Navigating the dangers of the influencer phenomenon | Godfrey Gao and Darren Jiang | TEDxBangsar

Behind all the glamor and perks that come with being an influencer, there is an industry that excels at providing the public an outlet for their imagination. What we don't see is the inner workings of a well-oiled machine that have a direct impact on impressionable youth. In this talk, Godfrey Gao and Darren Jiang unwrap the influencer phenomenon and challenge youth to redefine their relationships with influencers.

Godfrey Gao: Better known for his acting and modelling skills, Godfrey Gao has always possessed a profound passion for basketball, even as a little boy. This avid basketball player vows to provide a sports-based youth development program for youth who lack access to quality education. This dream has been materialized through PB (Personal Best) Camp.

As a big believer in sports building discipline, Godfrey helps youth improve their skills in basketball and in life. He envisions himself continuing to impact youth, just as his life was changed through basketball. Streaming his passion for sports into a different area, Godfrey is also the founder of Youyu, a workwear line that is integrated with sportswear technology.

Godfrey aspires to inspire people with his innovative and entrepreneurial streak. He believes that as a key opinion leader, he bears the responsibility to advocate change in the world.

Darren Jiang: Born and raised in China but having spent more than half of his life growing up in America, Darren Jiang possesses a unique combination of bi-cultural upbringing, academic background and work experiences. In 2005, he participated in an MTV reality show production called "Nike Battlegrounds," where he was eventually selected to be one of the top 10 amateur hopefuls and the only Asian American to represent New York City.

His project with Godfrey Gao, PB (Personal Best) was begun in 2014. Shifting from an experienced, corporate white-collar existence to being an entrepreneur, DJ has always kept his focus and faith, while never being afraid of challenges and potential mistakes. Through his actions, he's inspired youths across China to strive for their own "Personal Best."

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Darren Jiang: Hello everyone,
my name is Darren Jiang.

Every individual has different sides
or dimensions, given the environment.

Those dimensions are not always
transparent to the external world.

For each person, there are sides
or dimensions that we know,

but of course, there are sides and parts
that are hidden or unknown to us.

These are the images of the famous
international actor and model Godfrey Gao.

He was the first-ever
Asian male model to be featured

in the Louis Vuitton campaign.

He's also been ranked as number seven

on the world's top 100 sexiest men alive.

Woo, I hear woos and wows from the crowd.

(Laughter)

So everything does seem very perfect
about Godfrey Gao, doesn't it?

From his chiseled face
with flawless features

to his tall, toned, athletic body, right?

However, he may also give off the vibe
and impression of being distant,

or sometimes stuck-up,
given this image portrayed by media.

I've had the good fortune
of getting to know Godfrey

both as a person, but more importantly,
as a very close friend for many years,

and I'm here to tell you,

he has different dimensions
that he doesn't reveal to the public.

When the cameras stop rolling,

Godfrey, or G as I would like to call him,

is actually very easygoing,

caring, kind, generous,

but most importantly, down-to-earth.

He's just a boy next door

who could throw on
some shorts, a baseball cap,

and have the audacity to break
into my brand-new Jordans

as he was riding around town,
goofing around with me on a rickshaw.

He's also that one friend
who will reach out to you first

if he sees that you're going through
a down time in your life.

For everything he is and all he's not,

Godfrey is that one loyal friend
I've had for many years

and with whom I can trust my life.

I know this is starting
to sound like a little bit

of a love confession I have for Godfrey.

(Laughter)

I get it, I get it.

And I know he's rolling his eyes
to the back of his head as we speak.

(Cheers)

(Applause)

Godfrey Gao: Hey guys.

(Applause)

Yeah, um, I've never had another man
describe me like that so, um,

DJ: I'm that man.

GG: Thank you, Darren.

Thank you everyone for coming today.

I'm very excited to be here,
here at TEDxBangsar.

DJ: So for celebrities
or KOLs like Godfrey,

what you guys see in media or social media

is actually a very, very small fraction,
a very small glimpse

of who he actually is.

GG: Exactly DJ: right?

GG: As you can see this handsome face,

(Laughter)

um, that is only one side of me, okay.

That's what you see on social media,
in TVs and movies, and talk shows.

