Social

BallerBusters is the new Instagram account every young entrepreneur should follow

The Instagram account we need.

by
Josiah Motley
November 12, 2019

Image: KnowTechie

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We all know Instagram, and social media as a whole, is full of fakes. All of us are guilty of it. We use it as a highlight reel, and more than that, we make it seem like we have it better than we do. I’m guilty of it, I was living on a couch while using what little money I had to go on hiking and kayaking trips, posting the adventures for my followers to see. I never posted a picture of the couch.

A new class of Instagram hustlers is emerging as well – young adults, mostly male, selling LA lifestyles and fast cars to other young adults. Some of them are legit – I know a few myself, and even they curate and tweak a social experience that is even larger than their already large life. These account holders offer courses and books and classes on how you too can drive Lambos and eat at only the most exclusive restaurants. Some offer dropshipping courses, others teach you about SEO, the list goes on and on.

But here’s the thing – many of them are only making money by selling you the idea that they already made the money using their “tried and true methods.” They are renting cars and Airbnbs claiming ownership. It’s not a new thing, people have been selling larger-than-life versions of themselves for years, but in the modern age of social media it has taken on a new form – now, Instagram account @BallerBusters is here to set the record straight.

A new report from The New York Times sheds some light on the account and includes an interview with the owner (whose name isn’t mentioned). “They’re flaunting private planes, fake watches, posing with all this stuff and creating a life for themselves on social media that’s not true,” the account owner tells NYT.

Image: BallerBusters / New York Times

Most of the account is filled with memes – the language of our generation – but the account holder also does the Lord’s work by doing in-depth research to call out influencers who are selling a lifestyle they don’t actually have.

The Instagram Stories are where you can find the actual dirt. This is typically where BallerBusters exposes these scammy accounts, but if you’re worried about false witchhunts, the account owner notes that a lot of research goes into the account. They tell NYT, “We’re not TMZ or a review page — we actually do investigative journalism.” Shots fired, my word.

At the end of the day, however, the account owner wants people to know it’s not just about busting fakes, it is about creating an educational resource for budding entrepreneurs.

“I’m not all about the busts, I really want to teach people,” they said. “I’d like to bring experts in each field and talk on Instagram live. I want an attorney to teach people how to file claims legally, how to get legal counsel and their rights. I want to bring a social media expert to talk about personal branding, someone who knows Facebook ads. I would love to put them on and teach people for free.”

As someone that has paid for some of these courses that went nowhere and followed accounts that were obviously curated very specifically for Instagram and selling a product, it’s good to see accounts coming out that fight the growing number of fake influencers and salespeople.

Image: Ballerbusters

According to BallerBusters’ Twitter, they’ve exposed “people such as Evan Luthra, JetSetFly, Producer Michael, Christopher/Sean Lourdes, Bobbyy, Daniel G, Arya Toufanian, Dan Lok and many more!”

Will it make a difference? Possibly, but for every BallerBusters, there are 10 people posting pictures of them driving a new BMW and selling you a print-on-demand course.

What do you think? Do you notice a lot of these accounts when you’re on Instagram? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.