Is Social Media Hype Even Real?

Summary

Podcast Summary: What A Day

Episode: Is Social Media Hype Even Real?

Host: Erin Ryan (in for Jane Coaston)

Guest: Lane Brown, New York Magazine feature writer

Date: June 1, 2026

---

Episode Overview

The main theme of this episode is the artificiality of “hype” and online buzz on social media. Host Erin Ryan interviews Lane Brown, author of a recent New York Magazine feature, about the hidden world of “clipping” campaigns: coordinated, paid efforts to manufacture the appearance of virality and popularity. The discussion explores how social media platforms can be easily gamed, why this is different from traditional marketing, and the broader consequences for journalism, media literacy, and our sense of what’s genuinely “popular” or real.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Manipulability of Social Media Algorithms

• How Algorithms Are Simpler and Easier to Game than We Assume
  • Lane Brown explains that social media algorithms, while mysterious, “are, it turns out, highly gamable, really easy to manipulate, and, you know, it doesn't seem like they're actually as smart as you kind of hope they would be.” (01:49)
  • The proliferation of “clipping,” where content is chopped into viral-friendly pieces and spread by fake or semi-fake accounts, is now ubiquitous.

The Mechanism of ‘Clipping’

• How ‘Clipping’ Works

  • Brands, studios, or politicians pay agencies to distribute short clips via thousands of seemingly normal accounts, tricking algorithms into amplifying the content.
  • “If you want to promote something...you chop it up into tiny, like, social media friendly pieces and you post it...via, like, thousands of normal looking dummy accounts. And when you do that, it basically tricks the algorithms...into thinking that there is a real organic spike of actual human interest.” (02:08)
  • Payout is structured as cost per impression—about $1 per thousand views.

• Clippers as a Real Job

  • Teenagers and young adults are recruited to do this work; top performers can earn “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.” (04:19)

The Discovery and Scope of the Problem

• Lane’s Investigation

  • Lane stumbled onto this story after noticing unusually rapid and unexplained spikes of popularity—especially in music and entertainment—on his own feeds. (03:10)

• Scope Goes Beyond Entertainment

  • Clipping is now used in political promotion and campaign messaging. Lane mentions campaigns for politicians like Eric Adams and viral “astroturfing” for figures like Marco Rubio. (05:26)

Why This ‘Artificial Buzz’ Is Troubling—and New

• Difference from Traditional Advertising

  • Clipping is fundamentally different from traditional ads or even techniques like radio “payola.”
  • “This is a category change. Ads are supposed to look like ads...This is advertising that is basically disguised, camouflaged to look like the real sort of spontaneous, like chatter of real people on the Internet.” (06:47)
  • Not easily distinguishable from real, spontaneous online conversation—even by trained journalists.

• The ‘Truman Show’ Effect

  • Lane compares this manipulation to the “Truman Show,” except you are the unwitting star, surrounded by manufactured opinions and hype designed to influence your perception of what’s popular or important. (08:31)

Consequences for Authenticity and Perception

• It Impacts What (And Whom) We Think Is Popular

  • Viral figures (e.g. MrBeast, Andrew Tate) often use these methods. Their popularity and influence may be greatly exaggerated.
  • “A lot of the manosphere influencers...have basically managed to really exaggerate their own popularity. And so a lot of the trick here is, like, it's not just to fool other real people. It's to fool the gatekeepers like us into sort of basically amplifying this message.” (10:08)

• Blurred Lines for Everyone

  • Even journalists are “really no better than normal people at slicing the sutton [truth from hype]. They may even be worse because we are in our feeds all day looking for...ideas.” (06:47)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On What’s Actually Going On:

  • “I just sort of had this feeling, just as I'm reading the Internet every day, something was off about the way things would go viral...[but] it turns out there was something going on.” – Lane Brown (03:10)

• On the Threat to Media Literacy:

  • “The scary thing is there really is no good way to tell this apart from, you know, the real thing.” – Lane Brown (06:47)

• On Manufactured Fandom:

