404 Media⁠48%

LARPING: How Influencers Fake Being Rich ⁠91%

By Jason Koebler⁠45%

7/8/2026, 4:11:45 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Hasty Generalization, and Negativity Bias, with Attempt to Sell a Product or Service as the most egregious example at 60.9% saturation with 112 hits. Analysis detected 558 faulty-reasoning hits from 184 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 84.1% and a BS Rank of ⁠91% (2,139 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 90.20% of the article peer group.

This week, we talk about Jason's dive into the world of LARPing, where hustlebros and influencers use fake YouTube, OnlyFans, and Stripe dashboards as "proof" that they're rich in order to sell low-quality get-rich-quick courses in pyramid schemes. 
We show how easy it is to pretend like you're rich, and how these strategies are used all over social media. 
Listen to the weekly podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. 
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If you become a paid subscriber, check your inbox for an email from our podcast host Transistor for a link to the subscribers-only version! 
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How I Bought a Private Jet By Selling $10 Subscriptions to 404 Media 
Inside Cannes, the Advertising Industry’s Biggest Party 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 4.2%404 Media: 3.5%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.9%404 Media: 0.9%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 11.4%Jason Koebler: 4.3%404 Media: 3.8%Availability Heuristic11.4%This article: 11.4%Jason Koebler: 2.4%404 Media: 1.6%Representativeness Heuristic11.4%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.5%404 Media: 0.5%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 2.5%404 Media: 2.8%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 3.3%Jason Koebler: 4.6%404 Media: 5.6%Framing Effect3.3%This article: 8.7%Jason Koebler: 0.3%404 Media: 0.4%Loss Aversion8.7%This article: 3.8%Jason Koebler: 0.5%404 Media: 0.6%Status Quo Bias3.8%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.3%404 Media: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 10.9%Jason Koebler: 1.2%404 Media: 2.8%Optimism Bias10.9%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 1.1%404 Media: 1.6%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 23.9%Jason Koebler: 13.1%404 Media: 11.5%Negativity Bias23.9%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 1.5%404 Media: 0.9%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 20.7%Jason Koebler: 0.8%404 Media: 0.7%Fundamental Attribution Error20.7%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.2%404 Media: 0.1%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 20.7%Jason Koebler: 0.7%404 Media: 0.8%In-Group Bias20.7%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.3%404 Media: 0.3%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.7%404 Media: 1.0%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.3%404 Media: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.0%404 Media: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.6%404 Media: 1.0%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 7.1%Jason Koebler: 0.2%404 Media: 0.3%Primacy Effect7.1%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.0%404 Media: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.2%404 Media: 0.3%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 20.7%Jason Koebler: 0.4%404 Media: 0.3%Straw Man20.7%This article: 3.8%Jason Koebler: 2.1%404 Media: 3.3%Appeal to Authority3.8%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 1.2%404 Media: 1.3%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.4%404 Media: 1.2%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.3%404 Media: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 32.1%Jason Koebler: 10.1%404 Media: 7.8%Hasty Generalization32.1%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.1%404 Media: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.7%404 Media: 0.7%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 3.3%Jason Koebler: 2.9%404 Media: 4.8%Appeal to Emotion3.3%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.6%404 Media: 0.7%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 1.6%404 Media: 2.0%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.1%404 Media: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.6%404 Media: 0.5%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.2%404 Media: 0.4%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.3%404 Media: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 7.1%Jason Koebler: 4.2%404 Media: 2.9%Anecdotal7.1%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.1%404 Media: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 1.5%404 Media: 2.1%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.0%404 Media: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.1%404 Media: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.1%404 Media: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.2%404 Media: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.0%404 Media: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 2.2%404 Media: 2.6%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 1.9%404 Media: 1.6%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 42.4%Jason Koebler: 12.2%404 Media: 11.5%Biased Writer Voice42.4%This article: 11.4%Jason Koebler: 1.6%404 Media: 1.5%Indoctrination11.4%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.5%404 Media: 0.6%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Jason Koebler: 0.0%404 Media: 0.0%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 60.9%Jason Koebler: 4.2%404 Media: 2.9%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…60.9%

184 words analyzed.

Speakers

1speaker13%attributed speech160writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 6 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 38 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 21 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 100.0% coverageTransistor • 24 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 16 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Transistor

100%flagged-word coverage
24 attributed words100% of attributed speech100% writer coverage
0%50.0%100.0%Attempt to Sell a Product +45.0 ptsWriter: 55.0%Transistor: 100.0%100.0%Biased Writer Voice-48.8 ptsWriter: 48.8%Transistor: 0.0%0.0%Indoctrination-13.1 ptsWriter: 13.1%Transistor: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.