#AD

[MintyT]

I don't know about you, but since the instamums posts I have really noticed the #AD on posts, and to be honest I had no idea I was so gullible. I loved the threads regards instamums and really think MN made a small change, well done us

Um, plagiarism? No, guys. Mamabearofone is aware of this and supports it being shared. Now what else is going on.

As a mother with mental health issues I personally find nothing particularly helpful or nourishing about commercial Instagram accounts set up by people in order to simply sell me Spatone or Twinings tea. My counsellor, Doctor, psychiatrist are my first line of defence, ditto my family and friends. And online communities such as, yes, Mumsnet and Mind. None of these people offer me support with one hand and try to sell me Quorn with the other.

@jamoncrumpets yes it's just quackery plain and simple. It's a zeitgeisty bandwagon to jump on (like #dearmumsmet)

I’m just a girl. Sat on some free-holiday steps. With all my free shit I got for free ‘cos I’m a bottom tier influencer of free shit.

FWIW I don't think it's really worth arguing the toss about who wrote the original post, or taking the piss out of NB sitting on her stoop. That kind of chat just detracts from the original issues being discussed here.

I think so many of these Instagram influencers are so deeply entrenched in their community and lifestyle now that it'd be impossible for any of them to step back without seriously compromising the income and fame that they've become accustomed to. They're never going to admit that they've essentially sold out. Or that there are serious implications for sharing family photos. They've all upsized their houses and got used to premium gin!

I didn't say she didn't support it being shared, she gets more exposure/followers so she's happy. Claiming someone else's words as your own just isn't professional.

NB passed the text off as her own words, then allowed it to be shared and credited to her. That's plagiarism.

It's lovely that mamabearofone supports her text being shared and now has MOD following her. Plenty of room on IG for more instamums (especially as some stars appear to be in descent).

But that doesn't change the fact that her text was plagiarised, which is evidenced by NB having to edit her post.

It seems to have had a grand total of 12 shares and none of MOD's insta mates supporting it either. Shows they don't agree.

I think mumsnet are pretty safe staying in the garden and drinking pimms today.

NB can stay sitting on her step. Hopefully, admiring her fancy Mulberry bag will take the sting out of it a bit.

God she wants to go on reddit. People say far worse things there. But oh no, wimminz always have to support other wimminz

You are of course quite right, jamoncrumpets, but c'mon: a sit on the step protest. All neatly tagged with brands.

It gives a whole new meaning to the naughty step.

Devils advocate here, but if they’re doing something that they find fun, and gets them extra money and some free sht, why is that so irritating to everyone? I mean, what exactly is the problem here? Surely, even if they put #ad on stuff, you’d still find a way to get irritated that they’re going off to Disneyworld and getting free sht? I guess I’m more inclined to think, ‘hell yes I could use some extra cash and sitting on a beach for a week, as long as my family is happy about it, and I’m happy about it, who cares”.

I won’t buy from brands who give their shit to insta people to flog.
Like someone upthread said - if it was good, they wouldn’t need to give it away in return for positive reviews.

The influencers without children or those that don't feature their children, AND properly disclose advertising, don't bother me at all. They are fairly thin on the ground, and I wouldn't necessarily buy what they are advertising, but I just see them as doing a job online. /shrug

But sometimes products are good, but they need traction, they need people to share them and sometimes you have to give stuff to bloggers to review so you can get your name out there (I run a business, and I know that tho out stuff is fantastic, we’re small and unheard of and we need people to rate it so we have to give stuff away occasionally).

I actually don't really care about their advertising. I do care that they are trying to start a campaign against mumsnet, where plenty of women get wonderful support.

I felt so alone when DS was a baby. Mumsnet made me feel less alone. Yes you get the odd judgy loon but you get those everywhere. Yes, on Instagram too!

Maybe we should start a #dearnatasha campaign.

I agree with the ad disclosure, that’s totslly a no brainier. But... why do you care about someone else’s kids? That’s a bit strange I guess. I don’t care about what my neighbour does with their kids and how they expose them or not on social media, so why would I care what people do on Insta? They make their choices, I make mine, isn’t that how it works?

It’s deception and dishonesty that bothers me. Passing one thing off as something when it’s really something else. Having a motive that is different to what you project. Whether that’s a sneaky ad, or a faux campaign or whatever. If someone runs their life as a business and is honest about that, well then that’s down to them and down to me as to whether we have anything in common or not to engage me enough to follow them.

MP did a very good blog post recently about online safety of children which was entirely unjudgemental and has a range of views in it about what is appropriate. That’s a good longer read if you are interested in why it bothers some people.

Novichoks I agree there. Transparency is always something I’ve done on Insta, and with my business, and it’s the decent way to be to garner respect, tbh. But apart from that, it’s someone else’s choice in how to use/not use their family ok their business and I don’t really understand all the anger and judgement about that, I guess.

Some of the comments are hilarious. "All women want to do is make a bit of extra money and be good people" "We need more connectivity and love" "Mumsnet are just vipers of venom"
NB claimed that ALL of the threads on MN are about women being bullied. Hopefully she can get Wi-Fi from her step and own that comment, providing clarification to those of us who are confused about that allegation.

That's the crux of the issue: you may think it is up to a family to decide if they use their children to generate income. I strongly believe it is the exploitation of minors and that it will have serious implications. A short term implication is that instagrammers who expose their children in this manner have been discussed on MN (and other less restrained forums). We don't actually know what the long term implications will be, but we can make educated guesses and discuss them.

These discussions are being labelled as bullying (and I can't identify the power imbalance between MN posters and instagrammers so I don't believe the term 'bullying' is being accurately applied) and that in turn silences a discussion that some of us think is important. As always it is worth noting these discussions aren't possible on IG as comments perceived as negative are deleted.

I understand why the instamums want the discussion shut down: a light has been shone on both the exposure of their children and their nondisclosure of advertising. That must be incredibly uncomfortable - especially as the influencer gravy train was so damn lucrative.

The advertising disclosure was always a no brainer as it is actual rules that must be complied by, but as a previous poster noted, some instagrammers are seething about using the hashtag #AD.

Well said @MadameGrizzly

Regarding #ad now that many posts are labelled I ignore them and scroll by, I also pay no interest to the words regardless who wrote them because I know they've been paid... however pre-#ad I was often sucked in by 'recommendation' of these lovely mummy's. So I wonder if the pressure to label #ads has a) affected their influencing reach and their 'power' has dropped, or whether b) the sponsors are not so numerous.
I saw this in my feed yesterday and you couldn't really escape that the entire business is just a money machine and began with the twins.

Fosters made a really good point too: NB's ill conceived sit on protest is not only comedy gold, but by labelling all of MN as a cesspit of bullying, very vulnerable people may miss out on vital support.

@MadameGrizzly and @langkaw have summed it up for me.

I think it tells us everything we need to know about NB that she would try to cut off traffic to, discredit, and prevent new mothers looking to a forum where MANY women (myself included) have received incredible support on issues relating to mental health, relationships, pregnancy, how I'm bringing up my child, my MIL, etc etc. in order to boost traffic to her own, money making account which claims to offer the same support. It's appalling and cynical and I'm not sure how she sleeps at night.