Bloggers and brands 2.

[Merriboo]

continuing the discussion from the previous thread about transparency and disclosure (or lack of) by bloggers

Aha! The book thing. I saw another instagrammer (I hate to mention her name but I can if anyone wants) saying how much she’d love to write a book but wasn’t sure about what. She asked us (the viewers) what we would like her to write about. Eh? EH??? I didn’t realise that’s how the creative process worked. Hello again —not so— transparent Gleam.

How can you want to write a book but not be sure what to write it about?!

How about? “Blog It!: my journey from rags to riches”

Please do name names 🙊

I had to roll my eyes at Lily's Special K post, especially as if comes straight after another one flogging some mini photo printer. I'm tempted to go and watch the video now though to see how I should be making my cereal.

I was wondering about AMR's new house too!

Interesting comments about The Small Things blog. I used to read it a while back before there was any obvious sponsorship going on.

I’m wrong, the Instagrammer I mentioned above is represented by Models 1 Social Talent, not Gleam. But I suppose the job spec is much the same. I know, seems random to write a book and ask your readers what they want to read. She works very hard and has a talent for photography etc etc, I don’t want to take from that. I feel a bit mean but it seems so ridiculous to start off wanting to just ‘write a book’.

The ASA posted their latest batch of rulings today, including one on a "celebrity" promoting stuff on their Instagram feed, which was interesting >
www.asa.org.uk/rulings/convits-ltd-a17-396044.html

I’m very late to this thread, but have just read both this and the first thread in one sitting!
I follow DMBL40, Fashion Lift, CHLTS amongst others and over the last few months was confused and annoyed at the complete change in brands they were wearing, particularly DMBL40. She is the same height as me so it was great to see what she was wearing but seeing her recommend M&S jackets with obviously too short arms left a bad taste in my mouth.
I’m completely happy with bloggers receiving payment, gifts or whatever if they genuinely believe in the product that they are promoting, however when you see the same bloggers all promoting the same brand or items it’s very off putting.
Anyway, from all the savvy comments on these threads I have had my eyes opened and unfollowed all the above from IG. The jealousy comments had annoyed me too. Some of the items all the bloggers seem to own
double GG Gucci belt
Bella Freud Jumper
the Gucci camera bag
hush LOVE jumper
Golden Goose trainers

Incidentally, I got the Rockett St George book as a Christmas present and it was a truly beautiful book. They featured quite a lot of instagrammers in there, and are passionate about interiors which really comes across in their writing. Fashion would be a harder sell as a book because trends move so fast, I guess.

Nothing to do with brands but I have seen two bloggers recently using 'draw' not 'drawer'. I know from Mumsnet this is a common mistake but they think these people claim to have had proper social media jobs yet still can't spell!!

I do think some of them have lost the plot. One has just set up a just giving page because she’s doing no spend January....what happened to the days when people actually did something. Why can’t she donate her own money that she hasn’t spent during January? I am all for giving to charity, but this is laughable to me.

I'm highly confused by DressLikeAMum. Every single post seems blatantly sponsored but there's no hashtag anywhere. She's flogging another (hideous) Hill and Friends handbag this week. Did she buy it? Was it a loaner for the day? Is it a gift? Is it a sponsored post? No clue.

I'm gonna have to unfollow. She seems like an intelligent person on Instastories but her business model just isn't transparent enough.

I would guess that nearly every one of her posts are sponsored/gifted/paid for in some way. All the M&S posts on her page were in turn featured on M&S's own IG page and her blog has teeny weeny print at the bottom of long articles saying they are sponsored (M&S, John Lewis, Topshop etc), but none of this is ever disclosed in Instagram (as far as I can see anyway). TBH I think the whole DLAM thing is quite a clever and professional brand building exercise in its own right and she is clearly doing a great job in monetising her blog (her photographer must cost a fortune to keep following her round!), but her lack of transparency annoys me.

When there was the initial haters/twats post on DMBL page she wrote a sarcastic comment to DMBL about whether she had disclosed where she had got her hairband from, which made me feel that she thinks that any followers wanting more transparency are there to be mocked.

I unfollowed after that, and I am on the brink of blocking so I am not tempted to look at her page at all!

DLAM lost me with the that twee, dated ‘Friday Lunge’ crap and the ‘wacky poses’. There’s a bit too much ‘I’m mad, me’ going on for my taste.

The whole “Whacky Mum” is all part of her brand thing I reckon. The walls, the ‘fun’ clothes, the lunges and the mission statement etc. The fact she has a photographer doing most of her shoots suggests little of it is spontaneous, which kind of goes against the original ethos of Instagram. It may as well be called Advertgram now.

Yes dlam was the followed by me too after that sarcastic hair and comment. There was no need for it at all and it totally showed her viewpoint about transparancy and how she feels about her followers

I meant unfollowed by me

Anna Hart has a funny tweet the other day, that a lot of other bloggers joined in, moaning about people that follow and unfollow them daily.

As annoying as I’m sure it is, I thought it was funny that they noticed (and acknowledged they did, publically) and had a conversation about it, in front of their other followers. Some of them said they’d private messaged the culprits to call them out 😂

She also tweeted about other influencers moaning they weren’t paid for collaborations and pointing out she didn’t for three years. Sometimes the boundaries between what’s shared and isn’t is unusual given they’re businesses, commenting publically on the forums they use to engage with their customers.

Imagine waking up and feeling the need to check that sort of shizzle 😳

One of the bigger Mum bloggers called me out on DM when I unfollowed her. All "Oh so you unfollowed me?? BOTHERED!"

I was like

No loss!

Really??? That's mad.

That is ever so slightly unhinged. Do you know them in RL? I could maybe understand them saying something if you did, but otherwise.....bonkers.

Oh god no, I don't know them. They were barely on my radar before, but they made some snarky comment during the first Blogger/Brand/MN HooHa and there was much made of it on the thread and I immediately unfollowed so I figure she suspected it was relating to that thread and was having a highly defensive day.

That’s bizarre (and embarrassing!!). Can you see when someone unfollows you who it was?

Haven't a clue tbh.

I think you get a notification when someone follows you, but not unfollows. You would probably need a separate app to find out who unfollows, and would need to be paying close attention as well...its a bit needy isn't it?

Funny story though. It reminds me of the time I tried to unsubscribe from Love Films and ended up practically begging them to just leave me alone

I think the mum ones are a tight knit bunch in general which is off-putting for a start. The channel mum ones anyhow. I’m surprised any of them have got the time to be bothered about unfollowers oh wait…