To be fed up of Instamums

[Hmmmmx100]

I followed a few of the more well-known Instamums but got weary of the constant daily barrage of brand endorsements. I can't relate to people on £100k a year in Farrow & Ball houses. I just can't. So I had to unfollow em all, every one. AIBU to feel a bit miffed that these people are using the idea of sisterhood to make money? They're not our friends, they're just there to sell us stuff that we probably don't need anyway.

Completely went off Courtney Adamo, the American who used to live in Highgate when she took to advertising a cheap Daniel Wellington watch when we all knew she wore a beautiful and personally bought Cartier watch. It was so off brand as she is all about independent retailers or craftsmanship but yet she's plugging mass produced tat from China.

They don't bother me tbh if they can make money off a few hashtags then power to them. MLM on the other hand can do one

I follow a couple of Istamums and quite a few fashion bloggers. I have unsubscribed from many of the fashion bloggers because it is very obviously just marketing. I made a comment under one post about the quality and price of an item and she got very defensive and wasn't particularly nice. What I was saying was correct. She was not.

One of the Istagram a/cs I unsubcribed from was a family and dogs. The whole entire thing seems fake. The parents seem quite unhappy with their (privileged) lot and I felt terribly sorry for the children whose personal lives are plastered publicly on the web on a daily basis. What this family will do when the children are old enough to understand that they are being sold as products will be anyone's guess. Of course they may quite like the publicity and the lifestyle advantages it brings although I would be very surprised.

I do think FOD is quite funny but has become a bit of a sellout. No idea who the American in Australia is. I also don't follow the flex appeal one but I do follow her mother

Have to take their lives with a pinch of salt - it's like watching reality to with product placement. I do find that all these blogger instamums and dads are either very arrogant or have massive issues with low self esteem. Or maybe both? Which is another reason to take it all with a pinch of salt I guess.

Sorry - reality TV

tell me more about the one who was made by her home....does she live down on the south coast by any chance??

Yes, Christchurch I believe . She's awful.

I follow Greg Rutherford's girlfriend, who I sort of like but yes, she does flog an awful lot of crap.

The midwife no, I don't particularly like.

Flex appeal is irritating.

I follow some of these and a few fashion and interiors bloggers. Used love MOD but it s funny I wondered recently if she had a new agent or something - what annoyed me about her was when she called out someone who didn't agree with her and when she was asked lots about if she was contracted to certain products / holidays and refused to confirm or deny. And I agree she s really taken over with ads and brand dropping ! And her constant peddling to get free white goods recently, was just irritating - just get it fixed or go get a new one - don't subject the rest of us to weeks of moaning and wailing and baiting brands. I used really like her but it s seems so insincere and staged now that it s really disappointing.

I love flex appeal, I think she s funny and real. And not as taken in with all the branding - or rather at least honest about it when she is.

However I ve unsubscribed to quite a few and I think I m going to unfollow mod, though it might be worth hanging around to hear her rant and callout to the sisterhood when she spots this tread.

Also what gets me is the instamums who speak with authority about 'parenting' or 'parenting hacks' when they have one one year old kid - minimal experience yet write a book on parenting, not like they have a degree in child psychology or child development - suddenly after one kid they re experts and reference points on how we all
Should parent and live ! at least the midwife has written on a subject she has more extensive experience in .....

I have friends who are obviously trying to emulate this; post loads of pics of kid/house and hope someone gives them something for doing so, trouble is that none of it's reality.

I like reading some articles (less bothered by pics) although I've followed blogs of people in other interests who have also hit 'big' and advertise etc., but they seem so much less invested in that - I think because they have an actual interest/talent to share (that sounds much worse than I mean).

Agree with so much of what's been said already.

Has anyone else noticed that loads of them have recently had third children/are pregnant with third children. Can't help feeling that this could partly be so they can stay relevant.

To be fair a lot of them seem to have started by blogging and built it up. A couple I follow have been promoting Jacobs Creek wine recently. Boke.

Busy Phillips is good to follow.

One I follow is constantly complaining that no one will pay her to promote anything I don't think it will happen if companies read all the moans about it!

Mother Pukka/Flex Appeal does special effects and musical samples in her Instastories. They make me howl with laughter (Skanky Manky Titty/Vince My Horticultural Prince), but I do wonder how on earth she has the time, as she seems to be breastfeeding 24/7. Maybe she has a magic phone that has a super Dooper app that she can somehow do one-handed? Or after reading this maybe she sends it out to a graphic design team (hope not, that would be a bit depressing).

