In luxury travel, we used to rely on social media engagement as a proxy for relevance,what people loved, what was trending, where they wanted to go. But lately, that “signal” feels useless. Some posts go viral and bring nothing but fake inquiries and spam leads. Others barely register but convert into real clients. It’s exhausting trying to tell the difference.
I agree digital ID might be part of the answer, but there’s a cultural catch. Many of my clients value anonymity and discretion. They don’t want their identity “verified” just to engage. Maybe the solution is layered: verified systems for business-critical decisions, pseudonymous spaces for exploration. But we need some kind of standard soon, or the whole ecosystem collapses under the weight of its own noise.
Oh, I couldn't agree more. It was bad enough when everybody on the planet decided they had to be a "thought leader" whatever that is. Now we have bots, AI-generated content and all kinds of other drivel taking up precious attention and bandwidth. I kind of like the idea of multiple systems of identity - someone will hopefully figure something out. I also think the whole programmatic ad business is a huge bubble, which is a problem since it fuels the Internet as we know it. Thanks for the comment.
It’s wild how much money still gets funneled into impressions that no one can trace back to actual humans, let alone purchases. I've had media buyers pitch six-figure spends based on bot-fueled engagement metrics and then act surprised when nothing converts.
I’m starting to think trust,not reach,is the real currency now. Smaller, curated networks where both sides know who’s real, even if they don’t know who exactly. Like you said, maybe someone will figure it out. But right now it feels like we’re all running a business inside a hall of mirrors.
what an interesting article Rita, and yes I guess that until a "verification system" is put into place, we'll have to live wth the increasing number of bots..
Thank you for these important insights, Rita. I think the social media platforms will converge on an anti-bot solution namely because their distortion directly effects the underlying profit generator: collection of data from real people. However, in my view, even if an authentic "human only" network is assured somehow, the models still run as data mining operations and for now the human is "paid" in dopamine hits via "like" buttons, scrolling, etc. This system can never favor truth or trust, but instead will promote content the "user" (an apt word) addictively returns to. The future of engagement with AI tech will require a very different approach to educating the human as a human. Thank you again!
In luxury travel, we used to rely on social media engagement as a proxy for relevance,what people loved, what was trending, where they wanted to go. But lately, that “signal” feels useless. Some posts go viral and bring nothing but fake inquiries and spam leads. Others barely register but convert into real clients. It’s exhausting trying to tell the difference.
I agree digital ID might be part of the answer, but there’s a cultural catch. Many of my clients value anonymity and discretion. They don’t want their identity “verified” just to engage. Maybe the solution is layered: verified systems for business-critical decisions, pseudonymous spaces for exploration. But we need some kind of standard soon, or the whole ecosystem collapses under the weight of its own noise.
Oh, I couldn't agree more. It was bad enough when everybody on the planet decided they had to be a "thought leader" whatever that is. Now we have bots, AI-generated content and all kinds of other drivel taking up precious attention and bandwidth. I kind of like the idea of multiple systems of identity - someone will hopefully figure something out. I also think the whole programmatic ad business is a huge bubble, which is a problem since it fuels the Internet as we know it. Thanks for the comment.
It’s wild how much money still gets funneled into impressions that no one can trace back to actual humans, let alone purchases. I've had media buyers pitch six-figure spends based on bot-fueled engagement metrics and then act surprised when nothing converts.
I’m starting to think trust,not reach,is the real currency now. Smaller, curated networks where both sides know who’s real, even if they don’t know who exactly. Like you said, maybe someone will figure it out. But right now it feels like we’re all running a business inside a hall of mirrors.
what an interesting article Rita, and yes I guess that until a "verification system" is put into place, we'll have to live wth the increasing number of bots..
Thank you for these important insights, Rita. I think the social media platforms will converge on an anti-bot solution namely because their distortion directly effects the underlying profit generator: collection of data from real people. However, in my view, even if an authentic "human only" network is assured somehow, the models still run as data mining operations and for now the human is "paid" in dopamine hits via "like" buttons, scrolling, etc. This system can never favor truth or trust, but instead will promote content the "user" (an apt word) addictively returns to. The future of engagement with AI tech will require a very different approach to educating the human as a human. Thank you again!
What a powerful article, Rita. Thank you!