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

I don't have Instagram and have zero interest in 'influencers'. It's all really easy to avoid, though some of the stuff I've heard about through other sources is ridiculous:

-Teeth whitening products promoted by influencers with veneers
-Influencers posing next to someone else's home/car as if it belongs to them
-Badly edited photos
-Using filters on photos of young children to drastically alter how they look
-Promoting harmful diet products
-Breaking the law by failing to declare adverts

It's embarrassing.

The majority of them are selling by stealth, which is the main problem I have with them. The lack of transparency around ads and spon con.

Also, many of the instamums rose to fame off the back of selling their children’s privacy. Some have done a reverse ferret and now performatively blank out their children’s faces, but the pics are already out there for anyone to do anything with. That’s the aspect of it that I find most unpleasant.

As for jealousy, I honestly cannot imagine anything worse or more violating than posting every aspect of my private life on the gram for loads of randoms to see.

Imagine being in town and some strange recognises you. Or you go to parents evening and your wondering whether your kid’s teacher watched that story of yours where you’re crying to your phone camera with a G&T in your hand because bedtime was especially hard tonight.

Fuck all that. There’s no dignity in it.

They need to be banned, I don't agree with it. The effect on mental health they have pretending to have perfect life's and false advertising is unreal.
Mrs hinch is especially bad for this, encouraging people to stock pile cleaning products etc and buy expensive shit when her target audience are on low wages for example. WHATS THE NEED?!

Also whose going to be jealous of someone who pretends to be a author and gets it all ghost written? if they were actually talented then fair play I might be a bit jealous but not of people who pretend to be something they're not.

I'm actually quite surprised by the "perfect life" comments. Maybe I just follow the ones that don't maintain the facade but it's an emotional rollercoaster/ slow train crash. One minute they're living their best life, the next day it's them in front of the psychologists office (in full make up, natch) saying " I know you're all going to be surprised...." (no, not really). Probably their promoter told them to be more human or something but even so...

Saying people are jealous is just an easy way for people to sweep all the problematic bits under the carpet. It is a problematic 'profession', there's no two ways about it.

While many of us are able to recognise that we are being sold to, many many people (including children, those with learning difficulties, people who don't have a strong grasp on social media/technology) aren't aware of this in the same way. They may not understand that influencers are promoting things for money rather than because they actually believe they are good products.

Saying 'it's their responsibility to switch off' just absolves influencers of responsibility. We all have responsibility in our jobs - why are influencers any different? Yes, parents have a responsibility to monitor their children's internet use, but that doesn't mean that the onus only falls on them.

Adults can also be susceptible for many reasons, but influencers only see the pound signs and don't appear to care about the fact that they could be praying on people's deeply held insecurities or mental health problems in order to make some money. Advising them to switch off just makes it look as though it's their problem to deal with and no one else's, yet these same influencers preach #bekind without looking at their own actions and how they may effect people.

It's the wilful ignorance and ignoring of these issues that gets to me.

Affect*

They are just glorified sales people, no I’m not jealous of them or the fake lifestyles they perpetuate.

Some of them really are hurting people though and it's usually their kids.

I don’t have an insta account but I am aware of ‘influencers’. Seems a rather sad way to make a living, but the people who look up to and follow such people are even sadder 🤷🏻‍♀️

Influencers are just parasites really. What a vacuous existence. So, no jealousy here but 3/10 for the attempt at a contentious post 😂

I've worked with a influencers. I tend to see them as quite vapid and also work shy. They just wait for things to be sent to them, pose in them and then all they have to do is wait for the money in their bank account.

It also has to be short lived for the most part because a lot of being an influencer hinges on youth and beauty. You could neglect to build a career in another area and be left with not much later on.

@Snaketime

Some of them really are hurting people though and it's usually their kids.

The ones that adopted a child and then returned it are awful, but that's a tiny minority. Most of course aren't hurting their own children

I would argue that people who are exploiting their children for £££ on social media are hurting their children.

It was me that mentioned the ones who adopted then ‘rehomed’ a disabled child from another country.

Of course that’s the massively extreme end of the spectrum, but it was damaging long before the ‘rehoming.’ And unfortunately they are far from the minority in what they did before that. Making a video of first meeting an adopted child and posting it for likes is repulsive. It’s a time when your entire focus and energy should be on the child and how you will bond with them and help them adjust, not on what zoom should be used and how the lighting is.

Same with lots of things. Home schooling, kids milestones etc - this is not a ‘minority’ on Instagram, there’s a whole group of ‘influencers’ on YouTube and Instagram who monetise their children’s lives this way. It may not be damaging in the obvious sense but it’s not good practice. Your child doesn’t need you running for the camera the minute they have a tantrum, they need you ready to engage and parent them. I’ve seen kids age 3/4 who will say stuff like ‘like and subscribe’ during the videos, so they know they’re being monetised and that their parents engagement with them is a chore and a job.

I used to see lots of them on Instagram because I worked in a nursery and would search up things like ‘sensory play’ or ‘outdoor learning.’ Lots of them either home school or do these types of activities. I don’t use it anymore and I’m glad, but it’s not true that these influencer parents are a minority.

