influencers

There are TikTok influencers reading ‘Wuthering Heights’ and not understanding its vocabulary. It shouldn’t surprise us

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A viral video where a young Spanish woman complains about the difficulty of reading the romantic classic ‘Wuthering Heights’ has sparked a generational debate about reading comprehension. But beyond the controversy, the data show a real problem: reading skills are falling in all generations, with digital natives being the sector of the population most especially affected. The video. It lasts just two minutesbut it has been generating debate for days. A 25-year-old girl complains, with her copy of ‘Wuthering Heights’ in hand, that she finds the language archaic, she needs to consult the dictionary constantly to understand terms like “tin” or “par excellence”, and she estimates that it will take months to finish it. The video has accumulated millions of views and has unleashed a generational war on social networks: how is it possible, say the most veterans, that a university student does not know relatively commonly used words or is not used to consulting a dictionary? The conversation should not be limited to pointing out blame and differences between educational levels. We are facing a generational change that alludes to how written language is processed, and ‘Wuthering Heights’ has become the accidental battlefield on which to explore that transformation. New times. There is a gap between contemporary narrative aimed at young audiences and literary classics. Young Adult (YA) prose, a genre that attracts millions of readers on social networks (a fact: 55% of the readers who roam TikTok are between 18 and 34 years old, and 78% they are women) prioritizes immediacy, agile dialogues and direct descriptions. It is literature designed for rapid consumption, in tune with digital rhythms. Emily Brontë, for her part, wrote for Victorian readers accustomed to long subordinate clauses, detailed descriptions, and a vocabulary that assumed a certain formal education. Distance is both temporal and structural: different narrative architectures for differently trained brains. The data. The TikTok viral could be interpreted as an isolated anecdote, but a recent study by the BBVA Foundation prepared by Spanish researchers with international data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). It reveals a progressive decline in reading and numerical skills since the Millennial generation: those born after 1980 show significantly lower cognitive skills than Baby Boomers and Generation X when they were the same age. According to the study, Generation Z obtains reading comprehension scores up to 20 points below Generation PIAAC standardized testswhich evaluate the ability to understand, interpret and use written information. The gap widens in numerical skills: young people born after 1995 show difficulties in interpreting graphs, calculating percentages or solving basic mathematical problems applied to real situations. The deterioration is systematic, and also affects developed countries with advanced educational systems. Eyes that do not see. The studies of eye tracking from the Nielsen Norman Group document how users read on the Internet following an F pattern: two horizontal sweeps across the top, followed by a quick vertical scan down the left side. Reading becomes selective keyword tracking. This behavior, typical of Internet browsing, is inappropriate for complex texts that require following arguments developed over multiple pages. The architecture of attention changes: we move from deep dive to shallow scan. The fault of social networks. Digital platforms are designed to capture attention through short, dopamine content. The algorithms reward 15-second videos, striking images, and texts that are consumed at a glance. The attention economy does not encourage depth, and reading ‘Wuthering Heights’ requires the opposite: sustained concentration, tolerance for ambiguity, the ability to memorize information while constructing cumulative meaning. They are skills that atrophy without training. If new generations show systematic deficits in these areas, the consequences transcend the debate over whether or not someone can read a Victorian classic. They affect how we process information of all kinds: medical, legal, financial, political… The young woman in the viral video may be a symptom of something more worrying than the inability to read texts with unusual vocabulary. Facilitate access? This controversy opens up a multitude of tremendously fascinating sub-controversies: educate better or facilitate access to complex texts? For example, Penguin Random House launched its collection in the United Kingdom in 2019. Penguin English Library with updated translations of classics, maintaining the original meaning but eliminating obsolete linguistic turns that slow down reading. The also British The School of Life He published versions “translated into modern English” of philosophers such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. AND apparentlythese editions sold 40% more than traditional versions among readers under 30 years of age during the year 2020-2021. But there is also the counterargument that simplifying language impoverishes the experience of reading. The classics are not just arguments or themes that can be transported to any packaging. For example, Brontë’s prose, with its labyrinthine subordinate clauses and convoluted vocabulary, builds atmosphere and rhythm. Removing that complexity to “make it easier” to read is like reducing the length of a classical music symphony because today’s listeners prefer three-minute songs. The search should perhaps be to improve reading training, not to adjust the texts to the less prepared reader. In Xataka | The best books to read in 2026: a selection of readings from all genres for a year between pages

Big Tech is paying up to $600,000 to influencers to promote their AI. Now the race is about perception

