Instagram influencer, Natalia Taylor, might have made her followers feeling a bit envious after she posted glamorous photos and videos of her vacation in Bali.
The pictures showed her relaxing in a fancy bathtub, drinking champagne and ordering room service inside a wood-panelled hotel room. Comments from her followers included, “Our Bali princess” and another saying, “She’s really out here living her best life”. But what appeared to be Natalia living in the lap of luxury, was in fact a lie. The pictures and videos posted were taken in a nearby furniture store, Ikea.
Natalia later revealed that the staged vacation was an experiment, in which she intentionally included price tags and other shoppers, to see if any of her followers would raise suspicions about the veracity of the trip. In a YouTube video, she explains that “life on the Internet isn’t always what it seems; especially in this day and age where it’s so easy to pretend to be anyone you want to be”. Her message is simple: always remain vigilant.
