Influencer ethics on Instagram

[MadameGrizzly]

Continuing the discussion on whether influencing on Instagram is an ethical business model, particularly around the disclosure of advertising and the over exposure of children.

AIBU to think it isn't a sustainable career unless the influencer is scrupulously ethical?

The issue is that each person has their own interpretation of what is/isn't ethical. That includes commenters like yourself, and social media influencers.

Agree. Would also add that I think it is really only sustainable in the short term anyway - ignoring consent/privacy issues - when small children who will grow up are the main product

It won't be a thing for much longer. Ive been working on a project in which i discovered theres now a global movement starting to "professionalise" influencers...which will obviously kill it off.

Once an influencer signs with an agent, and becomes a ltd company, they do owe their clients and customers a duty of care in regard to operating responsibly and declaring #ads etc. But, like I said, the guidelines for what is/isn't responsible behaviour on social media are non-existent.

What do you mean by professionalise, @BrightonCalling?

I'm not sure it's as late as when someone signs with an agent. I think as soon as a post is sponsored or there is a product placement, both the influencer and the advertiser should be making sure that is transparently declared

I worry about the effect of even the most well meaning SM influencers on the wellbeing of their followers. I know a few very vulnerable women that try very hard to emulate the look/feel of certain SM influencers in their own posts. And I know a few women that have realised, and become depressed about, how impossible that is to do unless you have a very successful, heavily monetised account. They so desperately want to feel part of 'the gang', but they don't have the connections or means to play with the big girls.

Many of the parenting SM influencers have small children, under the age of 5. What happens in a few years when those children grow up, go to school, refuse to wear the clothes that their parents have been sponsored to dress them in and refuse to pose for photos?

I worry that the shelf life of this career path is very limited and that, to a certain extent, success on parenting SM platforms depends v much on reproductive health. It's great to celebrate being a woman, and how strong and awesome we can be, but what happens when you decide not to have any more children? Or if your reproductive organs decide that for you? Where do you go from there? What will you blog about when your sweet toddler is 15 years old and smells like Lynx and greasy hair?

I agree, jamoncrumpets. It's a real 'line in the sand' issue as everyone has their own ideas around ethical behaviour. I think this is why the topic has generated so much discussion.

In the last thread an ASA statistic was posted that complaints about online advertising have sharply increased. I'm hoping the ASA takes notes and finds effective ways to ensure influencers and brands comply.

I noticed one influencer is promoting gin on instastories with a comment it was 'free'. If a gin company is generously sending out alcohol and asking nothing in return it apparently doesn't need to be disclosed as advertising on Instagram.

Which makes a mockery of the otherwise very controlled alcohol advertising rules.

I think you've made some very interesting points in all that post @jamoncrumpets

Most of the very successful accounts didn't start off as money making machines, it's something that's grown organically over time. I think what we're seeing now is everyone wanting a slice of the pie and the market is becoming oversaturated. Like becoming a reality star and appearing on Big Brother 10 years ago, it's seen as an easy way to fame and riches.

And of course, a lot of the really big ones do have something to fall back on if it all goes tits up. This is part of the aspirational aspect of it, I guess which leads back to your point of it being a 'gang'.

I think one of the issues with influencer marketing is that a lot of the tactics that have been going on for aeons in the marketing and advertising industries are now very visible now to consumers. The freebies to curry favour/coverage, the luxury 'press trips' and lunches to launch new products, the product placement, the close to the knuckle ads etc. I think that's why influencers who have worked in the industry for some time are aghast that consumers may take issue with some of the things that people are now starting to comment on and take issue with - because they have been common in the industry for such a long time.

The influencer market has made these tactics more visible so, like it or lump it, the whole industry now has to have a clear position about why some of this stuff is ok, or they have to adapt what they do to respond to consumer feedback.

@reboot I think you're right. I'd like to see a new code of conduct come out of this but I'm not sure how feasible that is.

I reported something I'd seen on Insta that I thought was an ad but wasn't labelled as such. The reply I got from ASA said that there was no evidence that the brand had had editorial control over the post and therefore it did not need to be labelled as an advert.

The product was something that would cost thousands to buy (and we're talking tens of thousands). Would a brand really give something like that away without wanting a positive review from the influencer? Apparently, it's seems they would 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Reboot
I dont want to say too much but basically I was working on a speech to be given by one of the big massive marketing gurus.
What we'll see next, because its all lost its "authenticity", is influencer stars becoming salaried co-opted official mascots for brands, like spokespeople.
Consumers now are looking for equal relationships with brands. Basically they want to feel like the brand is a mate. Its why the old classic luxury houses are struggling with the western markets and have to look at emerging economies for their customers: if your image is based on mystique and the unattainable high society, how do you also appeal to young consumers by acting like their mates?
Another project i worked on had a quote from a marketing honcho that stuck with me. Ill paraphrase but he basically said that from the 50s to the early 00s consumers consumed to gain status. Now, consumers consume to gain identity which os quite unsettling when you think about it.

