Instagram spending v Reality

[Highnone]

Is it just me, or is there an increasingly bizarre disconnect between Instagram and real life when it comes to money?

I’m not talking about the super-rich influencers living in Dubai or those leading ridiculously extravagant lifestyles. I’m talking about the seemingly ordinary UK Instamums. The ones who present themselves as relatable, everyday women with children, houses and normal family lives.

Yet the spending is absolutely relentless.
Every school holiday seems to involve another trip abroad, there’s a constant stream of new clothes, beauty treatments, homeware, Today I watched someone buying a Chinese takeaway from Harrods 😂
I know some people earn very good money. I know some have family wealth, and I appreciate that gifted products and advertising play a part. But surely this level of constant consumption can’t be normal?
The cost of living, for households on what would be considered very healthy incomes is having a huge impact now.
Yet on Instagram it’s as though none of this is happening.
Is there genuinely a whole section of society with this much disposable income that I’m completely oblivious to?
Does anyone else find it increasingly out of touch, or have I just ended up following a particularly vapid corner of Instagram and need to delete?

First up, I’m a big social media user/consumer so I’m not knocking it at all.

Four years or so ago I was following a group of ‘mum friends’ who lived what they tried to make seem very relatable lives and thought the same thing. After a little digging (not a creepy amount - they were very open about their names) I worked out their average household income to be about 500k. Between one husband owning a small company, another as a VP in banking, another as a CFO of a well financed scale up… they were also raking in £££ from flogging overpriced mop heads to ‘regular’ mums via instagram. I realised I had an unhealthy relationship with the content, blocked them all and haven’t thought of them much since until now!

What I have done since is not follow parenting influencers without a REASON. I follow a few outrageously funny, more wealthy parents where there’s a more obvious divide (aka they’re not trying to convince everyone their lifestyle is achievable) and outside of that my content is mainly gardening or cooking or baking or housekeeping… so stuff I could do with a kick up the ass to actually do 😉

Why on earth do you spend your time watching " influencers ' on Instagram?
Seriously I dont understand why leaching on the lives of other people has become an acceptable pastime. Why not concentrate on living your own life?

I’m sure most of the stuff is gifted, returned, or sold off on Vinted or eBay, otherwise their homes would look like episodes from Hoarders. Remember that they are basically advertisers - all they’re doing is trying to influence you to buy something, and that’s how they earn a living. What I have noticed is that I’m getting very bored with a lot of the people I’ve been following for years - the Caryses, Maddies, and Plus40Claires - I get the feeling some of them are bored to death of trying to flog us the latest variation mini trench or weird gym wear and really they’d rather be at home sipping cocoa. Some are trying to diversify their offer, with varying degrees of success but it must be exhausting trying to come up with novel ideas and outfits day after day after day.

You're watching influencers on social media, not a documentary.

It’s fascinating isn’t it, and the points about it all not being as it seems are well made.
Some of the accounts I am thinking of have been very open about their spouses jobs though and so it still doesn’t add up.
I knew someone would comment to say ‘why are you looking at it’ Because I enjoy it! I like looking at fashion, interiors etc. I think it’s possible to enjoy something alongside be curious about it and ask others opinions.

You’re about 5 years minimum behind the times with this observation @Highnone

I've always just assumed the B & M "dupe hauls" were returned. No one needs that much tat in their life.

I thought the clothes ones just tried on and sent back. I follow one lady who does a try on and at home and she will say she’s sending it back. But I did think maybe those doing clothes would return majority or would re sell on vinted if they wore them for a while.

I think what you have to account for though is many influencers will see these purchases as content to ultimately make more money off the back of it- an investment so to speak.
For example, the food from Harrods is often on my FYP as it catches peoples attention and often goes viral. If they spend £50 on the initial purchase and the video does well, they’re making much more.

I know an influencer and the only reason her account does well is that she’s already wealthy enough to have a large beautiful home, without it her account wouldn’t have taken off. Most of the free stuff is opened, photographed and put straight on to Vinted, plus she gets a % of what people buy from her links and discount codes. It’s quite a lot of work for what appears to be an ‘easy’ job.

Stop watching so their numbers decline and they cant do all this shit. Easy really. Your mental health will improve ten fold by doing so.

