Indira Ruslanovna, 25, Russian, media communications professional
“I think the hype around virtual influencers is because they are new and different. People have always been curious about robots and CGI. Now that they have entered the social media landscape, there is a lot of fascination about them. People come across these characters, and can’t tell whether they were real or animated.
I don’t see virtual influencers being able to replace real influencers because real people bring more flair to the social media landscape. The human touch is what attracts people the most. Virtual influencers won’t last for long.
Sylvia Sedrak, 25, Egyptian, product designer
“I don’t get the concept of virtual influencers because to me, they aren’t authentic or real which would make me question the things they are advertising. A human influencer will actually try the product on camera and show us the results and I would believe what she is saying because she is a real person.
We don’t know the background or anything else about the creators of these virtual influencers. I honestly don’t think that over time people will be influenced by them.
Falak Kassab, 19, Palestinian, university student
“I was not aware about virtual influencers before but now that I am, I think they are not going to influence me in anyway because I know these are just images and nothing beyond that.
“Even real social media influencers have little effect on me because I don’t feel they are credible when they advertise a certain product.
Also, the impact of virtual influencers will be more negative than positive because they will be further exposing youngsters to unrealistic images and influences
