South Africa, Oct. 22 -- For years, cultural status came from influencing other people. Now, the aspiration is flipping. New research launching today from Backslash, TBWA's cultural intelligence unit, finds 62% of people surveyed say being hard to influence is more aspirational than being an influencer.

Becoming Uninfluenced reveals just how skeptical people have become of online popularity. When something goes viral today, 42% first assume a brand engineered it, 33% suspect bots or fake engagement, and only 25% assume people genuinely love it. Virality is now cause for suspicion.

That skepticism is changing how people think about their own identity. Backslash calls it 'taste paranoia': the growing anxiety that your preferences are no l...