To think many are jealous of social media influencers

[pebimo6]

There's a couple I follow on Instagram and it's obvious some of the things they show are ads and that's fine. When I watch itv it's free because there are ads, that's the world. You either pay for a service or it finds another way to make you pay.

But has anyone else notice how instamums attract so much negativity? It seems to be nothing more than jealously! They're not harming anyone and no one is forced to follow

Yabu

They are absolute trash and should get real jobs

I'm very ambivalent towards influences if I'm honest, I unfollow anyone who makes me feel rubbish or are constantly selling stuff they blatantly don't care about.

I do find the tattle threads dissecting their every move a little bit odd though, I had a scroll through and people were ripping Mrs Hinch apart for elf on the shelf, one poster commented something like 'at least we only have to ensure this one month per year' you don't, you could just I follow her and you don't have to see it at all 🤯 that mentality confuses me

Yanbu, its a modern sales technique for a different world - and mainly for women.

People dont mind Mad Men advertising goons or Saatchi and Saatchi selling hoovers to women, but god forbid a talks about her new fridge in an Insta Story to get paid.

Influencers are a pretty smart modern way of selling. Yes some people are annoying at doing it but the ones doing it well create a good balance and it works.

I’m cringing for you.

There are nutters out there who have fan pages dedicated to her and her children.

Those pages are only there because she had commodified her children. There might be trills out there, but she’s feeding them a healthy diet.

@Cam2020

They're just making a living. They're presumably paying tax and contributing to the economy. I personally think it's a pile of vacuous shite so I don't follow any of it but no-one is forced to look at it. Making nasty comments probably does stem from jealousy.

Are the freebies they get sent listed as benefits in kind?

@SarahBellam

Agree with *@Hotchocolateandcake* above. They’re just sales reps trying to earn a living like everyone else. I don’t really see how it’s different to watching a fashion show on Lorraine and them giving you details of where to buy them. I would draw the line at showing my kids though. I’ve sold my DD’s old competition gym leotards online and you realise VERY quickly there’s a lot, and I mean A LOT, of very very creepy guys out there.

Dodgy second hand car salesmen are also trying to earn a living. They also use filler to make things look younger...

.....said the insta mum

Oh OP you are so very stupid. I've just read through all your posts, have a day off 'hun' yeah.

The difference between influencers and traditional advertising/Kardashians is that an influencer is attempting to established a relationship with her followers and build trust. I have never watched the kardashians but they are firmly in the 'celebrity' bracket, same with people like paris hilton- they obviously have extravagant lifestyles and it is much more 'detached' like watching a tv programme with rich people in it.

However, a lot of influencers cultivate 'a girl next door' image and they go above and beyond to show us how they are just ordinary people. Have you ever had a kardashian respond to your comment on instagram? plenty of influencers painstakingly respond to all their comments and form friendships with their followers. Some of their followers trust their opinion the same way they would trust a friend, its because they are 'relatable. You can see why this is dangerous when you are an ordinary average woman and your 'friend' is asking you to buy all this stuff cos she 'used it' and 'its great'.

I was in the caroline hirons skincare freaks group and left because I was weary of all the incessants hashtags #carolinemademedoit, stories of women hiding their purchases from their husbands, spending over £200 on the latest kit (i think she has one every few months I swear), buying every single thing she recommended (very few things below £50-75 for a serum or face oil). I had a peek at many of their facebook profiles and no, they weren't all upper middle class women on 6 figure salaries. Quite the opposite actually.

OP, search the term " parasocial relationships" about the one-sided relationships between social media influencers and viewers.
There is no jealousy from me.
Most of them are very pretty young women who are using their youth and beauty and cute children to make money which is not something I would do because of the lack of privacy. I hope they realise as soon as their kids age into surly pre-teens and they hit their mid 30s they're out of a job. We've seen it with all the bloggers who were a big thing circa 2010 or earlier who've now faded into obscurity. They have a short shelf life and there is always a prettier younger woman coming up to replace them.

But are they really not doing anyone any harm? I’m not jealous of influencers at all but they do irritate me. The vast majority of them are promoting ‘stuff’ to look a certain way and apart from the negative body image message and the message it sends that you’re only as good as you look, all this ‘stuff’ is just more tat destined for landfill. I live less than a mile from a landfill and I wish they would stop promoting fads that basically end up as pollution

Blimey OP,

Why not spend your time dealing with real issues the world faces like hunger, disease and people being killed in Afghanistan? It's just the suffering of people selling makeup and Hoover's on social media that you find beyond the pale in life?!?

Honestly where is your compassion OP.

See how silly your argument about diseases and Afghanistan was?

No one should be using their children for engagement.

I don't have an issue with people making money, including influencers. I'm not jealous of them, partly because we're well off but also because I'd hate to share my family life in that way. It's hard enough for kids to grow up with social media and I strongly believe that sharing little Johnnie in the bath, on the loo and having a meltdown to millions of strangers is not being a good parent and protecting your kids.

I agree that they're sales people, just using a different format. Thats fine. But there's something that makes me uncomfortable about it. I'm not sure everyone can understand that they're not your "friend", you don't know them and what you see is a carefully manicured image. Plus the use of filters and staging making everything look unattainably perfect. It makes me worry that people on low incomes get sucked into consumerism they can't afford.

It’s the rampant narcissism that gets me the most. I can’t believe anyone thinks their life is so interesting that they need to share it with everyone else? It’s so weird. I know someone from the gym who does it & has about 100k followers - she makes out she lives in London but actually she’s still at home living with mum & dad in our crappy commuter town, & works in Sainsbury’s part time. That but never goes on the ‘gram. It makes me laugh.

The children bit is the worst though. My kids are embarrassed that I have ANY videos of them at all, even just saved on my phone. They won’t even let ME watch them. I can’t imagine how they would feel if literally 10000s of people had all seen them. It’s dreadful.

10 pages here of posts in a similar vein, influencers are vacuous, monetising children is hideous etc. So who are the people who are commenting blowing smoke up their arses? ‘Aw baby Raffy is to bloody gawjuss 😍😍’

I’ve never heard anyone say they like influencers in real life, I wonder where the engagement is coming from?

Because a lot of its staged, fake - sponsored items, fake smiles and kids can't consent to the publicity. Reality shows similar.

@ChristmasKrackers

For instance my best friends sister thought Mrs Hinch was a hairdresser at the beginning. Says it all doesn’t it.

She was a hairdresser...

I’m not jealous. I just find them fake, egotistical and embarrassing.
I consider all ‘influencers’ to be freebie grabbers anyway

Believe me, no one is jealous of them

My friend is an influencer - she has an Instagram famous dog with 250k followers. They make about 3k-5k a month from the dog . I'd do that if I could!

I love how so few people can conceive of reasons more complex than ‘jealousy’ when others dislike something. I don’t have social media, whenever I’ve had a cursory glance at any ‘influencers’ (god imagine being influenced by some of these people!) I’ve thought they seem shallow and vapid. Who can be arsed with the minutiae of others lives to such an extent that they’d have an influence on how you live yours? It’s insane. It’s definitely not anything to do with envy on my part! Such an easy way to dismiss the ‘haters’. Meh

Why would you want/need influencing by someone who has probably never done a proper day's work in their life...the concept amazes me.....I have my own brain that's quiet intelligent and i don't need to be 'influenced' by some dunce on 'their channel' thanks very much!

@CourtRand she meant that her friend thought Mrs Hinch was still a hairdresser and that Instagram was just a hobby and she recommended things to people to be nice, not that influencing was her full time job earning her a ton. It shows that some people aren't aware that they are seeing constant ads.