Fake Gurus And The Illusion Of Social Media
Published January 22, 2023 by Sabah V.
A Lot of What You See Online is Fake
There is a massive movement taking place online on nearly every social media you see of people trying to sell you courses, most commonly on Instagram and TikTok. There is no problem with this, it is great that we have evolved to the point where you can purchase a course for a reduced price and learn the contents of it from home. The issue comes with what we call “fake gurus”. A bunch of individuals have emerged claiming that they can teach you something to change your life just to hope they get a piece of the pie.
Examples of Fake Gurus
- E-Commerce Gurus: people who have barely made a living off of e-commerce promising you that you can change your entire life and drive around in Lamborghini’s if you take their 49.99$ course.
- Fitness Influencers: people claiming that they can help you reach a fitness goal in a matter of weeks when they themselves are not nearly as knowledgeable as someone who is a CPT (certified personal trainer)
- Any Other High Value Skill: People offering to teach you any other high value skill by purchasing their course
Yes, the majority of these people are making some money from the skill they are trying to teach you. But think about it, if every dropshipper was making millions, why would they need to sell you a course? The reason is that the real money comes from selling courses. Courses and creating content in itself are very tedious and time consuming, but it makes a lot more money than the skill they are teaching you.
They Are Not All Scams, Some Are Legit
Now, by no means are all these people fake. It is just important to note that around 75% or more of them are exaggerating beyond belief. And the ones that aren’t exaggerating, have made the majority of their money on course sales. This is become one of the most trending ways to make money as of the past couple years. The idea is smart, advertise to people in their 20s who are upset where they are at with their lives and looking to make a change, show them that their lives can be as glamorous as yours, and tell them that if they invest in your course: everything you have will be achieved by them as well.
My Parents Work In This Field
Both my mother and step-father have been in consulting for nearly a decade, and they help people create courses and content for their courses. They have been doing this for many years, and are very experienced.
They stated that it is incredible how many people want to make and sell a course when they have nearly no knowledge on the information they want to sell. In their words specifically “out of every 1 legitimate person is 10,000 people who aren’t legitimate”. Working in this field made them realize that. They worked with hundreds of people who claimed on social media to make over 6 figures from their business, but then on calls with my parents would admit they don’t even make a quarter of that.
Social Media as an Illusion
Many of these people don’t have said items or achievements. They’ll consistently upload videos of someone walking up to a Lamborghini, a video of them from behind walking when they’re on vacation and claim that they can help you scale a business to 6 figures in a year for only 49.99$.
When someone sees these lies and videos it is a natural train of thought to think:
- Wow I want to travel the whole world and barely work
- Wow I want to have all these friends and women around me
- Wow I want to drive in exotic sports cars
But you are seeing a tiny snapshot that most of the time isn’t accurate. Sure, some people really do live this life: but it wasn’t because they followed a get rich quick scheme and it happened overnight. These people worked at it for 5-6 years and are now able to claim financial freedom (as they deserve to!). But it is important to be weary of many of these individuals who claim to make all this money that they really don’t, and live this glamorous life that they really don’t. They are trying to make it there by preying on insecure people looking to make a change.
Real Life Example
Here is an example I’ll use from one of my previous Instagram posts. It contains pictures of me in the most beautiful parts of Hawaii, getting an intense workout in at the gym, being at an amazing concert with friends. And at face value: someone may look at all this and think that I live an amazing life and don’t have many problems. But this is the illusion that social media provides and why so many people are becoming more depressed. What they don’t see is the true nature of human life:
- Hawaii – I was spending nearly everyday reading and writing at the beach desperately trying to improve my mental health.
- Workout – I was stressed after being at work all day and thinking about how I had to repeat the same cycle again tomorrow.
- Concert – I couldn’t even hear the music because I was so in my head at that concert thinking about why things didn’t work out with my previous partner.
This is true for nearly all of social media. If you don’t believe me, I suggest you do your research. There are plenty of famous people who talk about the illusions of social media and how their lives aren’t what it is depicted to be.
In the end, life is what you make it. You can be poor and be happier than the richest man in the world. It is up to you how you view the world, and make out of it. So enjoy every second, and don’t worry about what others have because it may not be reality.
Think about what you have and what you can build for yourself.
People only post what you want them to see.