Instagrammers and Influencers

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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

And AL for affiliate link

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Yup, can see CMA really going for that as being a clearer alternative to AD.

Idiot.

You’ve got to give them credit for
A) having the guts to take on a government body that could issue unlimited fines or arrest them
B) the creative methods employed to continue to hide to their followers that it’s all been one big freebie fest

You are right @ marypoppinsjay. I think they have spent so long each in their own admiring echo chambers that they now think they're untouchable.

If they genuinely think they are doing something nice and totally harmless then it won't matter putting #gifted next to the relevant items will it. After all, they only have our best interests at heart at all times and we're all members of the same big girl gang aren't we

The sample thing is weird. I've seen so called beauty bloggers receive full sized products in multiples and not hashtag ad. Sebinaah is an Asian influencer and weekly she unboxes hundreds of pounds of jo malone/ Tom Ford/loreal/ Elizabeth Arden. Every brand you could possibly imagine. Boxes and boxes of gifts with a 'thank you guys I love it'. She then runs a competition stating she will give away one product but followers have to comment and like on get posts for a week in the first 15 minutes of posting. This is a clever strategy because it means the Insta algorithm is defeated Ann's followers don't know they are actually being fooled into ensuring her stats remain high and in return they win of the 50 items (the one she least likes) the rest go on eBay. The low end beauty bloggers go into a frenzy wanting to be noticed by her and increase their own following.

Lots of beauty bloggers do the same and none of them seem to use the products. Or review them. It totally devalues the brand and the sales pitching becomes very down market.

Mario is disgusting. The towie lot and giovanna are the worst culprits. She is one big ad as is her brother. They absolutely refuse to comply with the law. And tbh I haven't seen a single person on Insta put the #ad anywhere else but bottom right corner. They are shameless and I hope followers keep reporting. I know I will.

Sorry I should have said apart from 40plusnotgivingup who has put ad correctly over everything properly and not in the bottom right corner! Well done to her.

I’ve already reported two UK influencers, and I’ll keep doing it

The Asian beauty bloggers are the absolute worst for declarations. Amenakhan is another shifty one.

Yes one of ex colleagues is an Asian beauty blogger and despite high followings they tend to fly completely under the radar and have zero compliance. I won't if it's because they are treated as being slightly off mainstream and therefore do not feel anyone would be looking at them closely enough to look for compliance.

And like other influencers they've branched into a world beyond beauty. Dina torkia for example recently went on a paid holiday to Dubai with her family and only put #ad on one or two stories throughout the week. They are not even at the #gift stage of compliance.

Asian beauty bloggers have rather large followings. However I do believe the brand's and retailers giving out these "gifts" need to take some responsibility in educating their "influencers" too. Asian beauty bloggers wear their "influencer" badge with pride like it's something they earned. I don't understand what their influence is other than promoting a unrealistic and materialistic lifestyle for their followers to chase.

I find the non UK ones more irritating now
Hope they too pick up on all this

So DOES the taxman now take a vested interest? Speaking of interiors...Pearl Lowes De Vol kitchen appeared about 800 times since she had it done for good reason no doubt. I mean that's tens of thousands right with a hefty discount or freebie. Never saw a single AD or GIFTED on her account.

Is it me, or is it oh so quiet on insta-land?
Are they all plotting their next move now that the gifted gravy train may have pulled into its final destination?
I can see a bit of chatter about old blogs being resurrected and new ones being started, which I for one will be happy be about. I really enjoyed reading a lot of blogs and I think this will sort the wheat from the chaff. I am looking forward to the return of some well thought through content - I for one am happy to support these by clicking on a link or engaging with a blog-related grid square.
The list of gifted stuff is still breathtaking - I have seen another revamped kitchen and at least two bathrooms, paint, radiators, Vans trainers, a load of bags, amazon vouchers and the odd weekend stay or two. It reminds me of the Generation Game. Didn't they do well?