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Big technology companies are deploying their heavy artillery to attract users for their artificial intelligence services. Just like they count From CNBC, Microsoft and Google have found their new battlefield in influencers, with contracts that reach six-digit figures. The dimension of the phenomenon. According to data from Sensor Tower, generative AI platforms spent more than $1 billion on digital advertising in the United States during 2025, an increase of 126% compared to the previous year. That large companies promote their products through influencers is nothing new, and it is also a business that is very profitable for them, since by investing a small fraction of their budget they can get an avalanche of new users. According to CNBC, in order to attract new users for their AI services, Microsoft, Google, Anthropic and Meta They are hiring content creators to promote your tools on social networks. Figures. Microsoft and Google are paying between $400,000 and $600,000 to content creators for multi-month collaborations, according to sources close to the media. These contracts are not limited to specific publications, since according to the medium, they seek to ensure that influencers integrate AI tools into their usual content, tutorials and workflows. “We’re seeing a massive increase in creator spending from these AI brands. We’re getting a lot more interest from AI brands every month,” counted to AJ Eckstein, founder of Creator Match (an agency that connects brands with creators). How these agreements work. Collaborations range from LinkedIn posts explaining how to use Claude Code even videos on Instagram showing functions of Microsoft Copilot or the assistant Comet by Perplexity. Megan Lieu, AI and technology content creator with nearly 400,000 followers, explains told CNBC that his sponsored deals typically range from $5,000 to $30,000 depending on the campaign. Its most important collaboration to date has been with Anthropic to promote products from Claudealthough he did not specify the exact figure to the media. Some influencers can charge up to $100,000 per post, according to Eckstein. The other side of the coin. Despite the astronomical numbers, not all content creators are willing to jump on the AI ​​bandwagon. Jack Lepiarz, known as Jack the Whipper and with more than 7 million followers between YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, account to the medium that systematically rejects any agreement related to artificial intelligence. “I cannot with a clear conscience support something that is going to make it difficult for normal people to earn a living,” he declared to the outlet. Lepiarz previously turned down a $20,000 contract to promote AI imaging tools and says even $100,000 or $500,000 wouldn’t change his mind. Perception with Copilot. For Microsoft, these influencer campaigns can be especially key. And despite its large user base in Microsoft 365 services, only 3.3% pay for Copilotas told from Windows Central. The company needs its AI assistant, integrated into Windows, Microsoft 365 and Edge, to be perceived as a natural tool in daily work, and at the moment it is being especially difficult for them to achieve that. It’s public time. Big Tech hiring influencers occurs precisely at a time when companies are investing more than ever in advertising their AI tools. A few days ago we told precisely the case of Anthropic, which spent a million on ads during the Super Bowl. Separately, Google and Microsoft increased their digital advertising spending to promote AI products by approximately 495% last month compared to the previous year, according to Sensor Tower. The media also says that OpenAI multiplied its advertising investment tenfold in 2025. After years of making its tools known, it is now time to shape our perception of them. Cover image | aerps and Hillary Black In Xataka | The person who is earning the most money on Twitch by broadcasting 24 hours a day is not a person: it is an AI

There are dozens of influencers obsessed with helping us choose the perfect can of tuna. The problem is that what they say doesn’t make much sense.