But here, standing on the stage,
talking to you is another side of me

that many of you
don't get to see very often,

and like millions of people
across the world,

today, are always asking
the same questions:

Who am I?

Who are we as individuals?

What do we represent?

And who do we look up to?

This is a big topic because
there's a lot of confusion nowadays

with the young generation
and the rise of the KOL phenomenon.

Obviously, everyone knows
what KOL means:

key opinion leaders,
or, you know, the mass influencers,

and these influencers make an impact
in the world today through social media.

They could be experts
like myself on fashion;

they could be experts
like DJ in basketball;

they could be, you know, experts
in diet routines or workout routines.

But you don't know what these KOLs
go through behind the scenes.

Like myself and like many of you,
we go through struggles in life.

We have to get through obstacles
and in order to do that,

we need to be very strong and confident.

DJ: [What] you guys see
is the picture-perfect Godfrey in media,

but let me tell you,
I'm here to spill secrets -

He ain't that perfect.

GG: Exactly. DJ: Right?

GG: Well, no one's perfect, okay.

Even though I like to be a perfectionist,

there are still struggles in life
which Darren has seen many of times.

DJ: Oh yeah.

GG: He's seen the angry side of me;

he's seen the happy side;
he's seen a lot of sides of me,

but he knows deep down inside,
I'm a very, very genuine and good person.

DJ: As a result of Godfrey's profession,

so many people automatically
assume and associate him

with this luxurious, glamorous lifestyle
and all the perks that come with it,

and trust me, they do exist.

(Laughter)

He's led a very privileged lifestyle.

And media or social media is really good
at amplifying that misconception

and leaving us with the impression
of his picture-perfect life.

However, as many of us know,

no one is perfect.

In reality, for people like Godfrey,

being in the eyes of the public
has become such a huge part of his job,

and it will continue
to be a huge part of his life.

His brand has been turned
into a commodity,

sold for a price by the industry.

However, for many of us,
whether or not it's generating income,

it has become something
so much bigger than it actually is,

something that dictates our identity,

or worse yet, something
that affects other people's identity.

GG: Exactly.

Young people nowadays, teenagers
are following these KOLs on a daily basis.

And not all KOLs are good:

some are bad, some are good,
some share positive images,

some share - I don't know
what they share online nowadays.

DJ: I don't even want to look.

GG: But yes, you've got to follow
the right kind of KOLs,

who makes a positive impact
in the world and does good causes.

DJ: Our millennials have become
so overly obsessed

about the latest trend
of clean eating, healthy dieting,

and don't get us wrong,
it all comes from a good place.

It comes from the harmless approach
of wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle.

There's nothing wrong with that.

But what gets dangerous, though,
is when they let these beliefs

alter their own perception
of what being healthy really is.

Case in point: this is a teenager

who is trying to look
like her KOL, Angelina Jolie.

She did, ironically.

She did become a social media sensation

because she's been mocked as being
the zombie version of Angelina Jolie.

So this is a very extreme case.

Other case studies have also shown

that teenagers are mindlessly following
their KOLs' lifestyle and appearances,

even if it means for them
to go to extreme measures.

This was well documented
by 60 Minutes Australia.

In this clip, a teenage girl
was mindlessly following her KOL's looks.

As showcased here on a social media page,
everything looks picture-perfect,

but the result:

she ended up suffering
a mental disease called orthorexia,

which is the eating disorder
combined with an anxiety disorder.

Now she has some serious anger issues
towards everything.

She can hardly intake any food or drinks.

It's seriously hurting her health.

GG: I know that feeling, being hangry.

DJ: So all these cases have shown us

that teenagers are actually
on the receiving end

from the detrimental damage
of mindless pursuit of KOLs' lifestyles.

So what can we do to fix it?

GG: Well, one way

is we must redefine
our relationships with KOLs,

instead of mindlessly pursuing
these KOLs and copying them.

In addition, we need to find

positive influencers in the world
that makes an impact in society -

well, besides myself.

(Laughter)

Darren has a great example
that he's going to tell you about.

DJ: So, another case study

on the positive side is LeBron James,
the superstar athlete from the NBA.

In 2018, in working
with his family foundation,

opened up the I Promise School
in Akron Ohio, his hometown,

which is aimed
at helping at-risk students,

providing free education, free lunch

and a whole bunch of benefits,
basically paving a way

for the younger generation
to succeed in life.

