Manipulation Dark Psychology to Manipulate and Control People

Manipulation Vs Influence
The modern world has adopted the term influencer for people with a large
social media following, capable of influencing others with their content. It
doesn’t take a particularly critical mind to recognize the source of this term
as advertising. As consumer behavior evolves, advertisers have taken note
and increasingly look to harness the power of influencers to gain attention
for products. This is done variously through paid or unpaid sponsorships,
promotional deals and agreements.
In some cases, influencers disclose these agreements while, in others, they
don’t. Ethical questions are again raised, particularly if an influencer is
ostensibly just a happy consumer but secretly on the payroll of the company
which sells the product.
Surely this whole moral quandary could have been avoided, if advertisers
instead coined the term manipulator! Yet it’s hardly surprising that they
didn’t. What this highlights is that, although people expect advertisers to be
manipulative, it is still unthinkable that they would admit to it. Instagram
stars happily list themselves as influencer on their profile page with
seemingly no negative connotations.
But the goals of many influencers, especially those who work with
advertisers, are fundamentally manipulative. It’s not even a grey-area issue.
Influencers aim to shift products to their followers in order to make money.
It is not possible to know if everyone they influence would benefit from the
product, nor is it possible to know their financial situation or any specific
circumstances. In this case, the influencer is putting their own interests first.
Manipulation does not necessarily include an attempt to harm others.
However, it must, to some degree, place one’s own goals and interests first.
This is part of the puzzle.
Additionally, it is safest and most logical to refer to influence as a parent
term of manipulation; one which includes manipulation and other methods
of influence, such as inspiration and emulation.

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