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There is a fine line that connects volcanic eruptions, oil combustion, and waste incineration with our kitchens: mercury. A mercury that is produced in dozens of activities (mostly human), which ends up deposited in the waters, transformed into methylmercury by millions of microorganisms, stored in fish and, finally, in our stomach. It was only a matter of time before it became the huge food scandal it is today. Methylmercury also reaches social networks. The problem is so big that there is no shortage of experts and influencers that defend messages such as choosing cans of “tuna” over cans of “light tuna.” The music is that of institutions such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that recommends avoiding large fish; The lyrics hide many problems. At the end of the day, the viral message mixes correct intuitions, with more than debatable scientific evidence (it uses, to begin with, commercial classifications that do not have direct Spanish correspondence). This is not the first time that an idea that sounds good ends up giving us headaches. And why is that a problem? Because, like it or not, fish is a centerpiece of many diets. Not only for its protein contribution, but as a priority source of certain fats that are very difficult to replace by any other means (e.g. omega-3). The thing is, with all that, comes methylmercury. And exposure to methylmercury is a tricky thing: it can harm brain development and be toxic to the nervous system. In fact, it can cause symptoms such as tremors, memory loss, and cognitive dysfunctions. The most vulnerable groups are pregnant women, nursing mothers, babies and young children. Do all fish have the same amount of mercury? No, it doesn’t. According to the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutritionthere are four really dangerous species: the swordfish or emperor, the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), the shark (dogfish, mako shark, dogfish, dogfish and blue shark) and pike. These are problematic in women who are pregnant or planning to be pregnant, nursing mothers and children under 10 years of age. In fact, AESAN recommends directly avoid its consumption. The rest of the species are not problematic for the effects of mercury: they are safe and healthy. And the AESAN recommends between three and four servings a week even in the at-risk population. And aren’t there more differences according to levels? That is, are there only dangerous and non-dangerous species? No no. It is true that each species contains a different amount of mercury. In fact, each copy has different levels. That’s where the problem comes from: we need simple ‘rules’ to help us deal with uncertainty. On a practical level, according to the available studies, we can only define species with low mercury content as those on this list: Pollock, Anchovy, Herring, Cod, Bacaladilla, Cockle, Mackerel, Squid, Shrimp, Crab, Cane, Coquina, Carp, Squid, Clam, Choco/Cuttlefish, Lobster, Coquina, Sea bream, Sprat, Prawn, Horse mackerel, Lobster, Prawn, European sole, Dab, Sea bass, Mussel, Merlan, Hake, Razor clam, Oyster, Pomfret, Flounder, Squid, Octopus, Shrimp, Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon, Sardine, Sardinella, Sardinopa, Plaice, and Trout. Everything else has medium levels and making distinctions between them is impossible on a practical level. So it doesn’t make sense to follow these types of recommendations? In general, any attention we pay to food is good. The system is configured in such a way that, if we let ourselves goour diet gets worse. However, we know that Obsessing over diet is also full of problems.. Using heuristics that complicate the purchase without substantial improvements is not as good an idea as it seems. Image | Tobias Tullius In Xataka | The scientific reason why miracle diets don’t work is you

They are not influencers but they act as if they were.

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I recently ran the Valencia Half Marathon. Normal brand with no aspirations for anything. From the exit I found dozens or maybe hundreds of runners with their arms extended filming themselves. During the race it was a constant. From time to time I would find someone with their arm raised looking at the camera. Compromising posture and performance, and making it difficult for those of us who came from behind to overtake. But without putting down the phone. The arrival at the finish line was already an explosion. Many, as soon as they crossed it, took out their cell phones again and danced the same choreography as if they had agreed: exhausted look at the ground, triumphant look at the sky, smiling snort, bite of the lower lip during a long blink and a face of transcendence. A few days later, discussing the moviola with friends, they showed me the rest of the iceberg: tiktoks with music by Hans Zimmer, monologues about personal improvement. Everything packaged, everything monetized. Even if it is in likes. None of the ones they showed me and I guess almost none of the ones I saw at the race were professional influencers. They don’t have sponsors waiting for their content, but They have voluntarily assumed the burden of documenting and performing their own lives. They are unpaid workers of their own digital narrativescompulsive editors of experiences that no longer know how to live without mediating. The race is just the decoration. What they record is not the half marathon: they record themselves. His sensations, his overcomings, his protagonism. He running is interchangeable: could be crossfitit could be a trip, it could be motherhood. What is important is the self as content, the self as an audiovisual product. Perhaps they are not even dedicated to documenting their own life, but rather something that sounds similar but is very different: they are dedicated to living a pre-documented, pre-edited life, designed to be told. They have so deeply internalized the grammar of digital content that they can no longer experience anything without simultaneously thinking about how it will look on screen. They don’t think “how hard this is” but rather “how epic it’s going to be when I play the music.” We have created a generation that works for free as a documentarian of its own existence. Without a contract and without salary, sometimes not even with the aspiration of seeing that effort turned into pasta one day, but with the discipline of a professional. The arm extended for half a race was the perfect image of this new voluntary servitude: we sacrificed the immediate experience to produce its distributable version. We no longer live and tell it later. We produce content about ourselves while pretending to live. The algorithm has achieved its definitive victory: it does not need to pay us to work for it. We have forgotten that there is a difference between running and producing content about running. Or put more generally: between living and performing life. In Xataka | I increasingly like technology that doesn’t want anything from me: the one that has a purpose and leaves you alone Featured image | Xataka

Synthetic influencers are already selling in the thousands. A startup offers them as a service to manipulate networks