The future of marketing is already happening: the best marketing team for your product is the consumers themselves. Hence why brands are creating "communities" and "dialogue" on social media. And its true. I dont know about you guys but i dont read product descriptions anymore. I go straight to read reviews. Once im convinced by other consumers, THEN I will read the official specs.

I've been thinking about why the 'instamums' are getting so het up about people not liking them - its because their brand IS them. It's not a book or music or a product - their brand is basically 'Like me. Like the things I talk about and use' and people buy into this by literally liking their posts and liking them. Therefore they are up in arms about us not particularly liking them and their brand and not buying the products that they link to. An author or musician can always step aside from the product they make and separate the two out - so if someone doesn't like their music or their book, they don't take it as personally and they think "but you don't really know me, so my self esteem is not affected". But these instagram influencers don't have that luxury - they ARE the brand. They've set themselves up for a fall: Not everyone will like you.

I've made a decision to unfollow any instagrammers or youtubers that include children who cannot consent to their inclusion in the content they are making. As much as Susie Verill's stories make me laugh out loud (her comic timing is spot on), I was uncomfortable watching the end bit of where she was describing a situation in which some strangers recognised her son in the street and knew his name. You could tell that Susie was also very uncomfortable about that, and you know what, I feel uncomfortable knowing a child who doesn't know me and I don't know their family either. So that's what I'm going to do, as much as these accounts entertain me, its just not fair to these children to get fame and not to decide this - OR earn the money legally through a child performance licence. That includes all celebrities that include their children too (many don't as they are much more sensible and aware of this issue).

I think a lot of vulnerable women with small children find the idea of an online community comforting and appealing, so the influencers obviously capitalise on that to broaden their appeal. The issue is that when they then post squares and stories of themselves at regular networking events, plush dinners with the same 'big name' faces, the consumer is going to feel excluded and that this community is beyond their reach. These events provide a window into the fallacy of their marketing technique. The influencers need followers, yes. But they don't want them too close. And they certainly don't want them to begin to criticise their motives.

But not all influencers are like that. Motherpukka recently put on a Soft Play, Hard Talk event about flexible working that was free and open to all. She had clearly thought through a way to use her influence and try work with others. This approach is ultimately what consumers will begin to veer towards.

As someone without children, can I ask who is THE ultimate mum influencer? Link to YouTube?

I'm trying hard not to name names in regard to negative comments on here lest it be seen as bullying but I think it's ok to say that the 'bigger' Instagram mum influencers are the likes of Mother of Daughters, Giovanna Fletcher, Clemmie Hooper, Motherpukka, Candice Brathwaite and Susie Verrill.

BrightonCalling your marketing honcho's quote is food for thought.

Someone on the previous thread mentioned that many influencers have damaged their relationship with their communities, perhaps irrevocably as trust is so difficult to regain once lost.

Though these threads have had a focus on instamums, right across the types of Instagram accounts I follow - food, travel, fashion and interiors - there is a very narrow way of being presented as FlyingBird has described. I think it's probably even more pronounced in the genres I'm not interested in, such as health, fitness, beauty and makeup.

There're a lot of thin, white, well off women at the top of Instagram MLM scheme!

I suppose they get talked about on here because they are mums. They've been followed because people think that they have stuff in common with them but if we're being fair, there are a lot of other influencers out there (especially on IG) who don't have kids or at least don't centre their Insta around their kids.

I wonder which ones will achieve longevity, genuinely. Will the instamums/dad's continue to garner followers when their kids have grown up and don't want to be featured? Or will the influencer thing have run its course by then anyway.

It will be interesting to see how it all pans out (and @BrightonCalling I've found your posts a fascinating insight into it).

Really interesting, @BrightonCalling. I completely agree, I read the reviews first and then decide whether to buy something. Insta marketing only ever really presents a positive view though so it is easy to be reeled in to something that is less than perfect.

In terms of salaried influencer, I think to an extent this is already happening (though not exclusively). Various influencers have 'monthly paid partnerships' where they pick out their favourites and showcase them on their pages. These seem to be paid both in cash and vouchers (probably vouchers to get around the rules of disclosing them with the paid partnership geotag)

I agree with you PavlovaPrincess about the ASA. I appreciate that consultation needs to occur to revise the guidelines, but they seem very out of touch with contemporary influencer marketing.

A lot of 'guidance' around compliance seems to happen before the ASA shows its teeth.

The whole thing is ethically dubious for a number of reasons.

This discussion has been super interesting.

There're a lot of thin, white, well off women at the top of Instagram MLM scheme!

Agree. Insta-stars (fitness, make up, mums - whatever) all have a very bland and samey and "like me like me or ELSE YOU ARE A HATER" feel to their interactions. It feels very much like the fantasy created by MLM about buying into the product to achieve this lovely lifestyle (that is totally fake)

I think the sustainability depends not on the ethics per se, but how exactly the influencer markets themselves. MOD for example is a bit of everything from being a mum to interiors to midwifery. Even if we never see her dc again she still has appeal. FOD OTOH is branded solely around his dc, so take them out of the equation and there is no content. (not an attack or bullying btw, those are the two I know of)

You're right but this thread will only get called out as "bullying".