19 March 2022 | New Scientist | 35Keeping up appearances
Living an online life can be a dream come true, but it is
all too often a nightmare, finds Chris Stokel-WalkerBook
Get Rich or Lie Trying:
Ambition and deceit in the
new influencer economy
Symeon Brown
Atlantic Books
THE influencer economy, fuelled
by the ability of social media to
instantly reach millions of people,
has changed the way we work, rest
and play. For some, the rise of this
new way to make a living has been
a boon – demolishing gatekeepers,
minting a new era of celebrities
and making millionaires of people
who might otherwise be trapped
in a dead-end job.
But this has been far from a
uniformly good thing for society.
As Channel 4 News journalist
Symeon Brown uncovers in
Get Rich or Lie Trying, the seedy
side of social media can be
as harmful as it is helpful.
Brown’s reporting sees him
go back to the streets of London
where he grew up to hear from
school friends who have fallen
prey to pyramid schemes dressed
up as online cryptocurrency
investments. He also heads to
Los Angeles, where he meets
nipped and tucked influencers
seeking the perfect body, often
ruining their health in the process.
Get Rich or Lie Trying is a
chastening read, clearly showing
that the lowlights of online fame
are as depressing as its highlights
are inspiring. Brown races through
the influencer economy and the
different industries it touches,
from the sweatshops churning
out poor-quality clothing to ensure
that scrolling teenagers can keep
up with the latest red carpet looks
on a budget, to the surgeons that
perform Brazilian butt lifts, a
risky procedure where fat is
taken from other parts of the
body and injected into the buttocks.
At times, Brown hurtles through
first-person stories so fast that
there is hardly a chance to blink.
Those he highlights as exploiting
social media – or being exploited
by it – sometimes pass by too
quickly for us to remember who
they are or why we should care.
It feels a bit like the relentless
hamster wheel of the algorithms
that drive social media platforms,
and the whole experience can
become a bit discombobulating.
At times, you struggle to see
who to feel sorrier for: the young
woman cajoled into performing
a sex act on camera, or the man
who is paid to receive insults
online. Sometimes, they blur into a
catalogue of horrors that becomes
difficult to unpick and reflect on.
The book’s stronger sections are
those that bring the action closer
to home and address some deeper,
more systemic issues. A chapter on
how social media’s unique voice
is often driven by authentic Black
voices that are then co-opted
and copied by richer, white
entrepreneurs without qualmsis particularly powerful, and
begins to tackle wider problems
entrenched in social media.
Elsewhere in the book, the bigger
picture is lacking, however. We know,
for example, that the drive to achieve
physical “perfection” is an issue,
and research has made clear both
the role that social media platforms
play in perpetuating this and the
effects of such ideals on mental and
physical health. Yet Brown spends
surprisingly little time questioning
what can be done about the broken
bodies and livelihoods left behind
in the race to get famous on social
media, or even who is to blame.
The book does a much better
job of highlighting just how perilous
living a life designed to go viral
can be – and how quickly the thing
that made you famous can become
passé. It raises important questions
about the value we place on
superficial appearances, and how
social media all too often encourages
us to sacrifice thinking deeply
in favour of a neat sound bite.
Overall, Get Rich or Lie Trying is
well worth reading – but, like social
media, at times it would do well to
go deeper and dwell a little longer. ❚Chris Stokel-Walker is a journalist
based in Newcastle, UKLights, glamour, followers – and
unrealistic expectations about
fame, fortune and happiness GE
TT
Y^ IMAGES
/WES
TE
ND61Don’t miss
Read
Don’t Trust Your Gut
says data scientist Seth
Stephens-Davidowitz.
You probably know less
than you think about
how to be healthy and
happy. So, it may be time
to ignore your instincts
and try self-help by data.
Out on 9 June.Visit
Rooted Beings can
teach us a lot about how
to connect with each
other, according to this
exhibition on plants and
fungi. Work from the
botanical archives will
be shown alongside
new art at London’s
Wellcome Collection
from 24 March.Read
The Flight of the
Aphrodite is a thrilling
new sci-fiction novel
from S. J. Morden about
an eventful mission to
Jupiter’s moons. Ship
and crew are already
at breaking point and
then it seems they have
uninvited company.
A^ GRE
AT
SEAWEE
D^ DAY
:^ GUT^ WEE
D^ (
UL
VA
IN
TE
ST
INALIS),^ INGE
LA
IH
RMAN