Years later, as millions more people became Insta-famous enough to post sponsored content, perusing the accounts of the Instagram elite would start to feel like visiting an alternate reality where anything negative in life could be cured by a purchase. There would be semifamous people pretending to be vulnerable so they could sell products that they pretended to love, which supported a lifestyle they pretended was authentic. The flurry of aspirational branded posts would manipulate the masses into feeling bad about their normal lives. The effect would depress some of the early Instagram
...more
