Influencer ethics on Instagram 2

[MadameGrizzly]

It appears we haven't quite finished workshopping the ethical issues of 'influencing' on Instagram: disclose of advertising, the exploitation of minors and the similarities to MLM schemes.

Thank you for replying, it’s something I’ve often wondered about.
It must be difficult to find the balance between personal and professional sometimes.
I do feel uncomfortable when people skirt very close to giving medical advice but without qualifications, such as “what to do if your child has chicken pox” and they go on to recommend an OTC medication, that sort of thing. I might give that advice to a friend but not to thousands of followers.

I don’t mind the supposed, or otherwise, wealth. Plumb IG for it a bit and there are pockets of crazy over consumption. And I’m not actually keen on seeing other people’s reality ;

But still.. the younger children question..

I’ve noticed a lot of influencers recently talk of this “pull up the drawbridge” idea after you have a baby. None of them seem to account for anybody in a different situation to themselves (a theme with influencers, they assume their followers fit into one demographic). What if you have no partner? What if your baby is in special care? What if you are a carer? What if you need to do the school run? What if you live in a hostel? What if your partner does not get paternity leave because of their zero hour contract? What if you need to visit a food bank? What if midwives in your area don’t do home visits because the nhs funding has been cut?
This is the type of thing that really frustrates me with influencers, they assume that everyone is a white middle class wealthy able bodied woman & never think how they come across to others

@Mummyshepheard

When we first had our daughter we were 22 and 24 had 1 very small salary, rented a pretty mouly damp flat in Brixton (before it became cool) and used Freecycle and food vouchers and couldn’t afford to ever buy each other Christmas presents or go on holiday. We worked really hard in our professions and over the last 10 years have had some amazing opportunities thrown at us. I blogged for 5 solid years before someone noticed my writing and offered me a book deal. Instagram for me has only really taken off in the last 18 months. Now I’m not here for you all to hear a rags to ricthes story but I so sometimes feel that for some people they only see the finished, filtered result on a Instagram rather than see the whole back story. This didn’t land in my lap, we are not naive we know things don’t last forever I am trying to do a variety of things on IG sometimes they work out sometimes not for eg I tune down at least 9/10 of the paid opportunities that come my way because most of the time they don’t fit with what I want to do, despite the money being really tempting

Yes Marsha, the younger children were used in an AD 6 days ago. I’m not sure what the influencer ethics of this has to do with age exactly? Their internet footprint will be there forever & they will be easily searchable

Thanks for the new thread Madame Grizzly.

That was a lively morning.

I mentioned on the last thread that I noticed a pp's screen shot of the mother's meeting lunch showed a card that said 'WTF is an influencer'. I was wondering if anyone knew who who coined the phrase 'influencer'? Do they have that much influence? I know there have been 'it' dresses, but does it go much beyond that? I imagine some products have had their reputations damaged by their association with certain IGers, given the feedback on here.

@theladyhasarrived
I fully agree and do wonder about this unregulated advice being given out, i guess it’s the same as Dr google

I'm not a fan of this 'pull up the drawbridge' approach either. It goes back to the issue of non experts giving flawed advice.

For me personally having had quite a serious bout of PND having my friends and family around me and getting out and about in the fresh air was pertinent to my mental health.

Staying inside for two weeks would have been horrific.

@anyalovesrose lots of people are “working hard” without it ever paying off financially. You were privileged to both get a university education & supportive families for a start. I was a good few years younger than that when I started my family, which unfortunately meant dropping out of education and working low paid jobs. I work very hard and it doesn’t reflect financially, doesn’t mean I work any less hard. Having lived in a mouldy flat once means nothing, some of us are still living the reality of unacceptable rented accommodation. If anything, knowing that you know how it feels to be struggling makes it even more horrifying just how little understanding you have for people who have less.

None of them seem to account for anybody in a different situation to themselves (a theme with influencers, they assume their followers fit into one demographic). What if you have no partner? What if your baby is in special care? What if you are a carer?