Mario Falcone has just placed a blatant ad for snuffle babe. Nowhere is it stated as an ad.

It says paid partnership on mario’s post so it’s reasonably clear, though I think it should say AD before the words too. You can tell he didn’t write the caption which is also a giveaway 😂

I saw a gifted log burner as well...

HMRC definitely read the press and this is exactly the type of thing that will interest them. It's not a difficult project for them to embark on.

Hmrc won’t have needed to read the press imo, the CMA are government too and the whole disclosure issue screams of potential under declared income. I’d be surprised if someone at hmrc wasn’t already tasked with looking into this even before the guidance was publicly issued.

IGer gettingstuffdoneinheels put a very good post on stories saying she welcomed the rules and had absolutely no issue being honest with her followers as they were so supportive of her charity work, why would she want to deceive them.

Her take is very sensible. She has said she has always put #gifted but will now put #AD gifted or #AD paid. Sadly she is one of the very few that seem to have grasped that there is no need to try and pretend something is not gifted when it is. I hope others look at her sensible, unhysterical post and realise it is not really a negative to be transparent.....just honest!

Estelle Lee (not an influencer) has made what I think is a good point on her stories. Many real journos were made redundant recently down to advertising budgets being moved away from press towards influencers and people no longer want to pay for online content. So, qualified and in many cases highly educated, writers have been replaced with ‘influencers’ whose main criteria for the role has been opening up their lives for all to see.

She also refers to a piece by Josh Glancy in the Sunday Times Style in which he says we are all complicit in this when we ‘hate follow’ or follow people ironically. A follow is a follow and ultimately they get paid (again, gifting is a form of payment) based on number of followers. They almost certainly don’t care if half of their audience doesn’t like them - after all each follower is responsible for putting leopard print sweaters on their back and helping them get swanky new kitchens.

Not at all saying what other people should do but it made me think and has influenced (!) me to stop following people not giving me any real value or content.

I’m really enjoying this conversation. I’m not on insta or other platforms but I am interested in new tech. For a while I’ve wondered if insta was a bit like tkmaxx - much of what is in tkmaxx is either made for them (so poorer quality than the brand usually produces) or their own brand given a cool name to disguise that fact. Once you know that you can pick through thoughtfully but when you don’t youre being misled.

Influencers are much the same. You thought you got an insight into their lives but actually they’ve been bought and they are one big ad. Once you know that (a clear ad description) you can pick through; if they aren’t clear you’re being misled.

I assume some of them are either v wealthy, have v good accountants or don’t think going bankrupt is a big deal as HMRC will be coming knocking soon. I assume they’re looking at what response the asa and cma get abs then they’ll act. I anticipate some ppl being made an example of.

Mmm, I will have to look at Estelle Lee's stories. Agree that the shift away from consuming content from trained journalists to people with branding and sales backgrounds (some of whom can barely spell) feels like everything is being dumbed down. No wonder our brains are so skitterish, all we are encouraged to do is mindlessly scroll through hours of adverts all day. I'm really hoping there is a return of the proper blog.

It is very easy for your follow list to creep up and up but you only ever engage with a handful. One fashion blogger with 125k ish followers has an engagement rate of less than 1% according to social blade. That means only around 1k of those followers are actually bothering to like or comment on their photos, 124,000 can't be bothered.

Is that true about tkmaxx? I just always assumed that branded stuff was dead stock, not that it was specially made for tkmaxx. Makes sense why it is always such a disappointing shopping experience though.

That's Dlam right?? I don't understand the point of her. It's just silly poses showing off an unsustainable wardrobe..... Is this really what mum's should aspire to dress like???? I cringe when I see women out in the real world wearing those crass slogan t-shirts with "strong girls club" and such..... (Vomit in mouth)

Are these influencers not required to detail the relationships they have with all the people /companies they tag in the stories on their bios? I am a bit surprised they are not hastily removing their house renovation circles or at least tagging them.