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The birth of a salesman
My month on an app filled with amateur influencers.
Using a referral code, I bought a handful of products that came across my feed via strangers’ review videos: a pack of gel eye masks I’d seen on TikTok, a $29.99 package of protein powder, a “facial steamer,” men’s button down shirts, a Kodak 35mm film scanner. Whereas upstart influencers have to go out and get sponsorships or brand deals, or negotiate with marketing departments, Flip users can spend two seconds talking about a lipgloss they bought and haven’t tried yet, and make money without an intermediary. The most chaotic section of the app is under the men’s fashion category: in a video for a pair of shorts, a man is dressed like either an old-timey bank robber or a mall goth, with dark black circles painted around his eyes.
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