  • “This is like if the record companies had like hired actors to like follow you around...try to have you eavesdrop on them telling you about a new artist. Like, that's basically what this is.” – Lane Brown (08:31)

• On Viral Fame:

  • “Your favorite celebrity is just three kids in a trench coat, essentially.” – Erin Ryan (11:14)
  • “A bot farm in a trench coat.” – Lane Brown (11:18)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:30 — Opening and Episode Setup
• 01:31–02:56 — Introduction to Lane Brown and Basics of Social Media Manipulation
• 02:57–04:19 — How Lane Discovered the Clipping Ecosystem
• 04:20–05:10 — Clipping Micro-Economy and How It Works
• 05:11–06:23 — Political Usage and Examples of Clipping
• 06:24–07:49 — Media Literacy and the Difficulty of Discernment
• 07:50–10:07 — Comparison to Past Media Hype and What Makes This System Different
• 10:08–11:32 — Famous Cases, Real vs. Artificial Popularity
• 11:33+ — Outro and Calls to Action

---

Tone and Style

The episode is witty, direct, and conversational. Erin Ryan and Lane Brown blend skepticism and humor as they underscore the high stakes of these new manipulations: How do we know what’s genuinely popular or authentic anymore?

---

Brief Takeaway

The world of online hype is more artificial, centralized, and for-hire than most of us realize. Social media “buzz” can now be purchased and choreographed to a degree that undermines trust in what’s real—not just among casual users but also within journalism, politics, and entertainment. As Lane Brown notes, “the scary thing is there really is no good way to tell [real conversation] apart from...the real thing.” (06:47)

---

Recommended action: Read Lane Brown’s New York Magazine piece for deeper insight into this phenomenon. The link is in the episode’s show notes.

Transcript

[Erin Ryan]

It's Monday, June 1st. I'm Erin Ryan in for Jane Coston. And this is what a day. School's out or almost out for summer. And what have we learned this year, class?

[Donald Trump]

Because most people don't know that, you know, dumb ends with a B. But most people don't know. And all I do is I switch the E with the U and you have a Democrat.

[Erin Ryan]

This is what happens when you don't hire union writers for your portion of the roast. On today's show, President Donald Trump's walk back weekend had not very much winning, but a lot of whining and waste. We're also going to cover escalating protests and government crackdowns outside of an immigrant detention center in New Jersey. And Congress returns this week whether or not its members have found their respective spines hiding in their home districts is tbd. But let's start with a conversation about a piece of long form journalism that confirmed what a lot of us suspected about what we see on social media. It's all choreographed. We're each the star of our own micro Truman Show. Well, kind of. Writing for New York Magazine, Lane Brown's piece uncovers the world of artificial hype that drives what we perceive as buzz. The piece dominated the group chats these last few days and for good reason. It taps into a general unease about how we've ceded our reality to platforms that are manipulated by shadowy ad campaigns. No wonder backrooms is killing it at the box office. Here's my conversation with Lane Brown. Lane, welcome to what a day.

[Lane Brown]

Thank you, Aaron. Glad to be here.

[Erin Ryan]

Well, since the early days of social media, people have been trying to figure out the algorithm, how to make sure the maximum number of people are seeing whatever it is you're posting. I'm a web native, so I'm familiar with the beast of the algorithm as well. What do we know about how social media algorithms work today?

[Lane Brown]

It seems like they're simpler than I think a lot of people imagine. They're, it turns out, highly gamable, really easy to manipulate, and, you know, it's, it doesn't seem like they're actually as smart as you kind of hope they would be.

[Erin Ryan]

Yeah, well, what are some of those ways that you've discovered that people are influencing and manipulating the social media algorithms?

[Lane Brown]

So I just wrote a story about this thing called Clipping, which is basically if you want to promote something, maybe it's a song, maybe it's a video podcast, maybe it's a movie trailer. You chop it up into tiny, like social media friendly pieces and you post it to social media platforms via like thousands of normal looking dummy accounts. And when you do that, it basically tricks the algorithms, tricks the recommendation systems of these platforms into thinking that there is a real organic spike of actual human interest. And so when that happens, it pushes these clips onto the wider user base. And people think, oh, wow, other people must be watching this stuff. And so therefore it's, it's popular. And so places that are doing this, the people that are doing this are paying. Basically it's a dollar per thousand views, which is a pretty great deal. And so now just basically everybody's doing that.