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Influencer accounts created by AI are already a reality, some even have hundreds of thousands of followers. There is a startup that has taken this idea to the next level: they create and manage synthetic influencers to orchestrate massive actions on different platforms, all using AI. Their website reads “Never pay a human again”, a true declaration of intent. Doublespeed. It is the name of the startup that offers the service. Using AI, they create the accounts of these fake influencers and also the content, all with minimal human intervention, just a few finishing touches. Its goal is to “orchestrate actions on thousands of social accounts through the creation and massive deployment of content.” They count in 404media that the startup is financed by the Andreessen Horowitzone of the most important venture capital funds in Silicon Valley. Make it look human. The platforms have systems to detect bots, but at Doublespeed they have the solution to make their AI influencers appear human to the algorithms. In addition, the accounts they offer have been used, since newly created accounts with hardly any interactions are easier to detect as bots. The company’s co-founder, Zuhair Lakhani, said in a podcast that use a “mobile farm” (like the click farms) to manage all their accounts and boasted that one client got almost 5 million views in less than a month with 15 of these AI influencers. Raising the level. He astroturfing It is a tactic through which artificial opinions are generated that seek to appear real and spontaneous, all in order to give an impression of support (or rejection) of a topic or product. What Doublespeed does is next level, creating not only the message, but the “persona” who spreads it. Doublespeed sells “packs” between $1,500 and $7,500, depending on the number of posts they want to generate. Cons the rules. The point is that this practice goes against the rules of the main platforms, such as Meta, which they expressly say that accounts that “make a misleading representation of identity to deceive or confuse people” will not be allowed. It is not the first company to offer services of this type, What is striking is that it has one of the largest funds in the world behind it. dead internet. Is a conspiracy theory which says that the internet is full of bots and humans have been replaced by algorithms. There is some truth in it. According to the cybersecurity company Imperva, in 2024 more than half of internet traffic was non-human. With the emergence of AI, networks were flooded with AI Slop and now it also comes in the form of fake influencers. Image | Reshma Mallecha, Pexels In Xataka | The more we know about the evolution of the internet, the closer we come to a conclusion: bots can kill it

Cocina con Coqui has gone to Andorra like so many influencers. The difference is that his fans have not forgiven him.

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If you are a crypto bro who has as part of his speech a inalienable right to pay taxes that you consider fair (that is, the minimum, or even a little less), when you go to Andorra to pay much less taxes from there than from Spain, your followers will even applaud it. But of course: not all content creators are the same. Or maybe yes. Those who are not equal are his followers. Who is Cocina Con Coqui. If you are not one of the gastronomic influencers, you may not be aware of who it is. Cooking with Coqui. It is about a cook whose real name is Coco, and who has achieved a great fame, with nearly four million followers on social networks. Its recent success has been boosted by the release of a cookbook which will go on sale the first week of November: it is already at the top of reservations in the gastronomy category on websites like AmazonFor example. Her personal story, as an immigrant who came to Spain from China as a child and who managed to build a career based on a passion for cooking, has generated strong empathy and admiration in a wide audience. The controversy. Despite her friendly and unproblematic image, the influencer gastronomy has been the subject of some controversy revealed that it pays taxes in Andorraa European tax haven in which a large number of influencers and Spanish content creators to avoid the country’s taxes. This revelation was initially spread through the publication of a screenshot of the influencer’s newsletterwhere the tax address in Andorra was clearly shown. This seemingly technical detail became the source of an intense debate. The networks are burning. Based on this information, social networks exploded with accusations, calling Cocina con Coqui a tax evader and questioning her commitment to the country that has seen her career grow. The influencer kept silence in the first momentswhich increased speculation and criticism. Its success thus brings to the fore the discussion about the fiscal responsibility of content creators. Why Andorra. One of the main reasons why public figures like Cocina con Coqui they choose to pay taxes in Andorra It is the attractive tax advantage that this state offers. Compared to Spain, where personal income tax can exceed 45% for the highest incomes, Andorra applies a maximum tax rate of around 10%, which represents substantial savings for high-income content creators. The Andorran tax system is recognized for its simplicity and stability, factors that attract self-employed professionals or digital entrepreneurs seeking to optimize their tax burden. Question of solidarity. However, this phenomenon generates an intense debate between legality and morality. Although these moves do not constitute a crime if the tax residence requirements are met, they are seen by an important part of society as an act that, being legal, It is not ethical or supportive. Thus, paying what the law allows is not always synonymous with doing what is morally expected, especially when it comes to taxpayers who have built their success in a country but decide to pay taxes abroad, which opens a crack between the law and the social perception of tax justice. In Andorra. The Rubius was one of the first Spanish youtubers to publicly announce that he was going to Andorra. Although he justified his decision by claiming that he wanted to be close to his friends who already lived there, he could not prevent a social debate from breaking out.​ Vegetta777, TheGrefg and Willyrex, with millions of followers, also settled in Andorra mainly for tax advantages. On the contrary, influencers who have remained in Spain such as Ibai They have seen their popularity reinforced by a decision that affects their pockets. Why not this one and others yes. Clearly, you can see among TheGrefg’s audience, very young, masculine and individualistic, a clear difference with Cocina Con Coqui’s followers, largely female and somewhat older. And although the tangana will undoubtedly have brought together a good part of habitual insulters on social networks who have seen the opportunity to parade unjustifiable racism, the truth is that among the critics words such as “evasive” and expressions of disappointmentand old posts have been recovered, such as in which he announced his transfer to fill them with comments, spoiling their attitude. In Xataka | From promoting raw liver as a nutritious food to ending up arrested for threatening Joe Rogan, Liver King’s unique journey

