We watched a Netflix documentary last night about an Australian woman (Belle something) who has been described as the biggest scammer on Instagram.
She fooled a lot of people into believing she was diagnosed with malignant cancer but cured herself by abandoning conventional medicine and eating healthy foods. And, of course, she developed an app and wrote a book to share her miracle cure secrets.
It turned out to be a massive scam, and she never had cancer.
For me, however, it was a reminder of the power of story online and how easy it is to mislead and fool people.
I know this from my own online presence and videos because I learn every day from people who come to my office how powerful and effective my videos are in painting a picture, whether it is accurate or not.
The power of social media and video to influence is breathtaking. It is as if people suspend their usual critical faculties in buying into whatever story you are selling.