To be fed up of Instamums 2

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Continued from original post...

I know!!! I'm guessing there some sort of plan in place to solicit donations.

They appear not to be able to do right for doing wrong - is it necessary to question parents leaving their children to raise awareness for an important cause, especially for midwives working without access to clean running water? Comment come across as quite cruel to be honest...just my opinion.

People love to judge those who are seen to be successful. A lot of hard work must go on behind the scenes for MOD and FOD and all the other Instagram mums. I think there have been some good changes since this thread first blew up e.g. #gifted so the transparency is much clearer. But to continue to criticise these people is just horrible. Mumsnet is supposed to be a supportive forum yet this thread is highlighting why so many mums (including myself) choose to use Instagram for support, build businesses and meet other women. How can mumsnet ever be supportive when users are anonymous and are therefore encouraged to say and write what ever they like. This just wouldn't be tolerated on Instagram. I have a small business and from the support and love from some of these Instamums has allowed me to grow my business, work flexibly whilst on mat leave.

Agree with earlier poster

The fake "oh I happen to have popped into m&s and I've found some real gems....[I'm here as a genuine consumer...honest] " is so grating, when it's obvious the instagrammer has a pre-existing arrangement with m&s in place. Like the original poster said, can't these instagrammers just be more honest: "I'm in partnership with m&s and so I've been in today to select some items I like and that I think you might be interested in".

Anyway sounds like there have been some great changes so far- I'm so pleased whenever I see a #gifted or #ipaidforthis on instagram. The more transparency the better.

I'm also relieved that MOD and FOD have moved away from the misleading content they were peddling with Martinhal and the washing machines etc etc.

All in all a positive result from this thread. Well done us. But keep complaining to advertising standards. These accounts and brands should be held accountable for misleading consumers.

Wow, 'keeping complaining' - do people have nothing better to do?

Ha! Sorry I didn't mean to imply I'd be bombarding Advertising Standards with daily complaints. But the length and content of these two mumsnet threads about insta-mums does indicate people want more transparency from the insta-stars they follow. Continually misleading followers by pretending you are a genuine consumer when you are not, is really unfair to followers and the best way to improve this that I can think of is by reporting apparent breaches of the CAP code to Advertising Standards so things can improve. People have tried commenting on MOD/FOD et al's posts saying "is this a freebie?" etc. Those comments were getting deleted or ignored by the insta-star. All those confused and annoyed people didn't just disappear. This thread sprung up. Thimgs need to change and Advertising arrangements need to be more transparent.

Buildothersup wasn't a criticism of MOD or FOD, probably more a wonderment of the charity's partnership choices. If their objective is to raise awareness of a problem, I felt nothing but good feelings watching their Instagram content from the trip. But I have no doubt their intentions (MOD/FOD) were nothing but good.

So I've followed these threads and think a lot of the points were very valid.

If instagrammers are more transparent e.g. #sponsered/#ad do you think that will change how you view them? For me if someone I follow receives lots of #gifts etc I don't think that would put me off but if their feed is full of ads & they are getting paid for stuff constantly I think I would find it harder to believe in them, if that makes sense. Particularly if the products were off brand.

When insta first started I loved that it was an alternative to magazines & more honest, I don't want be looking at a load of ads.

Personally I think there are just important things to talk about than whether someone got some free clothes or a washing machine, good on her! MOD spoke a lot about midwives in Madagascar not having access to clean, running water and have to use contaminated water on mum's and new borns, they visited pre & post invention villages to highlight the difference Wateraid can make and yes, it did make me want to donate. Maybe because I wasn't so focused on the 'partnership' but the message. So many posts on this feed have talked about hate following, financial status, parenting style etc - again its only my opinion, but it all just seems so unnecessary.

Buildothersup hazarding a guess you haven't read the whole thing. 95% of the thread has been about Instagram partnerships and the transperancy that's important when doing marketing this way. The title of this thread is actually not representative of the sentiment!

Leeeleeee I have read the feed, like I said - personal opinion.

95%? I think you'll find it was much less thread 1 was vicious and really bitchy. Many comments got removed by mumsnet people were calling these mums snobs, cows, judging their parenting styles and choices, their kids got called ugly, searching and discussing their taxable income. And the hate following is just the most bizzare thing of all. The irony is most of these instamums have gained more followers since this thread first blew up and more brands will want to partnership with them.

I read every post before any deletions (sad really! ). There was the odd snarky comment which honestly, was shut down very quickly (especially below the belt comments about kids being cute). There was frustration about a lack of transparency (which leads to a lack of trust and obviously negativity)- which has caused positive change in the way some of the instagrammers do things.

While I agree with the sentiment that we should build people up rather than shoot them down, a robust discussion about the way people conduct their business (which is what it is) is not being cruel or negative. As mentioned before free feedback like this is worth a fortune and you can see these instagrammers (or their advisors) have taken a lot of it on board.