DJ: Or,

GG: like the real Angelina Jolie,

DJ: the real one GG: the real version.

She's ambassador for UNICEF,
she's an activist

and she has helped out
a lot of the refugee camps,

and the list goes on.

And she's the perfect example
for a female role model.

DJ: So based on these case studies,
what we've learned

is that we're not asking you guys
not to follow KOLs.

You can definitely use them
for goal setting or benchmarking

GG: and following the right KOLs.

DJ: Absolutely.

So in 2012, since then,

Godfrey and I have been brainstorming
about starting up a project

that truly drives positive change
in youth movement.

At the time, I had been working

for one of the world's
leading sports brands companies,

while Godfrey, being
one of the brand's KOLs,

witnessed firsthand with me

how big of an impact

our signature athletes made on the youth.

However, we realized
that it'll be equally important

for us to truly inspire the youth

while paving a way for them
to become a better version of themselves.

So in 2014, I resigned from my company.

We put our heads together and created
this platform called the PB System,

with the very purpose of driving
positive change in youth movement.

PB stands for Personal Best.

What we're saying is

becoming "the best" sometimes
can be subjective and unattainable,

especially in Asian cultures
within which a lot of us grew up in.

Parents tend to exert so much
invisible pressure on their kids

to become the best at everything:

in the classrooms, on the sports field,
when they take piano lessons.

What we're saying is,

at PB, we should focus more
on developing these kids as individuals

and motivating them to become
the best version of themselves.

These are just some of the activations
that we do throughout the year:

with college campuses, cities,

hosting basketball events.

Through basketball, our common passion,

enable the kids to explore
other dimensions of our KOLs,

to set good examples for them,

so that they can be inspired
to achieve better life path.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

These images were taken
from our events all over China.

But of course, at PB Camp,

which is something
that we run every summer,

something magical happens too.

GG: Well, the magical thing is ...
we have Ray Allen here.

He was our special guest.

The very famous NBA superstar Ray Allen
was at our first basketball camp

in Beijing back in 2014,
when we started this.

He was here for 12 days.

Now think about it:

a superstar athlete is hands-on,

on and off the court, for 12 days.

On the court, he was helping kids
to be better at themselves

on shooting, dribbling,
all those skill sets;

but off the court,

he was teaching kids and telling stories
about his experience in his lifetime

for these campers, volunteers and workers.

In this picture, obviously,

made this girl cry
because she shared the same story

that he was telling everybody
that was at the cafeteria.

DJ: Obviously it looks like she's crying,

but she was just very touched
by Ray Allen's inspirational stories

with happy tears.

GG: Yes, happy tears.

DJ: Also, in addition, Godfrey,

whenever we host events
in the summertime,

he's actually becoming one of us,
one of the campers.

He really gets closer with the audience,
which are our campers.

He even goes so far, to the point
where he goes into dormitories,

casually dressed up,

wearing a wife-beater with a baseball cap.

He's actually doing
team-building exercises

with the kids, inspiring them.

So this is where the magic happens -

the kids not only walk away
with our camp

with smiles on their faces,

but they also walk away

with a positive influence
from their idols, from their KOLs,

and something inspirational

which would serve them better
for the rest of their lives.

So by creating these unprecedented access

and opportunities for the KOLs
to get to know our campers,

our kids have shifted the perspective

from mindlessly following
their KOL's appearance and lifestyle

to proactively practicing
their work ethic, their persistence

and everything that comes along with it.

GG: And more importantly,

we want these kids to feel
like they can relate to us,

that they're not afraid to talk to us
and share stories with us

because once they do that,

we get to hear them and hear their voices

and we can share our opinions
or our experiences in life,

and they love the experiences
that they had in our PB System camps.

So to wrap things up,
everyone's going to go home,

and we're going to go back
to our little boxes, little bubbles,

and everyone's going to see us on TVs
or movies or on social media platforms.

But here, at TEDx -

DJ: Here, we're at TEDx today
and at all the future PB activations.

We could also be youth movement leaders,

entrepreneurs,

but most importantly, your friends

who are going to hold your hands
and change the world together with you.

So with that, let's redefine
our relationship with KOLs

GG: and strive to achieve
your personal best.

(Applause)