We began to follow the influencers because they looked like us. Now combing 170 euros are being bought

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It is not the first influencer That a expensive whim is allowed, but the one that has generated one of the most juicy conversations of the week. And all from an inconsequential apparently decision: Andrea Garte bought a hair brush of the Guerlain brand that cost 170 euros during a trip to Athens. And from there a discussion has been generated that affects the state of the matter itself influencer: Have these creators of content become an elite drift, completely disconnected from what your audience wants? A comb that will end all combs. In the first video that recorded the influencerGarte He got rid of praise towards the comb: The arrangement of the bristles and their length served to replace different brushes that always carried, which turned the purchase into an investment aimed at optimizing the space and reducing cosmetic achiperres. But the impact on his community soon began to climb. 11 tricks to dominate Tik tok Criticism in comments. The criticism among his followers They did not wait, where many reproached him for his little awareness of what priorities people with normal income have: “I miss the Influencers You recommend things available to mortals and not Millionaire Things “or” for this reason it is claimed that Influencers Current have lost influence capacity: they live in a parallel reality “were some of the criticisms it received. @andreage I’ve never had such an expensive 🫰 ♬ Original Sound – Andrearte Immediate reaction. Garte herself knows that she has found a controversial issue that generates conversation, so it has not taken long for the issue with more videos, protesting the controversy, presuming pelazo And joking With how expensive it is. Also, of course, has generated criticism and parodies of all kinds. However, below direct criticism and jokes for the superficial influencer. The theme of the bag. The controversy remembers which we live A few weeks agoWhen Lola Lolita argued in a documentary video about her day to day about a 4,000 euros bag. The controversy that followed, much more aggressive than the one who is suffering from garte, had a lot to do with the attitude of the influencerbut also put on the table how many of the Influencers Current (María Pombo, Georgina, Dulceida, Gala González, Marta Lozano, Alexandra Pereira) have built empires with millions of followers and millionaire contracts. We want to be like them. It is true that you are often Influencers They offer a aspirational content: We will never be able to enjoy the life train and the luxuries and excesses that these people live, so the videos in social networks become windows to some lives that are not within our reach. The problem is when Influencers As the same garte began as more or less normal girls who taught how they made up or how they dressed. There many of their followers watched them as something aspirational but attainable. With events such as Garte and the comb of 170 euros, that mirage fades. Survive at all costs. We quoted Lola Lolita A The sociologist Silvia Muelas, who explained that “The media survival of these characters depends many times on their ability to generate controversy or show excesses, which leads to an exhibition of self -destructive or disconnected behaviors of reality.” That complicated balance between wanting to be someone close or throwing themselves to the pool of luxury and excess, even showing a distant antipathy, is what marks behaviors such as Garte. On the edge. Several media already wonder if the era of Influencers is coming to an endgiven the disconnection of their followers that many experience, and whose Effects on perception of reality is beginning to be studied, because it is something that did not exist so far. A simple comb of 170 euros has unleashed a conversation about class, status and perception, and until we leave that alley, the phenomenon influencer will be living its greatest identity crisis to date. In Xataka | The Prado Museum closed its doors so that Dua Lipa could create content. That has generated a furious debate

