Instamums 3, 2.0

[blackmirror1]

Seeing as the original 3 got zapped.

Wow Dawn it feels as though we can't discuss this at all

Really does feel like we are going to get this thread closed too.
Looks like the instamummies have sent some complaints in.

pavolovaprincess I'm so glad you had a positive experience in a difficult time. I've enjoyed your discussion here.

I'm too late to the IG party, the whole format of it is doing my head in I realised even with the few accounts I have enjoyed.

Gleam have been on the phone, I reckon...

I see Gleam have been in touch then, Mumsnet

So confused, what is sock puppeting and why suddenly does this thread get the closure message? Is it the people coming on to shut it down?
Why is it Facebook pavlova? Because they are linked?

I didn't even realise that babyzen buggy was gifted to susie v , I totally missed the hashtag. Why does it have to be hidden away so? Agh just be honest!

It also now makes me wonder if she was fishing for a free tablet when she asked for recommendations the other day.

@Fruitbowl2 I can understand that. It's a totally different place to what it used to be. I think if I was probably a new user, I'd take one look and think it's just too much hard work for no return.

@Mumofkids it changed when FB bought it out and changed the algorithm. Before they had it, IG was completely ad free and free to use. FB said as soon as they bought it that they were looking for a way to monetise it.

A sock puppet is one user with multiple accounts. They usually join a thread with a different or unpopular opinion then change usernames to back themselves up (IYSWIM).

@pavlovaprincess thanks for that, had no idea what was going on!

Definitely not a sock puppet here - I've been a regular poster for years.

I'm not bothered usually about ads on instagram if i think they're relevant to the users audience.
I do mind the begging for free stuff -meile stands out.
I also think mod/fod generally do not respond to these threads when they escalate but she does a "let's talk about birth/midwifery thing" and fod becomes over the top on his stories instead of just responding and addressing their critics it's like their agents have reminded them to go back to their usp.
I take everything on Instagram with a pinch of salt. I'm happy to see some holidays - paid for or not as I like to see peoples holidays in places I wouldn't go to.
The using of children I find difficult. I wouldn't want so much of my children's lives put out there but it's obviously something these people and their families feel ok with.

I have noticed on multiple Instagram accounts that there is only ever positive supporting comments.

Recently on an Ant & Dec post I couldn't understand why all the comments were wishing him well and not 1 negative comment regarding his drink driving. This seems to be a pattern with Instamum accounts also.

It's a really frightening trend, so much for free speech, many accounts on Insta seem to be censored to the point that it we don't agree with it, we are blocked or deleted. I think it's quite scary!

I think it's bad for mental health too, as sometimes I have been reading comments and thinking that I was unreasonable for disagreeing with the post/advert etc, as all the comments were positive, so I would question my feelings. Without these threads I may have continued to think that, , yet it's all social engineering! Quite worrying...

@PavlovaPrincess & @pineapplefritter what are your Instagrams called so I can come and follow? Need some genuine accounts to follow?

I have a feeling the sockpuppeting may have come from two accounts in particular posting reams of irrelevant nonsense, trying to derail the thread last night.

I've seen far worse opinions on mumsnet than on these threads (that aren't shut down).

I genuinely feel concerned about the children's privacy and safety of these IG mums. When IG first started I had an open account. Some random person sent me a message saying they had seen me in the local supermarket. It totally freaked me out. She was a nice local mum according to her profile and I enjoyed seeing pictures of her family in the places I loved too. But it really made me think it through and have had a private account ever since.

I would love MoD FOD et al to address this. If thousands of random strangers can work out where you live, your children's school etc do you not get freaked out and have concerns? What do you children think. Are you concerned about your older girls having thier own followers?

Does anyone know Bodie and Foe? I used to follow her and she features her pre-teen/teenage girl a lot. Her daughter was 'styled' or portrayed in quite a mature way and some of the comments from men asking how old she was etc were gross.

It's as if the 'fame' totally blocks out any sensible fear about exposing young children and teens to strangers. A totally trainted childhood from an outsider looking in.

I don't have a problem with insults or nasty comments being deleted but if someone asks questions they get deleted and blocked. blackmirror being blocked for liking an #ad comment that was then left there is odd.

That's the problem when negative comments get deleted. I understand downright nasty ones but life isn't all roses and it's just odd to have all the fan club comments only? Really weird. I couldn't cope with just blocking people and pretending everyone loves me.
Yes the holiday does look boring. Why are ads so hidden...

So I have never looked at a instamum thing in my life so I just went and had a look. What a load of bollocks! Who cares?! Loads of filtered and massively staged photos of someone you don’t know, who just happens to have children. Genuinely, who gives a fuck? Why do any of you follow them? Random strangers on their holiday? And why are these women selling their souls (& their children’s) to the internet? Madness - sheer, narcissistic madness.

I agree the MOD holiday is looking dull. I also agree that posts relating to that holiday should be marked #ad. Why not?!

I actually have a lot of time for MOD after her contribution to the Bloggers and Brands discussions on the S&B board. She seemed to be taking the 'feedback' on board and being mature about it. The transparency of her posts improved. However the blocking mentioned above is just petty and quite disappointing.

at Gleam.

I've been a bit of a lurker on these threads so far.I also use IG and follow (and enjoy) some of these accounts so have been interested to follow the debate (derailments aside!).

I think the unease around these type of accounts definitely has two elements which are important and critical discussion points (regardless of one's viewpoint):

1. Exploitation and overexposure of children
2. Discrepancy over the perception of purpose of the account (i.e. following as a personal account then finding out it is essentially a business account)

1 is a huge topic and discussion of it has actually made me reassess how I share pics of my own DC (my accounts are very much just personal accounts, my life is too boring for people to give me free stuff!). I've changed my privacy settings and have stopped before uploading some pics I may have done previously. I think, if kept high level without personal criticisms of individuals, it's a really positive conversation to be having. I think it will make more of us look at how we use social media as a parent and that can only be a good thing!

The second issue is one of feeling 'duped'. We don't mind overt adverts on TV, in magazines etc as we know exactly what they are and that their job is to sell to us. However, if we've followed someone and trusted their reviews/opinions etc, and then find out they're paid to say those things, it fosters a negative response.

I think we're in a weird phase with Instagram Influencers as a relatively new marketing tool, and some accounts have transitioned from personal to business and so identifying what works and what doesn't is being done largely through trial and error. MotherPukka for instance has been keen to take on board feedback to keep improving what she does and engaging better with her audience. But ultimately, as people didn't consider themselves an audience to be marketed to when they started following, there may always be a resentment if there's not a shake up of the way accounts are handled. I like @pineapplefritter 's suggestion of personal or business accounts and think this would be a good starting point. Other social platforms do this, such as Facebook and Twitter so there's clearly a recognition elsewhere that people want to be able to clearly discern between the two.

Well, this ended up longer than I wanted!

I'm wondering if its even worth posting comments on here. censored on Instagram for querying companies gifting holidays. And the entire last thread too. Someone is really trying to shut this discussion down.

Something I don’t understand is why Mumsnet users are dismissed so readily.
Surely the demographic here is exactly the kind of people advertisers and by extension instamums are trying to reach?
Why is there so little engagement with this discussion from the instamums? We are not just a nest of vipers whose opinions don’t count. Our opinions shouldn’t just be discounted as haterz or jealousy, a lot of users here have disposable income to spend so if I had something to promote or sell I wouldn’t be so quick to shut down discussion.

It's so hard when something is on show and you genuinely don't know if it's a true review or if it was ad or gifted.

I guess they don't care that much as there's only a couple of hundred of us commenting here and tens of thousands following them on Instagram