived near a wealthier
part of LA for a couple years

------
philfrasty
Guy they chose seems like a bad example.

\- 30k on insta (since 2014): instagram.com/elijah_oezz

\- 3k on YouTube youtube.com/channel/UCk4fZzhD8fStRHITL4sP_LA

\- 0 comments on any of his pics

Forex trading is certainly big on SM but this guy does not convert a single
visitor.

~~~
jahlove
He has comments disabled on instagram.

~~~
justme00
Hah. It baffles me that they still gave him the honor of mentioning him in
that article. Free publicity to the fake.

~~~
throwawaybo
He's doing affiliate marketing, it's jackpot for him :/

------
BadassFractal
The guy is a small fry. If we're going to point fingers at someone, can we
start all the way at the top with someone like Tai Lopez?

~~~
sodafountan
The difference is that Tai Lopez is just selling knowledge, no different than
an audiobook or a college program. The guy in this article is actively
participating in a pyramid scheme.

------
amorphous
Slightly OT, but for the rest of us "fake it till you make it" is terrible
advice. Because if you don't make it, you have lived a fake life and this will
eat on you.

~~~
triangleman
Actually the proverb is sort of short for "have courage through the difficult
part and you will be successful in one way or the other". It's not about being
fake. The OP title, though, is a play on the term, referring to actual
fakeness.

------
_bxg1
The number of layers of meaninglessness at play in being a fraudulent media
influencer who pretends to be rich so they can make a buck off of selling
artificial bets against the abstract perceived value of companies which employ
the people who (in some cases) spend their time doing _actual real things_ is
staggering.

------
bomb199
When you realize that legitimately becoming rich is such a long shot no matter
how great you do, the idea of cheating becomes alluring.

Helps if you keep in mind that Jeff Bezos could accidentally tip you enough
money to live the rest of your life without a job.

~~~
skellera
On a 8% average, Bezos makes over $8 billion a year (He has been making more
than that). Considering there are 2,208 billionaires according to Forbe's,
that is mind blowing that he gains more wealth every year than all but about
2000 people alive HAVE.

------
swframe2
Why worry about the small fish? See how the big boys do it. Check out "The
China Hustle" and "Dirty Money" on netflix.

------
fwn
This article describes essentially rough influencers that use their social
media marketing capabilities to fuel pyramid schemes with cheap high-risk
financial products as their fig-leaf.

While selling those products is regulated in many markets they apparently seem
to get around that through obscurity.

------
baxtr
There was a very interesting post on that topic just a couple of days ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16953005](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16953005)

------
foobaw
Reminds me of the show Billions.

------
dzonga
Nothing new! Same as the Crypto bubble / hype. Seen many people ploughing
money because they wanna get rich quick. All because bitcoin or *coin is going
up & 'blockchain'.

~~~
Nursie
Some of the folks in the article are setting themselves up as "Cryptocurrency
Gurus" now too.

sigh.

------
chinathrow
Was looking over the shoulders of a guy seting up instagram auto likes via a
3rd party tool the other day. No value added there.

------
1181207
A lot of influencers revolve around the fashion industry on Instagram, Who are
contacted by streetwear brands and Designer Labels such as Vetements,
Balenciaga and OFF-WHITE... Solely using influencers has pretty much pushed
their lines into the eyes of consumers and it's a really good way of getting
people to take notice of your business.