People either have very high incomes (over £250k) and/or are racking up huge amounts of debt typically. My dc used to complain that we (on a healthy income) didn’t have the holidays, cars, designer stuff etc of some of their friends parents - but turns out that their parents were remortgaging to get extra income and had personal loans on top whereas I made my final mortgage payment aged 48 and own my car outright - those same people who are commenting on my holidays and early retirement are struggling with mortgages gone through the roof, health issues making full time work hard etc. in your 30’s especially it’s possible to live off credit but it bites you later!

Gifted stuff and advertising doesn't just play a part it's the main reason! These days the majority of influencers are basically shopping channels. They have to push the consumption, either because they've been paid to do it or because they are targeting businesses that they would like to work with. They're also notoriously bad at properly labelling their content as gifted when it is.

They all want the dream of being able to be an influencer as their main job so they're either chasing that or they've achieved it and the only way to make money off it is through advertising stuff.

It’s just an exaggerated version of what happened when Facebook started and people were posting picture perfect family photos showing how marvellously perfect their lives were to everyone - when in reality their children were a bullies and got away with everything because they were treated like little prince and princesses who could do no wrong, the mother drank every night and the father was snorting cocaine to get by! Yes a rather specific example of a family I know! SM is not real life and the reason it messes with people’s MH is because people don’t make that distinction.

Instagram is not real life. it’s nonsense.

Do something else for entertainment instead.

I know one woman who has quite a successful social media presence- she mainly does try ons of what she has bought, in her home. Multiple outfits every week

It’s well known amongst people who know her that she returns quite a lot of what she has bought. She mostly does it for engagement.

If I didn’t know that, I would assume she must be very wealthy if she’s spending so much money on clothes every week

However, she does get quite a lot of things gifted to her because she says so in the posts - shoes, beauty products, even a recent hotel stay.

I have no idea how much money they make if people buy through their links, but I’d guess quite a lot? Other influencers (bawk) seem to genuinely have made quite a lot of money - evident from new homes, holidays etc

I just follow cats and museums. And sometimes cats in museums! It's better for my mental health.

Same here i have a family member who is successful but already wealthy. Unfortunately it has caused a huge disconnect between us as she is so far removed from the average family this just added to it, lives in a different world spending 300 on a small table etc. However she has been gifted huge amounts of things but it takes time.

They spend money in an attempt to make money. Several of the current large influencers have spoken about how they were in debt in the early days due to booking holidays and buying things in order to look aspirational on Instagram.
I think a lot of these wannabe mum influencers definitely over spend due to their ambition to make an income out of it.

I follow one influencer on insta and i honestly am going to have to remove her. What started as an account to document her weightloss has morphed into and account about what she can spend her money on next. Four, five even six holidays a year, hair extensions constantly, cosmetic surgery every year, repeated trips to Disney for the kids, new clothes all the time…its become repetitive and boring. She started out very relatable and now its just constant “ what can i spend my money on next”.

You might not be realising how many freebies some of these accounts get given.

A woman I work with made a bet with one of her friends that she could get a company to send her free shit by posting on tik tok.

She's late 20s, doing a PhD and working for a medical company. Just got engaged and bought a house together. Quite pretty, likes her fashion.

So, she started posting on tik tok, never had before. Slice of life stuff. Holiday photos, outfits, cakes she'd bought at a market. One video was literally just of her luggage being packed for a holiday. Along with a bit of work related stuff, a girls in science angle.

One particular video went a bit viral, and she ended up with about 30000 followers within 2 months, posting 3 times a week. Suddenly companies started sending her stuff. Makeup, clothes, invites to stuff. She posted for about another month before deciding her point had been proved an knocking it off, but she reckons she got about a grands worth of free crap within that month.

And that was without asking for anything, just companies reaching out to her. If she'd pushed it harder, I imagine she could have gotten much more.

It's also an environmental disaster.

I suppose these influencers may well have a good income from their content, and so it makes sense to reinvest that in making more good content which gets more views / engagement.

Often trips (Disney cruises being one I’ve noticed recently!) seem to be gifted.

Companies use influences as cheap advertising, they really are saving £££££££ Presumably you wouldn't sit and watch endless ads on TV so why do it on the internet? I really don't get it.

I only follow a few non real life friends on Instagram - I've seen a few acquaintances post holiday photos this half term and my only thought has been "Ooh I wonder if they get a 2 week half term".

Plus things that look expensive aren't always - my friend with the most beautiful house, her hobby is going to car boot sales/looking at Facebook selling and upcycling stuff.