We Work CEO Adam Neumann, Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, Mars Hill Church Pastor Mark Driscoll, Investor Bernie Madoff, and former Liberty University Jerry Fawell Jr. are all from different walks of life but all were charismatic influencers who were exposed by scandal and saw their empires crumble.

Adam Neumann was ousted as CEO of We Work.

Elizabeth Holmes was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud and the word Theranos is now synonymous with fraud.

Mars Hill church closed and founding pastor Mark Driscoll is now pastoring a new church in Arizona.

Bernie Madoff died in prison after being handed a life sentence due to defrauding his investors.

Jerry Falwell Jr. was forced to resign as President of Liberty University.

I’m fascinated by these types of stories because all have similar patterns

  • A charismatic leader who has a compelling and grandiose vision
  • Tall tales and Pipe Dreams to followers
  • Abuse and manipulation of others
  • A major scandal is finally exposed due to brave whistleblowers in many cases
  • Implosion and Collapse

The wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun. There have always been charlatans and scammers among us and there will always be charlatans and scammers among us.

I do think it is true that in this time of uncertainty that as a society we are more susceptible to charlatans and scams because we want and need something or someone to believe in.

I also think that the internet provides a space for us to “belong” and so we find identity in following certain influencers as part of their “tribe”.  These tribes can cause unhealthy and unwise attachments to form between leaders and followers.

In this digital age, the rise of social media influencers has made it easier than ever to build a platform and gain followers.

After a year of uncertainty due to the pandemic, social unrest, and political chaos we are more vulnerable to lies and fantasies from influential people and influencers because we are hungering for inspiring role models and feel-good stories to lift our spirits.

Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?

Social media influencers tap into core human interactive needs, which spur response, often in the form of purchase action. As such, influencers can be a powerful way to communicate with your potential customers and increase your customer acquisition rate. (Source: SocialMediaToday)

Bottom Line: Social Media influencers is to entice you to buy products from their sponsors.

This is not new because this is what advertisers have always done. Before social media, advertisers used models, actors, musicians, and athletes to get us to buy products.

What has changed is that most social media influencers are “regular people” just like you and me who have figured out how to use their lives in order to keep us coming back to their pages so that we will consume whatever they are selling.

The issues start when influencers tell lies to the audience about their lives in order to keep the money flowing from their brand deals.  Followers hang on to their every word and really believe the stories that are being sold to them in order to push the products the influencers are selling.

Followers become invested and attached to their favorite influencers. We can see the way they defend them tooth and nail when someone may sense that what the influencer is selling is not what it is portrayed to be and calls it out.

I have seen social media influencers who (over) share their lives get angry when others offer comments on the situations that they volunteered.  If selling their private life is part of the deal, then influencers need to be prepared for counter opinions. If they do not want people in their business, then don’t share it.

I saw this quote and thought it was the quote of the year

“People stay falling for the game people spit on the internet only for it to blow up and then they’re looking for the next lie to follow.” – Quote seen on the Internet

When the audience gets invested in these fairy tales “influencers” tell in order to sell their products and it all falls down, the audience simply moves on to the next person selling wolf tickets only for the exact same thing to happen again. Every.Single.Time.

Platforming people with more charisma than character

There is an amazing podcast produced by Christianity Today called, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” detailing the dramatic collapse of Mars Hill Church in Seattle and its controversial pastor Mark Driscoll.

One of the podcast guests asks this question:

Why do we regularly platform people whose charisma outpaces their character and who leave devastation in their wake? We buy in and then we watch the collapse like spectators at a demolition derby. – Who Killed Mars Hill Podcast

I’m not sure of all of the answers but I have two theories on why this keeps happening.

We want to believe that fairy tales are possible and we want to live vicariously through these influencers

My first theory is we really want to believe that these fairy tales and grandiose visions are possible and we want to live through other people who appear to be doing living that out.

If we are overweight, then we want to believe the influencer with the great body who says that eats whatever she wants, does minimal exercise, and takes  “Jack’s Magic Beans Weight Loss Shake” once a day to lose weight.

If we are single, then we want to follow the “Perfect Patty” influencer who has the photogenic marriage and adorable children where everyone always gets along and dinner is always perfectly plated using the organic meal kit and seasonings that she partners with

We like to see people fail

My second theory is that some part of us likes to see people that we thought “had it all” get knocked off of their high horses.  It makes us feel better about our own situations and it also confirms our deep suspicions that nobody can have a perfect life.

I remember a fitness influencer who appeared to have the “perfect body” that admitted to having an eating disorder where she barely ate and overexercised and as a result lost her marriage and had to get therapy.  Another fitness influencer was exposed for photoshopping her pictures of her “perfect body” to Kingdom Come.

There was a popular relationship influencer who would “humblebrag” on her perfect marriage and children (Red Flag right there because there is no such thing) with perfectly curated photos. It was later found out her husband was making sexual advances to other men (among other things) and things were actually a mess behind the scenes.

Followers seemed to have a sense of relief that these influencers were human and were not the pictures of perfection that they portrayed themselves to be.

Stop following the lies and Start Living in reality…even in times of uncertainty

The Bright Side of Going Dark by Kelly Harms (A Favorite Read in 2021…Check my Review)  is a novel about a social media influencer named Mia who decides to throw her phone off a mountain because she was under so much pressure to present the perfect life to her followers and her life was far from perfect.

Mia also realized how much her followers were being affected by her seemingly perfect life because they depended on her for their happiness.

Mia’s picture-perfect life wasn’t any fun to live. She didn’t have any freedom to eat what she wanted because she had an image to maintain, sponsors to remain accountable to, and follower expectations to live up to.   The perils of eating gluten and a cupcake!

While this book is fiction, I am sure the author researched the book thoroughly and there is a lot of truth to it.

My advice is to not get too sucked into social media influencers. Enjoy your favorite influencer and their social media channels for entertainment purposes but don’t attach any more meaning to what they’re sharing because that’s all a part of the deal to get you to buy whatever brand is sponsoring them.  (Use my Code HUMBLBRAG to save 20%)

Instead, we must Live our own reality and ask those trusted advisors in our own lives instead of people who are being sponsored to sell products.

We won’t ever stop every charlatan and scammer but we can address these patterns by not just saying that we believe in humility and integrity but modeling that from the pulpit, in business, and on our social media channels.

We can also stop looking for people to vicariously live through because we are dissatisfied with our own lives.  Let’s spend our time making our own lives worth the living instead of living through someone else’s.

Even in times of uncertainty…

Elizabeth Theranos played on the hopes of people wanting painless blood drawing and had a grandiose vision of healthcare breakthroughs.

Adam Neumann of WeWork played on the fantasy that work didn’t need to be work but it could become a complete lifestyle and  work could become our identity

Investor Bernie Madoff played on hopes of people wanting to grow their nest eggs and the ability to have a comfortable retirement.

Mark Driscoll capitalized on the failures of men in society, the disintegrating nuclear family, and the lack of practical Christian community.

Jerry Falwell Jr. played on the hopes of Evangelical Christians to promote Christian nationalism and the idea of politics being the vehicle to gain more influence. (I don’t even think the religion part was that deep for him.  He wanted money and power)

We endured a pandemic, social unrest, and political chaos in 2020.  After all of that, it is even MORE vital that we are vigilant about not becoming susceptible to those who are tickling our ears with what we want to hear because in times of uncertainty scams and charlatans flourish.

They play on our hopes, fears, and insecurities.

We owe it to ourselves to not be drawn into toxic and make-believe worlds only to watch it all crash down around us.

I don’t want another invite to a demolition derby.