[Erin Ryan]

Okay, so as I understand, you stumbled onto this by accident, like the fact that our reality is being shaped by a kind of like molten candy center of manufactured bullshit. Can you tell me a little bit about how you discovered all of this?

[Lane Brown]

Sure. So for the past couple of years, I just sort of had this feeling, just as I'm reading the Internet every day, something was off about the way things would go viral. Like probably mostly in music. Things would just sort of appear out of nowhere, songs and artists and then dominate my feed and then sometimes go away. But there was never sort of really any explanation for why this was happening. And, you know, probably a lot of people reach their 40s and think that exact thing. Like, I don't understand why the kids are into this these days. What, why this is popular. Something must be going on. But, but it turns out I was the only 40 year old person who was actually, you know, the first one who was actually right about this. It turns out there was something going on. I started reading about clipping last fall and like, as I kind of got deeper into it, it felt like I was basically like peeling back a layer of reality a little bit. I could actually sort of trace, oh, this is why that artist was all over my feet a month ago. Or this is why this movie trailer is just sort of inescapable right now. And so that's kind of how I sort of stumbled into this.

[Various Advertisers and Guests]

Hmm.

[Erin Ryan]

So what are the mechanics of how this actually works? Like, how does somebody become a clipper? How does somebody launch a campaign? How does that all go?

[Lane Brown]

So a lot of this happens in communities like Discord. And so basically there will be a clipping company, a clipping agency that will sort of say to their clippers, who are just normal teenagers looking to make a buck, you know, here's this clip of Shania Twain or Fleetwood Mac or the Michael Jackson movie and say, clip this up in any way that you want, but try to make it go viral. And they'll basically compete to do that. And they'll have a few days to sort of download the original clip, chop it up into however they want, post it, and then, you know, sort of pray that their one clip will sort of be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. And so some of these, some of these clippers actually make a pretty decent living. I talked to one of the founders of one of the agencies who said that his top clippers make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year doing this.

[Erin Ryan]

Oh, my gosh.

[Lane Brown]

Yeah, we're in the wrong business.

[Erin Ryan]

Yeah, yeah, Seriously. Oh, I just blacked out for a second. In your piece, you talk about how marketers use these methods to promote movies and songs and even Coachella sets. Paging Justin Bieber. Did you find any evidence that they're being used in politics as well?

[Lane Brown]

I did. So I spoke with a guy who ran this company called Floodify, which is one of these companies that does this sort of exact thing. And he told me he was asked to do a version of this for Eric Adams. When Eric Adams was running to be reelected as mayor last year, he basically wanted to run a campaign against Domini. Spencer Pratt is just in LA right now clipping it up. He's running. You know, it's pretty easy to find his clipping campaigns. They're out there. A couple of weeks ago, there was a clip of Marco Rubio talking about how much he loved America at a press briefing. And a turns out that was pretty obviously the result of a clipping campaign. It sort of went viral. And it's like, in what world does a clip of Marco Rubio talking about how much he loves America go viral the natural, old fashioned way? Somebody put their hand on the scale here. So many people have figured this out that now if something is in your feed and you're like, how did this get here? There's usually a pretty easy answer.

[Erin Ryan]

We have seeded our perception of reality to platforms that can be easily manipulated. The Internet brought up a lot of conversations about media literacy. You can't believe everything you read on the Internet. Knowing now that you may not even be able to trust Buzz or anything you read on the Internet. How can people discern the conversations that are authentic from the ones that are manufactured? Or is it hopeless?

