Instagrammers and Influencers

[scotx]

New thread to follow on from this one

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/3462129-Can-we-chat-about-fashion-Instagrammers-influencers?msgid=84590932

I think you mean Scamp & Dude X Cowshed.

That 'X' makes the whole thing very funky and important and influential.

I knew it would have an X in it. So funny.

And who knew grapefruit was a well known anti depressant? 😳 And that a scented spray could get children to sleep easier? (if only I’d found this out earlier).

Fascinating piece in The Times magazine today on this for people who are interested!

Interesting indeed and really does give a lie to those who would pretend that it is no more than a glimpse into their day. It is a business, run as a business and relying on the pretence of being relatable. Ultimately these influencers sound quite sad (in the traditional meaning of sad), trapped into the money cycle that is robbing them of any privacy. A Faustian hell sounds about right.

I found that side of it especially interesting - when they say they wish they didn’t have to use Instagram etc. Thing is there business IS Instagram. Isn’t it? So if they don’t want to do it couldn’t they get another job? Possibly not that easy. Or as lucrative. But still. I found the idea that mid range and smaller follower numbers the most interesting thing about it - so there must be a vested interest in influencers like DMBL40 and ED not getting too popular and staying in that ‘sweet spot’. Really interesting.

Sorry typing and grammar above awful!

I guess they can try and stay relatable in the 100 - 150,000 level but the article suggests that no one believes in the bigger ones being anything more than salespeople. Seems the audiences are getting more sophisticated and the engagement levels are not so good. Did chuckle that there is an "open season" on outing the obvious selling going on. Yes, there is.... and here we are!

Well done to Midlifechic for changing all her (g) to gifted in plain English. Hope others will follow suit but doubt it. Have so much respect for her for doing so.

Is there a link to the Times article?

@hopeishere - it's this one on the Times Magazine "From @mamastillgotit to @florriet: the new Instagram elite" - you have to register to get to see 2 free articles a week if you don't have a paid subscription

Here’s a link: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/from-mamastillgotit-to-florriet-the-new-instagram-elite-z9bqp5q7w

That’s a great article, worth signing up for 2 free articles. So many interesting quotes including this one, explaining how tough the job really is:

“Everyone thinks we get stuff for free and that’s all we do,” one tells me. “If I go to review a hotel, I have to get there before it’s dark to take photos, pack pyjamas that are Instagrammable.”

Still we see #afflink in white against a white background - they know exactly what they should be doing by now. At this rate I’ll be following hardly anyone!

That article is by Harriet Walker whose sister of course is Esther Walker (14k followers). She goes by @onthespike I think.

Esther is too small to do many paid partnerships or #ads but she loves John Lewis and has done a few small "choose a few items" posts for them in the past and said one post she did about their knee high boots resulted in them completely selling out. With only 14k followers!

Esther Walker’s follower count belies her clout, I think. She is a journalist who writes quite a bit for the Times and is married to Giles Coren. They have been on some fabulous-looking family holidays which they have later written up on the Times and declared as ‘guests of’ the tour company. I really like her blog. It has a lot of genuinely useful fashion and lifestyle writing, continuing the general trend that a background in journalism or print often makes for better content and transparency (c.f. Erica Davies, Liberty London Girl, Frugality etc).

They went to Oman last week and got some discounts but I have a feeling it wasn't because of her account.

The cost: Astronomical. We get special dispensation for all sorts of reasons, not least because it rained for the entire week we were there last time, but we were by no means on a free roll

Its just as likely one of their discounts was because of his hotel thing for the BBC maybe? She's usually v v frank about Instagram so I suspect she'd have said it if it was one of those.

Also that holiday didn't feature on IG at all, she just went offline for the whole week basically, and usually you have to do a post or two.

PS I don’t think Harriet Walker (Times fashion ed) is related to Esther Walker, though. I may be wrong.

Yes, exactly - I get the impression that they receive a lot because of their print readership rather than their social media following.

I get the impression that Esther Walker is not a real instagrammer like some of them. She writes well, really well, and I think she seems more comfortable on her blog, which is excellent, than on IG. People like her and Midlife Chic who can write are much more interesting than people who write badly about nothing and just string it together with hashtags.

Nah she is, there's a photo on her feed recently of the 3 of them (3 sisters I mean, the other one is married to Alexander Armstrong hence that boozy 12 Drinks of Christmas thing that's repeated on telly every year with AA and her own husband festively drinking themselves under the table)

That's a different Harriet Walker, Elspeth. The one who's the Times fashion ed and wrote the influencer article is younger - she's @_harrywalker1 on Insta. She is the sister of Sophie Walker, the journalist and former leader of the Women's Equality Party.

Oh. Well then I'm totally wrong, lol. 😂😂😂😂

I love Esther Walker. She's really funny. Her original blog Recipe Rifle got me laughing out loud when I was in hospital with a tiny ill baby. I luffes her. Comedy always wins me over. The rest of them take themselves way too seriously.