This is something that I hope @badmotherpukka will address in the Flex Appeal. Having a child with a disability can mean a formerly professional person is rendered to a lifetime on benefits. Several threads on here advising posters not to mention that they have a child with a disability (and have been a carer) on their CV suggests that employers do not want to take a carer on.

@lastnightidreamtofpotatoes I believe MP is addressing this issue. It’s really important and is often very over looked in general. You give up your entire life to care

I sense your anger @Mummyshepherd and I’m not trying to stifle your opinion I was just giving it some perspective.

I can see how things often look and come across on IG, I have met many of the people I follow and they are completely different people to their online persona. It’s a bit like a stage, sometimes the most outgoing people online are so shy in real life. And sometimes be ones that prolclaim kindenwss and sisterhood don’t give you the time of day at events for eg. I think you have to have quite good opinion of yourself and a thick skin to let it washover you. I’ve got to the food shop now but I have enjoyed engaging in this thread it’s been the most interesting one for a long time. Thanks for listening

Anya all credit to you for building the blog around midwifery and building on something you’re passionate about. Do you think your success on IG could be the same if you focussed on this? And would you go back to this? (Obvs takes the heat off the children + privacy issue)

As an aside I don’t actually think people on IG have a duty of care to everyone at all levels.

Yes FlyingBird I’ll talk with you about it

I think, bernardswatch, if influencers are guided by the principle of never deceiving their audience about advertising, then it's actually all quite straight forward.

If they were given a handbag to feature twice on Instagram, it still remains a gift after those two features and should be tagged as such.

An influencer might be able to strategically feature a bottle of shampoo in their bathroom shelfie, but if it was sent to them as a gift it should be tagged as such.

I don't think the average consumer understands the word 'sample' to mean free product, whereas #gift or the awful #gifted is understood by everyone.

I personally think all products being promoted should be tagged with #AD because it IS advertising. I have never seen a bad review of a free product so it must be... advertising. However, I appreciate the ASA guidelines stipulate #AD only needs to be used when the brand has editorial control.

If being guided by the mantra of 'I must not deceive my followers in regards to advertising' is too tricky to implement, the ASA really needs to standardise the types of agreements brands and influencers can make - I would have thought influencers would prefer fewer guidelines in return for clear transparency.

And don't get me started on affiliate links - if you are savvy enough to sign up to an affiliate program and create an affiliate link, you are capable of typing A F F I L I A T E L I N K.

@FlyingBird I agree with you, it’s the ethics of sitting the wealthy luxury posts alongside the trip to Madagascar that I was questioning the ethics of. However, I can’t seem to get any clarification on that, otherwise I wouldn’t repeatedly bring up the subject of wealth. That was my concern ethically, that people in poverty are being exploited. I can see that I won’t get any response to that point so I will leave it now.

Following.

What do you think of the current trend of influencer/social media families asking followers "do you think we should have another baby?", as a means of gauging how much financial gain they would reap for having another child?

I'm being to feel like a MOD Apologist but tbh @mummyshephard I think it's out of order to repeatedly have a go at MOD on here re wealth & poverty

I agree actually, and while I have some problems with MOD's account, this isn't one of them.

She shouldn't have to apologise for being successful and while I realise she was possibly in a position of privilege to begin with anyway, it's comes down to not being able to win again. If she tried to cover all angles of motherhood, she'd be slated for being patronising, I'm sure. Look at all the questions posting her book review have thrown up.

There's only so much stuff you can cover in those little Instagram squares.

No there’s no need for each IGer to consider everyone at all levels

It’s interesting that IG success happened at around 18 months ago

Incidentally I stumbled on a father and wife team of parents to triplets the other day, followers building and thanked as the accounts grow. It really is kerching for multiples on there.

@PavlovaPrincess I did comment above that I agree & was only continuing to pose questions re wealth because there’s no response to the ethical criticism of juxtaposing the people in poverty in Madagascar against luxurious holidays. I won’t ask any more questions re MOD & wealth because that is the only aspect I’m interested in

I notice the photo of the child on the potty is still up on FOD instagram.... Clemmie you said that him posting this photo made you uncomfortable/felt it crossed the line yet your husband hasn’t taken it down...?