[Lane Brown]

That's the scary thing. So, yeah, some people have, you know, like, oh, this is, you know, this is just advertising. Oh, congratulations, you've discovered digital marketing or something. This is not that. This is a category change. Ads are supposed to look like ads until Very recently they did, you know, you watch the super bowl. And okay, the Doritos commercial is obviously an ad. If you're really savvy, you know that, okay, there is like payola. And so sometimes songs get played on the radio because record companies made sort of shady deals. But this is advertising that is basically disguised, camouflaged to look like the real sort of spontaneous, like chatter of real people on the Internet. And so the scary thing is there really is no good way to tell this apart from, you know, the real thing. So it's, it's great. And journalists are really no better than normal people at slicing the sutton. They may even be worse because we are in our feeds all day looking for, you know, looking for ideas. And so maybe normal people have a leg up on us because they're hopefully not exposed to as much of this.

[Erin Ryan]

Right? And we're not, they're not always trolling for what the popular thing is. And the thing that is influencing what we think the popular thing is is something that is manufactured. But you know, when I was a kid, I'm like, of the TRL generation. I think probably you are as well. And you know, buzz during that era, we'll just say mtv, for example, was manufactured and there were gatekeepers, but it was a lot more out in the open. Like MTV decided what music videos we're gonna watch. Like record companies, you know, there was, there was a lot of like, mechanisms happening behind the scenes and some of which we probably will never know about, you know, because they were so dark. Is there something more ins about the way things are now?

[Lane Brown]

Definitely. I mean, like I said, a savvy person kind of had their. Was able to wrap their head around that. They knew that MTV and radio and, you know, that kind of stuff was sort of captured a little bit by major record labels that somebody had an influence over what you were seeing and hearing. This is different because this is faking the fans. This is like if somebody walked up behind you, like if the record companies had like hired actors to like follow you around and sort of, you know, try to have you eavesdrop on them telling you about a new artist. Like, that's basically what this is. This is like a whole new like Truman show esque kind of level of creepiness where they are basically imitating real people sort of talking about this. And the idea is that you will sort of see other people talking about this and then wonder boy, maybe I better, you know, find out about this. Because it seems to be, you know, something that other people seemingly like me are interested in?

[Erin Ryan]

Yeah, I mean, this is. This is like, this article just completely blew my mind when I read it because it kind of reflected things that I was worried about as well, because I was like, why? There's no way that this person is as popular as they seem to be on the Internet. There's no way. But the New York Times is doing a profile of this person, so they must actually be popular. And now it turns out that the mechanisms underneath it are just. No, the very beginning of their popularity was a coordinated campaign. They are popular because somebody decided to pay for their popularity. Are there a couple famous examples of people that, you know, have. Have broken through this, like, fake feed buzz and into legit media?

[Lane Brown]

Yeah, I mean, basically every influencer that you can think of in the last, you know, however long. It's like Mr. Beast has his own clipping farm that is just sort of pumping this out. And so he, you know, he was sold to me, at least. It's like, you know, he's the most popular person who has ever lived. He's, you know, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts sort of wrapped into one person from YouTube or something. And it's like, that's not the. Not really that necessarily the case at all. Like, we've heard that, you know, the manosphere is just like this massive, massive thing that's, you know, gonna come and, I don't know, kill all of our children or something. And it's like there's. It may be a lot smaller than we think because basically a lot of the manosphere influencers of the world, including Andrew Tate, who may have actually sort of kicked off this whole clipping trend, have basically managed to really exaggerate their own popularity. And so a lot of the trick here is, like, it's not just to fool other real people. It's to fool the gatekeepers like us into sort of basically amplifying this message. And so it really is kind of insidious in a kind of dark way.

[Erin Ryan]

So your favorite celebrity is just three kids in a trench coat, essentially.

[Lane Brown]

A bot farm in a trench coat. Yeah, exactly.

[Erin Ryan]

A bot farm in a trench coat. That's great, Lane. Thank you so much for joining me. And if you haven't read his piece, please go read it immediately. It is astonishing and brain melting. Thanks so much.

[Lane Brown]

Thank you very much, Arin.