Buildothersup - most people aren't saying that these inst-posters are awful for accepting free washing machines and holidays. They're asking for more transparency in the way these products are then presented to followers. MOD and FOD pretended that they were genuine consumers on their Martinhal holiday- when it now transpires they appear to have got the holiday for free in exchange for positive posts about it (therefore their reviews and posts were totally PR driven and unreliable). That's so dishonest and misleading to their followers. There was no #ad #spon on the posts at all.

It also wasn't the fact they potentially got a free washing machine. It's that MOD started asking for recommendations from her followers and then (potentially after not having read a single followers comment) ...claimed to be acting on her followers recommendations when she bought a new machine. What she didn't say is that she seems to have got the machine free presumably on the condition that she pretends to be a genuine consumer who made a decision to buy that specific machine because it was highly recommended by her followers. If this speculation is correct, i think most people will agree that it's very disingenuous of her and if the brand itself.

MissHenty Your so right, this grates on me so its unfollow, I don't mind about seeing posts that are adverts i skip past but to pretend to ask for advise is just deceitful, besides the one she got isnt what people recommened anyway so even more blaintent

MissHenty noone knows if the washing machine was gifted or not or wherther or not she read the comments - it's pure speculation the brand she now has is one of the most popular and most highly rated, not some obscure company looked for cheap PR - just all seems so petty, maybe I'm not sucked in so easily so don't seem the harm in her posts.

Yes speculation about the washing machine. But in relation to the Martinhal holiday, they ignored numerous messages asking whether it was free (look at some of their photos from that holiday to see the vast number of followers that wanted to know) ....and then they finally commented and confirmed that it was free. But then deleted the comment! That's so misleading. Their followers thought they were getting a genuine recommendation! It would appear they definitely weren't. If followers were made aware that the posts were clearly #ad's then they could go off and do their own research about the place. It seems very likely that in exchange for a free holiday MoD and FOD were obliged to post numerous positive recommendations of the place (even if in reality they actually thought the holiday was bad value for money or whatever).

Can you not see that that's very disingenuous? People save up for months for a holiday.

Surely people research their holiday destinations regardless of having seen a blogger post about a particular place - especially with children, as I'm sure MOD & FOD did before going, especially as they were taking their four children! To me it seemed clear from her insta stories that she was promoting the resort, it seems unfair to assume she was trying to mislead anyone.

I had no idea at first that they were promoting the resort! I thought they were genuine consumers! Have a look at the photos they posted from that holiday (e.g. The one of MOD in a head scarf) and then look at the content of the followers' comments they decided to repy to (e.g. what time does Martinhal kids club open), compared to the numerous legitimate questions from followers that they ignored (e.g. Is this a freebie, did you pay for this holiday, is this sponsored?). The one comment where they admitted the holiday had been free was swiftly deleted. That's sneaky and deliverately misleading I'm afraid.

Anyway I think things have changed a bit now and comments have been taken on board. Hopefully there will be more transparency going forward.

I think that's instagrammers with lots of followers deserve to be paid by the brands they promote. I'm sure they have a big impact on sales. But they shouldn't sully their brand by making their whole account a sham of fake recommendations. Just be upfront !

More #gifted #ipaidforthis etc etc hashtags please

MissHenty let's peacefully agree to disagree...

Ok :)

The Washing machine is speculation. And I think there's just not been any clear rules of engagement for businesses inviting bloggers somewhere to give a review (evident by the comments on here). So I think MOD and FOD were probably doing what they thought was the best thing for themselves in an unclear forum. But I'm sure that will change now.

I don't believe there's been any intent to mislead, but people have been misled.

I read this thread before but didn't comment. Believe me I agree whole heartedly about the #ad #sp as it does my head in. Image after image of some random product normally completely at odds with the persons usual posts. However, the reason for my comment today is that I have just read a post on Rock My Family from FTEN in response to a comment she read on here and sometimes you need to realise that there are real people behind these blogs. So yes the ads are ridiculous but your comments can be worse.

Bumblec1 Wholeheartedly agree, it's easy to slag someone off anonymously but harder to share the good and bad of your life publicly in the hope of helping other people, only to knocked down by someone you have never met.

Buildothersup do you really think these instagrammers have such altruistic intentions? I think most do initially but eventually it becomes a brand, a business (with the odd exception like unmunsymum). It allows them to spend time with their kids which is wonderful, but honestly it's about generating a revenue for themselves. And there's nothing wrong with that- as long as everyone knows what it is.

If people really see them as just sharing their lives as a way of helping others, then they are more likely to be misled. But if you see them as genuine people with good intentions who also have a revenue from their profiles, you have different level of expectation from them re their declarations of sponsorships etc. I think anyway.