To think Mumsnet doesn't hate Instagram influencers?

[jamoncrumpets]

And for prominent influencers who I will not name here for fear of them kicking off and getting the thread pulled to even hint that this might be the case is irresponsible on their part?

SO much gets discussed on MN every day. So much gets criticised. Social media influencers are a new and intriguing phenomenon - why wouldn't they be discussed here? For better or worse?

Many people have supported influencers for the way they earn money. That gets ignored. Many have politely criticised and pointed out ways it could be more ethical. This gets ignored. One or two have made comments that are personal or cross the line, these have been pounced on and discussed publicly.

The 'arguments' die down. People stop caring. Then prominent influencers go and start the whole thing up again.

Blaming MN is just lazy and irresponsible.

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@ita5oclocksomewhere when you change your instagram to a business one (which anyone can do, it just allows you to see stats on posts, do paid partnerships etc) there are options to pick from. The vast majority pick personal blog - one because it's one of the top options, and two because most of them view their accounts as their personal blog of their life etc - they just happen to have advertiser's etc now

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Have you started that discussion youre threatening to have on IG about MNers? I imagine if there’s a delay it’s because you’re setting up an IG account, being as though you don’t have one.

Ha, I wondered about this too!

Three posts correcting spelling/typing? USE PREVIEW POST FFS!

It was me that made the ‘bitchy comment’ and I’m still waiting for an answer M5

@EeebyMum, I do not owe you any explanation .

@m5slowdown
I’m not after an explanation (explanation of what?), you said you were going to post about the mean MNers on IG (shortly before posting that you had no presence on IG), I’m asking for a link to said post.

People forgetting what they’ve previously posted again, think we all need some twinings and a nice rest.

Well we've had our first clarification that items now up for sale were not originally gifted. See, they do read here and take note of what we're saying.

I don’t buy into the ‘it’s not your business’ mindset. They are advertising to the masses and the masses can object if they feel this is being done outside the legal guidelines for advertising.

The ASA do not have the capacity to monitor everyone (maybe why NotCraigDavid keeps flogging his diet pills and hexklusive watches) and will rely on reports from members of the public.

The more this is regulated the more that influencers will take note and set a good example for all the new up and coming accounts wanting to dip their toes in the market (or bodies in the one size cossies)

I used to love WIT/Laura’s feed and all her outfit posts pre #witwedding #witmamafriday etc. I did buy stuff based on seeing things on her feed. The stuff quickly escalated from mostly high street pre wedding to £££ designer/obviously sponsored and still is never declared as ads. I didn’t click for a while that she wasn’t genuinely buying stuff and it was only when I noticed her at events for brands when I realised she was just flogging affiliate links and freebies. None of this is ever declared which I find mega shady ditto with the spin off wardrobe icons stuff.

If you see a blogger looking great in something it often highlights something you’d suit etc. Mother pukka did fab changing room stories post baby where she tried on clothes checking they ‘sheathed’ the post pregnancy lumps and allowed bfing access and I would genuinely have bought lovely stuff I saw her in as it was obvious she was a Mum in same position (bfing, bit chunkier than pre baby) paying out her own cash for something she liked. That to me is an example of ethical influencing as when she does an ad/gift etc it’s clearly marked as such.

I feel a bit embarrassed actually. But then if I was the kind of blogger that was scrupulously transparent I probably wouldn't have felt the need to explain myself anyway. I don't think I could be arsed to sell a T shirt for £3 here, and dress for £4 there anyway though. I'd rather send stuff down to my charity shop.

I don't think these threads should be held responsible for the daft #notanad or #boughtitmyself hashtags, which make me cringe. The IGers need to look to their own community if they want to finger point for that - the ones that are not transparent are tainting the others. Not our issue.

Are the snide, spiteful remarks really necessary, @CadyHeron?

I actually think RVKloves is an incredibly scrupulous blogger/influencer. As far as I've seen she always makes ads/affiliate links really clear and her clarification about the whatrvkloveswore page being stuff she's bought herself just highlights this.

I'm not sure ASA agree with you, BeautyBox, but I am sure her disclosures have improved, which sounds like she should have some credit for. I stopped following a long time ago because she was clearly not being transparent at all. Guess that's part of the problem, it may take a while (if possible at all) to regain the trust of consumers who have felt let down in the past.

It's an interesting point about some shady influencers tainting the others. This definitely happens. Maybe they all need a code of conduct or something. They could self regulate and educate each other and pull up their standards together (with the lack of any official body doing this). Would benefit them all if some trust was regained. A lot of them are part of Channel Mum or isn't there a mumsnet bloggers group? One of these umbrella groups would be in an excellent place to start something like that.

I realise now why Greg Rutherford was suddenly in susie v's feed so much as he's just announced his retirement, they obviously want to focus on revenue from his personality/family life.

I really like both their accounts actually, she's the only once I've ever found actually funny, the rest of them are so mundane.

Oh apart from Esther Coren but she's on a different level really, but I do wonder about all the stuff she recommends, I can believe it's all legit stuff she likes but equally I can believe it might be stuff she's been paid to mention.

She's definitely done a lot of Tilly Sveass promotion without properly tagging.

It does seem a bit daft that people are working in a regulated industry without any body to oversee them and protect their interests. Someone on a previous thread mentioned a licence that introduced in UAE, but it is super expensive. That seems a bit of a sledgehammer/nut solution to a problem (and may not work anyway). It would be better to have some kind of organisation which provided training and a quality mark so that bloggers get some training and access to information and consumers know which ones they are more likely to be able to trust. I thought the agencies that took on bloggers would do this but I don't think they do anything much other than broker deals from what I have seen.

Some of the ones operating under Channel Mum are in the 'shady' category when it comes to ad disclosure, for sure.

I think I tried Susie V's account for a bit but I must have unfollowed (although can't remember why). I can see a family blog being quite lucrative for them in the same way it is for the Fletchers. The celeb families do have an edge though. I have noticed Victoria Beckham seems to be slowly increasing her family related posts too. I have wondered if they're going to dip their toes further into family blogging.

I don't think these threads should be held responsible for the daft #notanad or #boughtitmyself hashtags, which make me cringe

These threads have actually said there's no way of telling if someone has bought it themselves or been gifted it.
If someone is showing off their new dress say as people tend to do on social media, what are they supposed to do if it is actually their own and not an ad?
If they just put a picture up, people on here say it's not clear and they should say.
If they do say make clear that it's their own and not an ad, it's apparently "cringe."
It honestly seems like they can't win whatever they do.
What do you suggest they do instead then? Genuine question.

Cady, if they are consistently transparent there is no need to say anything. I don't look at any of MPs or DMBL's feed and question whether they are disclosing because they disclose clearly and I know what is the sponsored v non sponsored content.

Of course other people may find #notanad useful, people approach it differently. What's your position on it Cady? Personally, I find jf I'm reading the feed trying to work out if it's sponsored or not then it's a sign the trust has gone and it's time to unfollow.

myother I agree that if someone is consistently transparent, it is easy to tell if it is sponsored or not.
If threads are saying in general though that because it doesn't say it's an ad and they're so confused, how are they supposed to know and wondering whether it's something they should be reporting to let the ASA decide,I can totally see why influencers might be sticking #notanad or #myown on everything. Can't have it both ways.