[Erin Ryan]

That was my interview with New York Magazine feature writer Lane Brown. His piece is linked in the show Notes. We'll get to more news in a moment. But if you like the show Big News, we're going to be in your feeds just in time for Golden Hour starting June 8th. Think of us as an evening news program that Bari Weiss can't ruin, so make sure to subscribe, leave a five star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads

[Various Advertisers and Guests]

what a day is brought to you by Delete Me. Have you ever thought I should really be doing something to protect myself from stalkers, scammers and hackers? But you're not sure what? Here's what you do. Go to www.joindeleteme.com wad and enter code wade. You'll get 20% off DeleteMe. DeleteMe removes your personal information that's being sold online. In the age of AI, we're all especially vulnerable to scammers using your personal data that's floating around on the Internet against you. Have you ever googled yourself and found your home address, phone number, or the name of a family member? It's unsettling, but the good news is Delete Me can help. Delete Me has never been more affordable. Our listeners can get 20% off at www.joindeleteme.com wad with code WAD. As someone with an active online presence, privacy is really important to me, especially as I talk about politics and culture, two sensitive subjects for many people. That's why DeleteMe is an amazing option. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Deleteme now at a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your delete me plan when you go to www.joindeleteme.com wad and use promo code wad at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to www.joindeLeteme.com wad and enter code wad at checkout. That's www.joindeleteme dot com wad. Code wad what a day is brought

[Erin Ryan]

to you by Aura Frames this Father's Day. Show off your best pics of dad with Aura Frames Folks. I grew up in a rural area and my dad hunts and fishes, so most of my favorite pictures of my dad involve him. A fishing pole, some fish, maybe a deer that we're going to eat that winter. Maybe a plant he grew. And not all of them are grisly, but most of them involve him holding a long gun. But honestly, those are memories of my dad. That is how I remember him. That is how I like to that's how I like to think of him because he was. He's kind of a badass. But now that he's a grandpa, what he really likes is to look at pictures of his grandkids. And so Aura Frames are a great way to keep in touch with grandparents. There's free unlimited storage. You can preload photos before it ships. You can personalize your gift and add a message before it arrives. You can A gift box is included. Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag. You can also share your photos and videos effortlessly just download the free Aura app or text photos straight to your frame. Aura frames reach number one in the App Store on Christmas Day in 2025 or it makes it easy to shop for dad named number one by Wirecutter. You can save now by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get $35 off select frames with code WAD. That's a U R a frames.com promo code WAD. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.

[Dr. Horton Home of the Week Announcer]

Are you looking for the best deal on a new home? Discover the Dr. Horton home of the Week with new construction homes now selling in ellensburg from the mid-3002, Dr. Horton has the right home at the best value for you, offering one and two story homes near Central Washington University. Your new home is within reach. So what are you waiting for? Learn more about the Dr. Horton Home of the Week, visit drhorton.com and schedule a tour today. Dr. Horton America's Builder and Equal Housing Opportunity Builder

[Various Advertisers and Guests]

Discover Top Rated Stays Loved by Guests Rated Highest by real guests through authentic reviews VRBO Book a vacation rental loved by guests

[Erin Ryan]

here's what else we're following today. Head of Lines President Trump, when he's not learning about the B in the word dumb, has been taking more Ls in rapid succession than the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Friday, a federal judge moved to freeze Trump's proposed $1.8 billion so called anti weaponization fund. Per NBC News, the ruling states that the Trump administration cannot transfer money into the fund, consider any claims or give out any money. In other words, they have concepts of a fund. Also on Friday, another federal judge ruled that Trump cannot add his name to the Kennedy center for the Arts and blocked a planned two year closure for renovations, a plan many observers clocked as a cope since it was announced after artists began canceling gigs at the iconic performance venue and subscribers and donors began to flee. Speaking of Trump stinking up the arts over the weekend, the president threatened to completely cancel the planned Great American State Fair concert and replace it with a giant MAGA rally. This after basically all the headliners pulled out in quick succession once the event's lineup was announced last week. The artists claimed that they'd been misled about the partisan nature of the event, including Martina McBride, whose most famous song, independence Day, is about a woman who sends her eight year old daughter to the fair in town on Independence Day so that she can blow up the house and kill her abusive husband. Let freedom ring.