Influencers have stopped having normal lives

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The last controversy on the Spanish Internet comes from the hand of Lola Lolita and the creator of content Nil Ojeda. A documentary about the day to day of the popular influencer has unleashed the controversy by The behavior of its protagonist. And, above all, puts on the table how our relationship with the Celebrities From the Internet: from people who could be our friends and whose main value was closeness, to an exhibition of economic power that greatly moves them away from most of their audience. What happened? The video corresponds to the series 21 days between millionairesin which Ojeda spends full days with different people of high economic high status, usually very young. In less than 24 hours, the episode dedicated to the influencer Lola Lolita It has unleashed negative reactions that have not occurred in those of others of the protagonists of the series. Some of your comments They have been considered class or haughtyreceiving special attention a conflict generated by the purchase of luxury bags. As part of a “personal favor” that Lola asks in the episode, she requests that you buy a Saddle de Dior bag valued at about 4,000 euros. However, Nil decides to distribute the budget and proposes to buy two Louis Vuitton bags (about 2,000 euros each), for Lola and one of his companions, Leto, which causes Lola’s anger. Finally, Lola chooses the East West onthego bag from Louis Vuitton, of 2,800 euros. Reaction against. Criticisms accuse her of abuse not only the rest of the people who make up the group but also to the workers of the luxury shops to those who come. It is a behavior that Some content creators Specialized in this type of material have not seen how especially surprising, if the personality and trajectory of Lola Lolita is known, which has starred in numerous controversies: Ha trivialized breast cancertheir relationship with brands and different campaigns It has been problematic And, in general, he has led a life, like that of so many others Influencers“alien” to normal and the day -to -day problems of most of its followers. The origin of the influence. If for something the case of Lola Lolita is useful to be able to contrast it with the first Influencersthat in a very primitive version they began to appear on blogs and YouTube around the change of the 10th semi-stirred names as Chusita Fashion Fever, Inesmellamn either MUZSKA89 They were the Pioneers of Youtuber stardom, whose main characteristic was its naturalness before the Chamber or addressing everyday problems. Digital democratization allowed, very shortly after, people like Elrubius, Vegetta777 or Loulogio became referents. Anyone could be. Instagram arrives. The next step in evolution occurred in 2012, when Instagram arrived in Spain and people like María Pombo and Marta Pombo, already closer to What we understand today as influencer And, of course, much more on the line of Lola Lolita. Often linked to the fashion world, their recurring themes became travel and lifestyle with luxury exhibition, often with sponsorships and paid advertising. Tiktok and pointers in the format, such as Marta Díaz, finished consecrating the brief video as the preferred format of the public. He soon arrived professionalization, and with it, new generations of creators as disparate as Georgina Rodríguez or Ibai Llanos. To the elite. Many of those mentioned (María Pombo, Georgina), more others such as Dulceida, Gala González, Marta Lozano or Alexandra Pereira have built empires with millions of followers and millionaire contracts. Often its content goes to the time of a lifestyle completely to normal: exclusive trips, very expensive fashion, unattainable marks, luxury and exclusive consumption. They thus become aspirational funnels very different from the first influencers, but also have a negative side: their occasional lack, halfway between the character and genuine behavior, of any type of empathy or contact with everyday reality. The bubble. The life of Influencers Millionaires usually pass in a bubble of privileges, exclusive trips and collaborations with luxury brands. Sociologist Silvia Muelas tells that “The media survival of these characters depends many times on their ability to generate controversy or show excesses, which leads to an exhibition of self -destructive or disconnected behaviors of reality.” But it is not only about isolation, but that fame or money makes them little empathic: the escape from influencers to Andorra, headed by Elrubius, Not to pay taxes; THES OF THEGREGF as homemade; Willyrex’s phase like NFT Adalid… The arrival of money seems to have taken away many of them from normality and has led them to out of control that is giving birth to a generation of influencers as detached from normality such as Lola Lolita. Header | Nil Ojeda In Xataka | The Prado Museum closed its doors so that Dua Lipa could create content. That has generated a furious debate

Colombia’s archaeologists have been fearing looting for years. Now they add a major threat: Guaqueros influencers