The ones that adopted a child and then returned it are awful, but that's a tiny minority. Most of course aren't hurting their own children

Anyone who displays their kids for likes and shares, to feed their own narcissism and need for validation is hurting their kids.

These are kids who have no say in the matter and who will never be able to escape the fact that their parent felt the need to put pictures/stories of them and the minutiae of their lives online for the world to see

How is it hurting their children?

Mrs hinch has been able to give up work and is the sole breadwinner allowing Mr hinch to give up work. They now get to spend their days spending more time with their two children and can provide for them everything they want. How exactly is that damaging them!

I don't think the damage to the children is necessarily now. It'll be when they are older and wondering why their parents chose to expose their whole childhood to the world.
When they get to school and other children are commenting etc.

Hopefully they'll have enough money to fund the therapy.

@pebimo6

How is it hurting their children?

Mrs hinch has been able to give up work and is the sole breadwinner allowing Mr hinch to give up work. They now get to spend their days spending more time with their two children and can provide for them everything they want. How exactly is that damaging them!

They've made the decision to broadcast them to the world on their behalf, they have had no choice in the matter. Even if she deletes all of her accounts anything you put on the Internet is out there forever. When older they may not be happy with the amount of exposure they have had.

I'm not sure Mr H was ever intending to go back to work, must be a strange life for him really.

R u an influencer OP? What a strange concept. Doubtful anyone is jealous. I think disapproval stems from how disingenuous a significant proportion of these people on Instagram are. I don't follow anyone happy to make my life decisions myself. I personally think the entire thing is pointless and hopeful the bubble will burst soon.

I don't follow any of the influencers that are often mentioned on MN but I find some of the hatred strange. The amount of people who dislike the likes of Mrs Hinch but will post on here (or tattle) the moment she posts a new Instagram story is odd. Don't waste you're you're head on it.

The bigger the audience the more money they're making so the haters are just helping them out.

Definitely not jealous of women/families teaching their grandmothers to suck eggs. They seem incredibly naïve and very insecure to me. They're definitely hurting their kids emotionally though. Baffles me that they can't see how they're using them for their own gain. That's abuse in my book.

I'm a small time travel-vlogger influencer. I would NEVER do this as my main job. Living in a van full time is amazing but fucking stressful and having to film a lot of it is hectic.

DH and I get approached by brands and we turn down most of them because they're low quality shite products we wouldn't use. However we do work with a couple of companies and yes we do get "free stuff" but there are a lot of businesses meetings, emails, negotiations, filming, social media work outside of youtube. I'd say it's worth the cost of the items but only just.
Most people we know don't last long unless you're very boundaried and treat it as a job, without selling your soul.

Athletic greens anyone?

We see a lot of people posing for photos around here - I’m assuming it’s for their online ‘followers’. Because we live here we know who lives in the houses and whose car parked in the street is whose...

‘Papped’ as they come down the steps of a house they don’t live in.
Posing (with the weird bendy leg thing) next to a car they don’t own.
Photographed as they step up to the front door of a house they don’t live in with armfuls of empty designer bags.
Standing outside eye wateringly expensive coffee shops or restaurants.
Posed as if they are getting out of a sports car (not theirs), then wandering off. Or worse, sitting on the car.
Pose sitting on the steps of someone’s house, looking away from the camera, as if the shot was taken with them unaware...

We passed a woman in a fur coat, gym clothes, full hair and makeup, etc posting with a photographer (he was taking shots, checking them, posing her etc).

But always the leg - what’s with the leg? Weight on back one, front one just in front, with heel up, toe down...

We even watched a very glam mum and her child having a birthday ‘surprise’ outside a block they don’t live in - complete with nanny, party guests, balloons and a photographer. Mum, nanny and child would pose coming it if the taxi, look of shock as the kids jumped out with balloons, tears, hugs. Walk to the front door... then stop, mum checks the camera shots, then sho everyone back their starting places and start again... we were there about 20 mins watching (waiting for DS).

Quite interesting! I imagine they are writing up ‘just chilling in London!’ ‘Shopping in the west end’ ‘love my new car!’ ‘Don’t you hate it when he takes your photo when you aren’t ready!’ Etc etc etc.

I know people say they make money from such things...

@pebimo6

How is it hurting their children?

Mrs hinch has been able to give up work and is the sole breadwinner allowing Mr hinch to give up work. They now get to spend their days spending more time with their two children and can provide for them everything they want. How exactly is that damaging them!

She had sold their privacy, their lives have been lived online and they can't consent. Their every move from conception to now virtually, is documented online.

There are millions of people, who know where she, and her children, live. They know the layout of her house and what security measures she has (or doesn't have).

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

She plays the "I'm just a normal girl and all this has happened and I just don't know how" when in reality it's been very cleverly and carefully curated.

All it takes is for one of those nutters to decide she's not paying them enough attention and decide to go to her home.

Even if that doesn't happen, can you imagine being 14 and having the school bully be able to peruse the entire back catalogue of your toddler temper tantrums, wet nappies and embarrassing moment on an open account. Or an employer at 21, checking your name and your digital footprint going back that far.