[Various Advertisers and Guests]

Let me be clear, ICE engagement creates an incredibly dangerous situation. It makes the situation worse and I refuse to back down in fighting the Trump administration and the threats they've made.

[Erin Ryan]

That's New Jersey Democrat Governor Mikey Sherrill speaking to the press on Saturday after a series of intense clashes between protesters and police outside the Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center. The mayor of Newark also imposed a curfew early Sunday around the center. The move came after another night of standoffs between law enforcement and demonstrators at the facility as protesters could be seen in photographs and videos fighting over barricades as police used riot shields to push them back. The high profile demonstrations at Delaney hall began earlier this month after advocates said detainees inside launched a hunger strike over poor living conditions at the 1000 bed facility. Voting began Sunday in the first round of Colombia's presidential election. Citizens there face a choice between candidates with radically diverging visions for the future of peace in a country haunted by decades of armed conflict. The vote is expected to send a message to Latin America at a time when voters are increasingly ditching leaders that pitched progressive policies and turned instead to heavy handed security crackdowns like in El Salvador. It also comes as the Trump administration is placing renewed pressure on the region. There are 11 candidates running for president. The three frontrunners are Senator Ivan Cepeda, an ally of the current left wing President Gustavo Petro, lawyer Abelardo de la Esprilla and Paloma Valencia, both of whom want to take a more aggressive approach to dealing with armed rebel groups. President Trump sat down for an interview with his daughter in law, Lara Trump, the Walter Cronkite of Mar a Lago, where he talked about the status of his Iran war. And even with the softest softballs of questions, he can't even keep his own talking points straight. So what does a good deal look like for you?

[Donald Trump]

Well, first of all, there's no deal that's good enough because the media will cover it. We're making a great deal. We're going to make a great deal or we'll just go back and finish it off militarily. Their military, we sort of left it alone because we think that their military is somewhat, somewhat moderate. Well, we're winning Iran. It's a total win for us. I mean, we had to do it. Look, two things with Iran. Number one, the strait has to be opened immediately and has to be free. No tolls, et cetera, et cetera. And we don't need the strait. Look, we have a war going on and the economy is going. We have a war going on. I'm in no hurry. I'd like to say I'm in a hurry because, you know, gasoline prices are going to come tumbling down. But if you're going to be in a hurry, you're not going to make a good deal. And slowly but surely we're getting, I think, what we want. And if we don't get what we want, we're going to end it a different way.

[Erin Ryan]

Okay, sir, lay off the European Sudafed. Both houses of Congress will be reconvening early this week after the Memorial Day recess. Republicans first order of business is a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement through the remainder of Trump's term. The the bill should have been an easy lift for them, but progress stalled over concerns about the inclusion of White House ballroom security funding in the package and the creation of the aforementioned $1.8 billion slush fund. House Speaker Mike Johnson has a thin margin of error, but Johnson said he's confident this summer won't be as difficult as last quote. It will be just as beautiful but not as big, so it'll have less provisions and less things to get everybody to yes on. And that's the news. Before we go. Starting June 8th, your what a Day episodes will be hitting YouTube and your podcast feeds early enough for your evening commute, but not so late that the day's news ruins the whole night. If you enjoy this show, you know the news never stops. So this new publishing time brings you the freshest updates and analysis on the news you need to know before you tuck into 6,000 and relentless hours of Love island content. If you aren't already, be sure you subscribe to what a Day on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and follow Crooked Media on socials so you never miss an episode. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, Leave a review. Please stop clipping blockbuster horror films and posting them on TikTok because both obsession and backrooms have been spoiled for me several times over. And tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about the rules of the One Wish Willow like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and [e-mail] subscribe I'm Erin Ryan and please support original films, even if TikTok has spoiled them for you.

[Various Advertisers and Guests]

What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Kanter. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America.

[Erin Ryan]

East Sam.