"I think this could be compared to reality show culture, for sure. People are smart enough to know that shows like The Bachelor aren't 100% real-life, but we keep watching almost to see what they'll try to pass off as 'reality' next. It's a meta conundrum: we know they know we know it's fake, but they know we know they know we'll keep watching," posits Stephanie Maida, managing editor of the website Guest of a Guest, which was one of the first outlets to cover the stunt . "It's 2019, and the fact that Instagram does not equal reality is common knowledge. So the love-to-hate addiction is like, what will this person do next that I can roll my eyes at?"