The author spent 48 hours at Coachella pretending to be an influencer for the first weekend of the festival, where the festival became more of a work trip for influencers posting sponsored content. She kept a diary throughout her time in the desert and found that the festival was one of the most fun weekends of her life. Despite the fakery and forced smiles, there was a lot of fun to be had at the content creation circus. The author also found that while the cheapest way to go to Coachela is to get sponsored by a brand, there are also many civilian attendees who camp out and make their own burritos to avoid paying $35 for chicken tenders or $17 for lemonade. The article also highlighted the shift in style from traditional music to contemporary hip hop culture.