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The Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) launched A statement To celebrate a relevant finding for researchers studying the country’s history: 114 archaeological pieces, especially ceramics, discovered in the south of Huilain the Andean region. So far nothing striking. The funny thing is that these treasures were not found anthropologists or archaeologists, but agents of the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office. Nor were they extracted from an ancient indigenous grave, a pre -Hispanic necropolis or A cave unexplored. No. The pieces were in the houses of two Influencers. It is the last example of a problem that worries the authorities and Colombian archaeologists: the rise of Influencers Guaqueros. Network slopes. Huila’s is just one more example of a phenomenon that has called attention of the Colombian press And he has done Jump alarms Among the defenders of the country’s archaeological heritage: the guaquería through the networks. Or otherwise, the people who are dedicated to lounge deposits and presume the process and the results through Tiktok or other platforms. It is concerned about the damage that they can cause to the Colombian heritage during their excavations, rudimentary and without the supervision of professional archaeologists and anthropologists; But worry about the speaker they find on the networks, which allows them to spread their activity and attract the attention of possible buyers or followers willing to point out the location of other deposits. @Laboyanos.com They capture guaqueros “influencers” in Saladoblanco Huila. They seized 144 archaeological pieces. In an operation carried out in the last hours in the rural area of ​​this municipality, the authorities managed to capture two known men in social networks for making Guaqueria and publishing the findings on their social networks. According to the report, 144 archaeological pieces and a replica were seized that the subjects allegedly passed the community and their followers. According to research, men promoted the looting and illicit traffic of archaeological goods through their publications, because in videos and photographs they were seen taking the assets of their original context, which caused the loss of invaluable information about the history of those objects and pre -Hispanic cultures to which they belonged. #Saladoblancohuila #Huilacolombia🇨🇴 #Guaqueros #Guaquerosencolombia #archeology #Laboyanoscom ♬ Original sound – Laboyanos.com Is it a new phenomenon? Yes. And no. The guaquería itself is not something new. The looting of indigenous graves in search of treasures It can go back To the colonial era, although there are those who point out that the boom of the guaquería would arrive much later, between the end of the 19th and early twentieth centuries. During a time of fact the search for treasures in The guacas (The graves of the ancient indigenous people) became a key activity for the economy of places like Quindó. Its history is extensive enough to Your approachlegacy and impact has varied over time. The guaqueros did not always seek their personal enrichment and in a way they played a key role in the history of archeology. “If it had not existed at the beginning of the 20th century, we would not have San Agustín or Teyuna,” I recently recognized to The country Alhena Caicedo, from ICANH. “At first what they did was find where the great deposits were. In the 19th it was the one that allowed, among other things, that archeology appeared.” What is new is that guaqueros use platforms like Tiktok to show their work, share their findings and disseminate an activity whose impact on heritage They already warn archaeologists. Huila’s is a clear example. According to Incahthe Influencers to those who withdrew the 144 pieces “promoted the looting and illicit traffic of archaeological goods through their publications.” “They were recorded by damaging and looting the goods and then making it public.” Is it common? In An article About the phenomenon published in March, Time He speaks of “hundreds” of videos disseminated over the last years, some with millions of reproductions and that show that the problem has spread to regions such as Antioquia, Huila, Caldas or Cundinamarca. Not just that. The newspaper ensures that between 2020 and 2024 the ICANH identified 13 accounts (some with several hundred thousand followers) related to the guaquería. “Irreparable damage”. What means and authorities do so much attention to the subject is explained for a simple reason: the guaqueros presume from the ceramics they find during their campaigns, but often when they are extracted by a valuable source of information for experts. After all, professional archaeologists obtain data from both the vessels themselves and their surroundings. “The problem with guaquería and improper extraction is that people do not know that the value of each piece is not only in itself, but especially in the context in which it is found,” Underline ICANH director. “The looting of archaeological pieces constitutes irreparable damage to the reconstruction and understanding of the past of the different human groups that occupied our territory,” insist From the Colombian Institute. “This practice produces irreversible losses of unique information about archaeological objects and its sites of origin.” With each looting, experts emphasize, stubble on the study of society, economy, religion and culture of indigenous people. “It’s not about our roots”. In videos you can see guaqueros manipulating mud vessels, necklaces or even bones, pieces that can lose part of their historical value if they are extracted rudimentary and without the supervision of professionals. “Data on the history and rituals of the indigenous peoples who inhabited these lands are being lost. It is not only about objects, but of knowledge about our roots,” warns Juan Pablo Ospina, coordinator of the ICANH Archeology Group in an interview in Huila Diario. Beyond the impact it may have for Colombian history, the looting of heritage can lead to legal consequences, such as warns The ICANH, who recalls that Law 397 of 1997 establishes that the pieces with archaeological value are “unattainable, imprescriptible and inalienable.” “Its alteration, undue manipulation, marketing or unauthorized export can generate irreversible effects and carry economic sanctions of up to 500 … Read more

There are influencers chaining marathons for “solidarity.” Doubt is whether extreme sport really serves for that

