Can we chat about fashion Instagrammers/influencers..

[Cherrypie32]

..because I don’t have anyone in real life to carp about it to. So, I follow a few, am addicted to the stories/feeds of some but don’t always know why. The ‘high end’ ones, The Frugality, Dress Like A Mum, Emma Hill etc pop up but quite designer and high end for me. I like the ramblings of Does My Bum but I’m nothing like her body shape so don’t wear her clothes. There are a few more ‘high street’ ones I follow, Steal My Style, What Kathy Did, Forty not Frumpy and more but they tend to be repetitive. Is this because they are so heavily sponsored to flog something? At the moment they are all banging on bout All Saints leather bikers and maxi skirts. And they all copy each other so there’s not much new to look at. There are a few I follow with nowhere near the amount of followers that seem more creative and have different body shapes so I presume that they have more liberty to do this as aren’t under afflilate deals.
I don’t need advice to ‘unfollow’, I enjoy looking at it all, just interested in how it all works really.

I'm not planning to do so.

www.asa.org.uk/make-a-complaint.html

@goingslow no one is going to police it. It's too cumbersome and it's global - a point I've made several times - so you can't stop a UK blogger from promoting in the rest of the world if there's no legislation! Marks and Spencer's are global! So how the hell do you stop a Uk blogger using #liketkit for a US follower???? It's mad to think you can create virtual global boundaries.

#gifted pearl clutching
Giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe as they spend a lot of time engaging/jobbing/events with other influencers they are unaware at how little the general instagram public (as opposed to people who use it to build their own profile and brand) know about how it works? I certainly didn’t appreciate the extent of the #spon #ad #gift and now feel really misled.

As they make money from having followers they should be more respectful of the worth of the followers rather than be aghast at being made to be open and honest. FWIW I have spent the past 2 days unfollowing a lot of these accounts and absolutely anybody side eyeing the new regs. As a forty something lawyer I’m can’t believe I was naive enough to get sucked in for so long... feel like an idiot (with a yellow M&S dress I’ve never worn...)

The location of the follower is irrelevant. The location of the blogger is what determines the rules that need to be followed.

@MaryPoppinjay how do you know when an account is genuinely not profiting or being gifted? Do you unfollow because you suspect they're not declaring something?? It's impossible to analyze each post for transparency?

I'm a blogger on Instagram but I'm nowhere near the level of some of the bloggers mentioned here! I love following other bloggers though!

@PleaseDoNotBend I totally disagree! The reason for the rules being created in the Uk is to protect the UK followers not the followers in the rest of the world. This creating an artificial virtual boundary.

It's going to be fairly obvious when they start tagging every post as AD and yet nothing was tagged in the past....

Or when their mates tag the latest jumpsuit as AD and they don't.

Weeding out shady behaviour isn't hard once you are aware it is happening.

Good luck with that argument

@PleaseDoNotBend again I disagree. That's an awful lot of suppositions you're making. What if someone has been influenced and bought similar to a blogging friend? You're going to assume theirs was gifted? A lot of my friends are bloggers with 1000s of followers but I don't monetize my Instagram yet in your world I'd be guilty!?

Estee Lalonde has now edited her Maldives post to replace #gifted with #ad, after being called out. Its a start!

You are right, a lot of suppositions. I’ve become a cynical so and so, awful isn’t it?

It'll be similar to the rules relating to privacy and injunctions where the names are revealed in the USA but remain hidden here. It means bloggers based here will have to comply and that's a good thing. Followers aren't stupid, the reason this had happened is because of larger accounts being called out for hidden manipulation and followers complaining to the asa. Followers will continue to lodge complaints and message Instagrammers direct when they try and hide their ads. The tide iuds turning and this is hopefully the beginning of the end. It had absolutely zero to do with jealousy, not supporting women, being bitchy and everything else followers have been accused of. It has everything to do with compliance with the laws of the land, transparency and stopping exploitation of often vulnerable people. The bubble is about to burst.

I know an Instagrammer who makes her living through it and she had been told by her agency to make her page more of a magazine: kids, lifestyle, cooking, gym, clothes, trips out, interiors etc etc ad that is the best way to attract the largest companies got paid work and the largest following. She's also been told to expect HMRC to come knocking on Instagrammers for pretty soon as there has been constant tax evasion by almost all Instagrammers in recent years.

It's all so manipulated. Insta stated off very organic and authentic. Now it's one big selling channel.

@ToBeClear the accounts I have unfollowed have either gone from not using or using very little ad/spon/gift to using a lot for in the past few days. Or have been openly irritated at having to use it. Tbh though I don’t want to follow if I am suspicious about being misled... I don’t want people to make money from my naivety.

From the CMA website “what we do”

We work to promote competition for the benefit of consumers, both within and outside the UK. Our aim is to make markets work well for consumers, businesses and the economy.

(My highlights)

As was said, CMA enforces consumer protection legislation that applies to U.K. based influencer businesses, whose followers may or may not be in the U.K.

Wow even DLAM has finally got the memo.

Please try to remember Instagram isn't just fashion. Interior instagramners get gifted higher value items but the spotlight isn't on them. Every industry needs to be included in these rules.

I 100% agree with you there, ToBeClear. And the gifted items are becoming higher and higher in value. TVs, sofas, rugs, baskets, the obligatory gallery wall...........kitchens???

Erica Davies did a very transparent post this morning in her newly decorated office, which featured several gifted items. Some of the others need to up their game, they aren't above the law.

Also agree on the interiors front. I do hope if people have been given generous discounts on a £70k kitchen not available to general public or a free kitchen it is fully disclosed to followers and HMRC!

Yes I agree that it won't be long before HMRC wade in. If you can't have a company car without it being accounted for tax wise they'll be keen to look at all benefits received in the course of influencer 'business'.

Interesting to see that the celebrity midwife is dusting off her old blog, trumpeting the absence of ads and sponsorship. Guess the writing is on the wall for the instamummies.

I can remember last year some time when one of the first threads on Instagrammer #ads/full disclosure came up, and CLTS posted a charming little story where she lip synced along to the “Haters gonna hate” bit of Shake it Off in response to the MN Thread and related IG comments. She resisted #ad or #gifted for a long time after that too. I’d love to see what HMRC would make of that return...

splat she even called those asking for transparency “nobs” on one of dmbl40’s posts. She’s realised I think since, that she can’t be like that. It was so interesting to see at the time though, she comes across as so sweet and perfect, calling us nobs really made me see her differently

And the irony of that wasn’t lost on me since she constantly posts “if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all “