Lil Miquela: As Real As Virtual Can Get
Miquela “Lil Miquela” Sousa checks off all the boxes to be an Instagram influencer: she has a trendy sense of style, she can pose in flattering ways, and her photos are visually appealing. What’s so interesting about her is that she may or may not be real.
I remember a couple years back, there was a viral tweet making its rounds. It was of a seemingly typical Instagram model/influencer, but upon expanding the attached photo, something didn’t seem right. I realized that what I thought was typical, was not so. The person in the photo was (and who I now know is) Lil Miquela, and her face was digitally enhanced, so much so that she resembled a Sims character. Yet, her body remained human. Every comment under that tweet was trying to figure out what the truth was, because it was all so confusing and intriguing at the same time. She appears digitally enhanced and fake, but she’s posting photos with real people? How is this possible?
This is what I believe the allure of Lil Miquela is — the curiosity of the obscure. Her existence lies within the uncanny valley, and because she is shown to be acting like an Instagram influencer and creating content effortlessly, intrigue ensues. This “who is she?” strategy, implemented by the person or team behind this account, has made themselves a lofty profit — the number of curious followers determined to find out the truth of this Instagrammer are growing, seeing as Lil Miquela is almost at one million followers. It’s a genius idea, and one that will keep us distracted for hours on end, reassessing what is real and what is a hoax. Not that I’m speaking from personal experience…
She is an interesting figure to analyze, because everything about her online profile seems so normal, but it’s not. I think the person behind this ingenious idea is using social media cleverly, because although the basis of their success is rooted in a hyperrealistic, Sims-like figure, they have managed to garner the attention of followers who are supportive and those who are frustratingly confused. She (it?) succeeds at Instagram by being herself, or rather, far from it.
As well as being an Instagram model, Lil Miquela presents herself as a musician, and has come out with a handful of singles last year. Keeping up with the computer-generated theme of her existence, it is autotuned. The very fact that it is only furthers the agenda of mystery. Now, not only do people not know what she really looks like, they don’t know what she sounds like. She’s untraceable!
YouTuber Shane Dawson went so far as to contact Lil Miquela and arrange an interview with her for a video, as he — like the rest of us — was thoroughly invested in her and wanted to obtain as much information as he could. While a singing voice naturally differs from one’s speaking voice, Lil Miquela’s voice on the call with Shane was also autotuned. A real, human voice albeit, but still heavily auto-tuned.
What’s interesting about this is that her music acts as a tease for the truth. The comment section of her Instagram posts are flooded with people who wonder who she is — if she’a real or is actually a robot. There are a few people who dole out the vapid compliment, but majority of her followers are desperate for answers. That’s where seriously committed sleuths would look for an audio clip of her speaking. With the release of her singles, you’re hoping you’ll find some solice in finally knowing what she sounds like, right? Wrong. Lil Miquela’s creator controls her voice too, so now you can’t even satisfy yourself with that one clue. Although followers are left in the dark, here’s the benefit: they still listened. The curiosity of her followers led them to listen to her music, which only favours the mastermind behind Lil Miquela. The views, streams, and sales received on various platforms brings in major profit. Here we have curiosity striking again to benefit the creator. In addition to her Instagram account, music sales can bring in large sums of money, and having her music available on multiple platforms only adds to the amount.
Not only does she toy with her curious followers, but Lil Miquela is profiting off her supporters too, by releasing merchandise. It may be mildly questionable why anyone would buy merch from a online figure who isn’t real, but if you think about it, similar things happen with other content creators who fortunately do not have a computer-generated face and body. It is not uncommon for Instagram models and influencers alike to digitally enhance their appearance, curate flattering posts, and allow the main focus of their profile to be their aesthetically-pleasing photos. There are people who idolize them because of this and call them “goals.” Some of these Instagrammers even come to have their own merch line. None of it is necessary per say, but by purchasing a hoodie or a T-shirt shows your support of the person. This is no different than what Lil Miquela is doing, because she is following the mainstream of those who have a large following online. Another stream of profit is created as she begins to market herself.
Lil Miquela is essentially a meme, because everyone cannot stop talking about her. Like I said before, the comment section of her Instagram posts are almost all debaters trying to uncover the truth. Since that tweet I saw a while ago, her identity (or lack thereof) has been talked about incessantly. The average popularity of a humorous Internet meme does not compare to the time Lil Miquela’s online presence has been discussed in the community. We’ve talked about how memes are an art, not a science, but it sure seems like the mastermind behind Lil Miquela was pretty strategic with her creation…
However, she presents herself a little differently than most — she has more depth to her online profile than high quality photos. Her visual marketing is there, if not through the aesthetics of her posts, then the fact that she’s computer-generated has to count for something. Aside from that, she is actually building a community on her platform. Lil Miquela as a public figure is humanized in that she speaks on topics of social justice and her own opinions on the issues. It would be easy for her creator to follow the model other influencers had set out, but Lil Miquela connects with her audience by standing by them and showing her support. Multiple posts on her Instagram fight for trans rights, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, DACA, Charlottesville, and more. She’s even tweeted encouraging people to vote in the 2017 Presidential Election! This gets me thinking: did she vote? OKAY NOW I’M GETTING TOO AHEAD OF MYSELF.
Now, it’s hard to critique the extent of Lil Miquela’s activism, because, well, she can’t properly go out in public because her cover would be blown. Although, she did go to Coachella this past weekend, so really, WHAT IS THE TRUTH. Anyways, that’s besides the point. What I’m trying to say is that although her activism can come off as slacktivism, she still does speak about social justice issues with her followers, which is more than what can be said about other influencers. In doing this, she receives trust from her followers, and it, in turn, brings more traction to her page. She’s not just another Instagram influencer; she really does care about the things that need caring for. She even has a donation link that goes towards Black girls in STEM in her bio!
At the end of the day, whatever the intention was behind creating Lil Miquela, something was done right. The obscurity of her appearance has landed her on magazine covers and fashion editorial shoots for brands such as Prada. She has people talking, which is the most important part in properly establishing a social media presence. Granted, the talk is mostly conspiratorial, but hey, if it gets people talking… On a lighter note, Lil Miquela is defying what it really means to be an Instagram influencer. She’s basically a Sims; how much more original can you get? Part of me thinks she parodies the artificial tendencies of the social media platform, because she’s not exactly a real human being (or so we think) but she still has managed to attain a massive following by engaging in social media practices of the average human. Either way, it’s entertaining to keep updated with her and her success, because you can bet I’m slightly jealous of it.
In the process of writing this post, I think I’ve become more of an obsessive conspiracy theorist than I already am, but there is just so much unanswered information that it leaves you wondering! I’m not going to lie, I am patiently waiting for the day all is revealed, but I have a feeling it won’t be any time soon. Once the secret is out, the interest in Lil Miquela’s life will fade away, and she’ll be like all those other influences with real faces. Ugh, what a bore.
EDIT: It’s the day after publishing this blogpost, and there has been a really interesting update with Lil Miquela. Although this may seem more like a conspiratorial blogpost, I swear it’s not. I just think her latest Instagram post is too good not to include:
So she’s an AI? She really isn’t a human? Or is this just another way to tease followers? I think Alex Garland needs to look into this, because this is too crazy for reality. Whatever the case may be, this is thoroughly entertaining.