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Seven marathons in Seven consecutive days distributed throughout the planet, three races of 40 kilometers run in just day and a halfcomplete two Ironman In terms of a monthchain marathons non-stop Throughout a week … it sounds for science fiction version fitnessbut they are all real challenges assumed over the last months (or years) by athletes from Spain, in some cases with amateur profile. And almost all share two characteristics, in addition to the physical impact that they entail for them: a great visibility and a solidarity approach. Those who assume these careers of races often do so to raise funds that then dedicate to medical research, but with each test they are driving a few questions: do these tests make sense, beyond the one who wants to give each athlete? How do they affect your health? Are they just performances? Kilome -free bar. There are those who demonstrate their solidarity becoming a volunteer collaborator of an NGO, who donates clothes or food and who weers the shoes, goes out (or takes a plane) and is running kilometers as if there were no tomorrow. Examples are a few and, precisely because of the great echo they achieve, a simple search on Google arrives to find them. In 2020 a Basque set out to run A triathlon per month In a square to get funds for an electric chair, in 2021 another Madrid triathlete He decided to chain Two Iroman in a month to support the fight against cancer already finally 2024 Coach He commented with his plans to complete three times in a row one of the toughest ironman on the planet to, among other things, help “become aware of the true human potential,” in his own words. Are there more cases? Yes. Those above are just a handful of examples taken from a quick search on Google, but there are more, enough. A Catalan athlete has set out to run seven marathons in a week (about 295 km) to get funds for the ELA and a few days ago a influencer Extreme Sports A fan, Valentí Sanjuan, completed Another test Same amazing: he ran five consecutive marathons on five continents to finance the fight against childhood cancer. “I ran three marathons in a day and a half almost without sleep. It was hard,” explained to The newspaper After finishing the challenge, which culminated on Saturday in the center of Barcelona. A similar approach had The challenge than the too influencer Sergio Turull (pitufolow) assumed a few months ago: he went through Spain from top to bottom, from rate to Cap de Creus, in In infarction timewhich demanded that he assume some 65 kilometers a day. In addition to testing your personal abilities, the challenge sought to raise funds to fight childhood cancer. The case of Verdeliss. If there is a media example and that has achieved repercussion, it is however that of Verdelissbusinesswoman, influencermother of eight children and athlete who recently finished an equally extreme challenge: chanting seven marathons in seven days organized in different corners of the world, from Dubai to Perth, Antarctica and Miami, passing through the Spanish capital. The test was also accompanied by a message with solidarity dyes: the idea was to give visibility and gather funds to investigate A rare disease. But … Is money collected? Yes. The challenges give visibility to the causes that will lead and, at least in the most media cases, serve to raise funds. For example, in ‘My grain of sand’ it can be seen that Sanjuan has raised 20,400 euroswell above the 10,000 that had been marked as a goal, and Verdeliss’s challenge would have translated into 35,000 euros For a girl with Menke-Hennekan syndrome. As for Turull, I would have achieved some 58,000 euros. There are even more striking cases, such as the British corridor Gary McKeeprobably the most extreme of all. In fact he has won the nickname of ‘Marathon Man’. The BBC counts How he managed to raise one million pounds touring a route of 42 kilometers each and every one of the days of 2022, often before joining his work. It was polished 20 pairs of shoes. The approach was again solidary: money is collection For Macmillian Cancer Support and West Cumbria Hospice At Home and in fact the athlete has received remarkable recognition and the thanks of relatives with cancer. Solidarity (and something else). The big question is … to what extent are these challenges effective as fundraising campaigns? Do they have more implications? Do they compensate for the impact of the tests on the runners? The undeniable thing is that in cases such as Verdeliss, in which the protagonist is a influencerthe challenge has another consequence: expands clearly Its visibility and media impact, reinforcing an exhibition that is already considerable in networks. In the case of the Basque athlete, before even the running shoes, It transcended that its marathons would star in a documentary for Movistar Plus. Sanjuan Explain who has recorded another for Prime Video and Turull’s career have also been Video captured. The three add thousands of followers in Instagram either YouTubewhich gives more visibility to your deeds. The key: money. Another key is the cost that the challenges and funds that collect. Sanjuan explains, for example, that during his last challenge he had to sleep on flights low cost, And he says: “It has cost us the return to the world 2,800 euros.” “He ate what they gave us on the plane and slept in tiny seats.” In the case of Verdeliss the intercontinental challenge, which implied several flights, was made within the framework of the World Marathon Challengea circuit that demands considerable payment from participants. The mail assures That the Basque has disbursed around 39,000 euros, although she guarantees: “Everything leaves my pocket.” Between them they gathered more than 50,000 euros for their respective solidarity causes, but it is also true that there are other solidarity actions, such as auctionscollections or Exhibitionsthat gather thousands of euros without … Read more

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