Haaaaate the whole "-pukka" thing that has to be adopted by literally everyone and everything around her though. She'll be going to the loo and showing us the result and calling it a poo_pukka next.

I folllow most of these and actually enjoy their posts - of course I realise a lot of it is freebies and advertising. I did think MOD was angling for a free meile washing machine/tumble dryer but who can blame her! I just like being nosy and looking into other peoples lives (even if it isn't reality) Just unfollow if they annoy you!

I do follow a few like Greg Rutherford's girlfriend. I actually think she is hilarious!

Some of them are insanely annoying and some I follow mainly because it's like watching trashy TV.

My favourite one I follow thpugh genuinely is just a 'normal' mum who tells it as it is. She doesn't endorse any crap on her page (yet lol)

Just had a quick look at Esther's page and it's a no from me!

True. MoD was evidently not keen to part with the £1500+ for a Miele tumble dryer 😂

Had a look at mother pukka - it's a no from me. Waaaaasyyyyy too contrived and professional.

Thank you for this thread, it's really interesting and informative. I have a friend on Instagram who does put a lot of staged pictures of her children in cute/expensive/trendy clothes, their outings, the trendy places they visit.....I didn't get why she wanted to expose herself so much. I understand why now, I think she wants to get paid to promote products. In her case, I think one of the main reason for doing this is that she dreads going back to work (end of maternity leave) and leave her children. I'd like to think that's why she puts all these annoying #

I follow a couple of the above, never heard of the midwife one though so she can't be that great 😉 I quite like the 'festival' mum but only because I like looking at her outfits, I don't really care where they come from. I follow a lot of housey ones for inspiration, but a lot of them are very samey-samey, all grey and white. I don't mind the odd bit of grey and white but eventually each one becomes interchangeable and I can't remember who is who. I also think the ones who spend most of their time posting pictures of Zoflora bottles and meal plans must actually lead really dull lives.

I follow a couple of the above, never heard of the midwife one though so she can't be that great 😉 I quite like the 'festival' mum but only because I like looking at her outfits, I don't really care where they come from. I follow a lot of housey ones for inspiration, but a lot of them are very samey-samey, all grey and white. I don't mind the odd bit of grey and white but eventually each one becomes interchangeable and I can't remember who is who. I also think the ones who spend most of their time posting pictures of Zoflora bottles and meal plans must actually lead really dull lives.

I think Susie Verrill is very very witty, she never dumbs herself down. But I think she can be a bit judgey whilst trying not to be. Like, she can be a bit sharp. Shes the sort that says "I'm not judging anybody BUT I just don't get it?" Yeah, that's coming across as judgey.

And she advertises every damn thing that crosses her path apparently and prides herself on it as "helping" these brands cos they're made by other Mums or something? Nah, it's just advertising and it's too much. I almost hope she's getting paid for it all cos it's a mugs game if she's not.

YABU - the price of the things they advertise are clear for everyone to see. If it's too much for you then it's too much. There is no illusion that most of it is accessible for an average family. I can't afford to jet off every other weekend but it doesn't make me feel bad that they can. I've found some cute kids clothes through a few of them. Why on earth would I ever get more involved in how they raise their kids than that? They are in a tricky spot with regards to their children's privacy. I prefer the ones that only post happy glossy photos because they seem less intrusive to the kids. The ones who want to be "real" and post a distressed child mid-tantrum are the ones that turn me off. Of course the glossy snapshots aren't their entire life but they are under no obligation to give any more info than they want to.

I totally agree OP.

There are a few mums who are nothing but #ad these days. I'm not afraid to name names, I have unfollowed MrsEmilyNorris, Samantha Faiers and MotherOfDaughters for this.

I think people like GiovanniFletcher who do use #ad are using it appropriately. She only ever teams with companies for items she actually uses and likes and she does very few #ads. I'm sure she is offered many more than she actually does.

The thing I worry about with mod/ dadnetwork/Susie v is that it is very obvious what their children's first names, surnames, date of birth, school in some cases and even their address (mod made that obvious during bingate.
Aside from the concern about posting thei cute children for all to see with all that accompanying information, they also post when they're on holiday which makes them rather easy targets for burglaries!

Not just those three names above. I meant to write 'etc' and actually I was probably being a bit unfair on Susie v. I wish there was an edit button!!