To be fed up of Instamums 2

[Hmmmmx100]

Continued from original post...

Tbh they may have paid for the machines. However it does show that without that transparency in what they get for free, to promote, people make judgements on everything, rightly or wrongly.

Why wouldn't they be able to afford it Still?

If the Miele goods were free then I feel really disappointed and manipulated. Of course yay good for them £3000-4000 of free excellent quality goods, I'd love them, but to mislead,beg for and then not be open about it is gross and greedy. It's not jealousy to comment on this, if a 'no way the lovely people at Miele have sent us this! I'll let you know how they are' I'd be fine with it. She slated her previous goods, so used her social media influence to put those companies down and then cringily tried to get new ones. But all with an overall screen of it being just like you or I.

Bubble, yes to this.

insta I'm guessing they have money in the bank / credit card to pay for it like the rest of us have to when our machines break down.

Sorry sorry, I read it as can't afford!

Was the cruise a freebie? Meh I'm a fool. I guess she's been having the time of her life. I don't begrudge anyone that. But this is the dark side of z list celebrity fame I guess.

I think it was yes, lots of tagging of Thomson (?) Cruises, but no transparency. It may not have been completely free, but there was definitely some sort of perk (upgrade? Onboard freebies) for that amount of tagging. From memory someone did put something in the comments but it wasn't really responded to.

bubble animal I think this is where the murkiness comes in. I think if they are not 'paid' then they don't have to put an #ad #spon on it they just need to mention that X organised or gave them something. Which only needs to be done once? Not sure, its all a grey area.

some accounts are really good at making it VERY clear when they have had freebies and some are not so great. And some like Busy Phillips (who people should def follow) will #ipaidforthis when she wants to make doubly clear she aint getting anything for free.

Waitinforaflamin it's definitely the greyness and murky area. I prefer the insta accounts where this is clear, what's free gift as well as paid for, but I am fully aware that others don't care - as shown by the responses on there today.

It doesn't take much other than including, "gift" I guess. Or a response to those asking that yes it was a perk

God knows if I were on holiday with Butlins with my whole 250 followers and they offered me an upgrade or free food for the week for glowing tags I'd do it!

Yes the cruise was a freebie

Had a quick look at Susie Verrills comment section under her latest post and it is far far viler and horrible than anything on the last thread. Absolutely vicious. Shocking. They are calling MNers every name under the sun.

My eyes have certainly been opened to the nasty side of Instagram this past 24 hrs.

BubbleAnimal yep - I don't think its too much to ask for them to declare in a transparent way and people wanting more transparency shouldn't be flamed as a bunch of bitches!

I think you just need to constantly tag Butlins almost every day and so some stories about it - this approach seems to work for others - I am sure they will come running

The thing is Elspeth, I know those comments aren't directly aimed at me. I've been on this thread, I am a mumsnetter here, I've made comments. However I know none of mine make me a bitch or a cow or a viper. So it's not affected me. I don't feel the need to have a huge post saying "I love you Hun" to me. Someone said upthread or yesterday, those that are mostly affected are those that can see the truth in the argument and see themselves in it, and I think that's partly true.

MOD has had a lot of seemingly freebies unacknowleged this year

The cruise, the Greek holiday villa, the dinner party catered at home, the free supply of fresh ready to cook meals, home pedicure, the laundry appliances, and so on. I suspect a lot of clothing items too - the Saltwater sandals for the whole family, some holiday clothes. It's relentless.

i don't follow whoever the washing machine lady is. Perhaps she did buy them. Perhaps she didn't. The issue is that once you have any paid for/managed/freebie content that is not totally explicitly labelled so, your readership becomes suspicious of your relationship with your context, and you lose influence, which is ultimately what brands are paying for. Far better to start those posts with "they drove a dump-truck of this stuff onto my drive, and/or paid me handsomely as well".

There's also an issue with ongoing relationships with brands. DMBL40, whom like others I LOVE, has done a fair bit of work with Hush, which she's very upfront about. However, when she's recommending a Hush item months later I'm not clear about the footing of that recommendation - is it genuinely good, or does she subconsciously view them more positively because of a past relationship?

Everyone swears blind that being paid once/having a freebie does not influence their future reviews, but years of research by big pharma (an industry I know better than fashion) and their drug-rep lunches tells us that soft stuff like this definitely can create subconscious positive regard.

Waitinforaflamin I do tag some small brands I use a lot. Some could even question whether I have an ulterior motive. I have been unfollowed by some. But I can hand on heart say I have paid for every item I promote. I promote them because they have legitimately made a difference to me. If that company then decided to thank me (which I do not expect) by sending me a form of freebie, I would be transparent about it.

Elspeth It would appear that the attack dogs can be summoned very quickly when a 'grammer raises the alarm.

Yup, that's the sisterhood support, right there.

I knew they would pick up on this thread and use it as content on their instas. They haven't acknowledged the fact that they (or one in particular) comes across as a bully herself, but of course anyone who says anything negative about an insta mum on MN is against 'female solidarity', like women have to show solidarity to other women no matter what they do.

Now it's all under such scrutiny, the only thing that bothers me about the thread and some areas I've commented on, is the much smaller accounts. At one point a few agreed one was a bit irritating and too good to be true, this is not it itself really that bad but because the accounts are smaller it seems much more personal. I did however comment that the first blog had a misspell, I genuinely don't care about spellings in that way and don't correct them at all as a rule, it had just struck me as the word that was misspelt was quite surprising given it's a blog out there and the content of that blog! It seems unfair the way that's been highlighted though. Although I'm sure that overall the extra followers and support will actually hopefully turn this around for that last as I certainly wish her no harm.

*Turn this around for her

Dillydilly-the catered for meal? 😱 Next you'll be telling me that the next haul of clothes and the Zara for the kids was promotional! I know the car is a Renault ad, it keeps popping up on Facebook, the holiday, the cruise, the washing machine, please tell me some of this is normal? The Boden clothes? Are they gifts? The Uber's home from work, the hello fresh meals? Surely the meals weren't an ad?

I haven't read this thread for an hour or so but just popped into Instagram and Pregnant Then Screwed has summed it up very succinctly in her instastories.

Essentially there are no rules about what's ok and what isn't because it's such a new medium and it's up to followers (SOME OF WHOM ARE ALSO MUMSNETTERS!) and the "social influencers" to agree between them what the rules are. This morning it feels like a dictatorship with some of the influencers saying "like it or fuck off" and shutting down any discussion. How they respond in the long or short term could be their making or their downfall. I feel that those who've stepped back and seem to be considering might find they come out of this less scathed than the ones who have piled in and insulted their followers (some of whom are also mumsnetters!)

BubbleAnimal I do too - especially for them to repost and use as advertising as I think if you are a small brand and people like your stuff it can be hard to get the message out that you are legit. I don't do it because I think I'm going to get free stuff, I do it because I want to show the love and help them get a step up.

If was ever lucky enough to get something for free I would totally make it transparent for sure. Ironically some of the ones who are the worst for the not being transparent as the fashion gram'ers/bloggers. The more professional ones like the Frugality are really transparent but some are definitely not.

Maxima there are rules set out by the ASA about sponsored posts on the Internet and more pointedly on youtube and instagram.....they have to label paid promotions as ads. Although not all are doing this and it gets murkier still when considering items that have been sent to "influencers" for free.