Influencer

retro:electro

It's mad. Especially with the Irish influencer scene where the pond is so small so you literally see the same product/shop popping up every single day on various platforms. For me and a lot of people I know, we are wide to it and can see the wood for the trees. But for impressionable teens, I can't help but think it can be quite damaging. I mean the frequency which bloggers recieve all of these freebies is insane, and so the younger followers feel like they need to have all 47 nude matte lipsticks or whatever happens to be flavour of the month at that time. I know of people who are in debt trying to keep up with this completely unattainable lifestyle. Bloggers, or "floggers", need to keep in mind that while they are getting all of these nice freebies, young people are spending cash they don't have to get these products, and so maybe they shouldn't jump on every single bandwagon just to earn a quick buck. Like Spider-Man says, "with great power comes great responsibility".

Also, there's no variety. I mean they all seem to live in their whitewashed houses with the black and white ikea carpet and ikea drawers with their dressing rooms adorned with prints of inspirational quotes and a Jo Malone candle burning. It's boring.

seamus

Train Dragon wrote: »

Are their social media followers that brain dead that dont see that these people they follow are being paid for this nonsense?

Worth of mouth is the strongest marketing tool out there. People value the uneducated opinion of a trusted friend above hard data or expert opinion.

It's how complete bollox like homeopathy and scientology get a foothold.

Facebook and social media in general has opened up a whole new avenue in bolloxology. A friend of yours "likes" an article by one of these bloggers, which leads you to look at it and see what it is that they've liked.
You're not sure if it's any good, but your mate liked it, so you trust it on face value. And you like it. And the chain of likes carries on.

But even further than that again, social media adds an inherently personal aspect to blogs. When David McWilliams writes a column in a paper, many people read it and trust because he has a reputation for it. But it's a national column in a national newspaper; a preach from a pulpit. And treated with that level of analysis.

But when Roz Purcell posts an article or a video to facebook, it takes on a much more personal aspect. It's direct to you, and her name is above it - not "The Irish Times presents", or anything. So it innately feels like a more personal discussion and less of a town square preach. And you therefore assign a higher trustworthiness rating to it.

It doesn't matter whether or not she has the slightest clue about what she's talking about; you've been tricked by social media into thinking that this is a friend giving you honest tips with no motive intended.

mzungu

anna080 wrote: »

It's mad. Especially with the Irish influencer scene where the pond is so small so you literally see the same product/shop popping up every single day on various platforms. For me and a lot of people I know, we are wide to it and can see the wood for the trees. But for impressionable teens, I can't help but think it can be quite damaging. I mean the frequency which bloggers recieve all of these freebies is insane, and so the younger followers feel like they need to have all 47 nude matte lipsticks or whatever happens to be flavour of the month at that time. I know of people who are in debt trying to keep up with this completely unattainable lifestyle. Bloggers, or "floggers", need to keep in mind that while they are getting all of these nice freebies, young people are spending cash they don't have to get these products, and so maybe they shouldn't jump on every single bandwagon just to earn a quick buck. Like Spider-Man says, "with great power comes great responsibility".

Also, there's no variety. I mean they all seem to live in their whitewashed houses with the black and white ikea carpet and ikea drawers with their dressing rooms adorned with prints of inspirational quotes and a Jo Malone candle burning. It's boring.

Harsh and all as this may sound, but the fact that people are parting with their money to that extent means that the marketing strategy is working an absolute treat. This business model cares little for the consumer and will never start dialling back as that might mean less profits. I don't agree with those kind of cutthroat sales tactics personally (especially when aimed at a young audience), but as long as it remains profitable then it will continue.

ratmouse

anna080 wrote: »

It's mad. Especially with the Irish influencer scene where the pond is so small so you literally see the same product/shop popping up every single day on various platforms. For me and a lot of people I know, we are wide to it and can see the wood for the trees. But for impressionable teens, I can't help but think it can be quite damaging. I mean the frequency which bloggers recieve all of these freebies is insane, and so the younger followers feel like they need to have all 47 nude matte lipsticks or whatever happens to be flavour of the month at that time. I know of people who are in debt trying to keep up with this completely unattainable lifestyle. Bloggers, or "floggers", need to keep in mind that while they are getting all of these nice freebies, young people are spending cash they don't have to get these products, and so maybe they shouldn't jump on every single bandwagon just to earn a quick buck. Like Spider-Man says, "with great power comes great responsibility".

Also, there's no variety. I mean they all seem to live in their whitewashed houses with the black and white ikea carpet and ikea drawers with their dressing rooms adorned with prints of inspirational quotes and a Jo Malone candle burning. It's boring.

So accurate .Especially the Jo Malone candle reference! Cloned bloggers

ScumLord

mzungu wrote: »

Harsh and all as this may sound, but the fact that people are parting with their money to that extent means that the marketing strategy is working an absolute treat. This business model cares little for the consumer and will never start dialling back as that might mean less profits. I don't agree with those kind of cutthroat sales tactics personally (especially when aimed at a young audience), but as long as it remains profitable then it will continue.

Advertising in the UK is particularly aggressive, I've seen the hard sell over in London so many times, like getting angry at people for not wanting to buy stuff. Advertising is everywhere and even when they pull on the ol' heart strings they're doing it to an extreme these days.

I think it would be hard to see the forest for all the trees over there. They love their celebrities too, it's almost odd how caught up they get in it and everytime they go to see one of their celebrities they're always being sold something.

I've gone to exhibitions in London that are huge, there are all sorts of stories about them racking up bills of tens of thousands in taxis, drinks and food and getting away with it because they're such a draw, I never go to see the celebrities, they're whisked in to their demonstration and whisked out again when their done. When I was at the ploughing championships in Ireland I saw 3 Irish celebrities within 5 minutes of walking in the gate, no one paying any attention to them, one of them was an international renowned one.

I'd hate to think Ireland would end up in the same state as the UK. There's something very bland and disingenuous about the UK high street, it's all chains, marketing, pseudo rapport, and promoting looks and style over knowledge and practicality.

A city like London is so big that it has an undercurrent that rejects all those ideals of corporate London, and when they do craft it's excellent.

ratmouse

Is there anything influential about top "bloggers" (one would assume they "write" as part of their profession) who don't bother to write as part of their blog anymore in favour of a string of emojis as a method of describing a product/service? Worse still, when they did/do write,they can't even spell, edit their posts, use the correct grammar,etc. Leading fashion/beauty blogger being the worst offender . Influencer? Certainly not on any academic spectrum of the blogging world. "your creative writing techniques iz goalz" will hardly appear from a fan under any of their blog posts!

mzungu

ScumLord wrote: »

Advertising in the UK is particularly aggressive, I've seen the hard sell over in London so many times, like getting angry at people for not wanting to buy stuff. Advertising is everywhere and even when they pull on the ol' heart strings they're doing it to an extreme these days.

I think it would be hard to see the forest for all the trees over there. They love their celebrities too, it's almost odd how caught up they get in it and everytime they go to see one of their celebrities they're always being sold something.

I've gone to exhibitions in London that are huge, there are all sorts of stories about them racking up bills of tens of thousands in taxis, drinks and food and getting away with it because they're such a draw, I never go to see the celebrities, they're whisked in to their demonstration and whisked out again when their done. When I was at the ploughing championships in Ireland I saw 3 Irish celebrities within 5 minutes of walking in the gate, no one paying any attention to them, one of them was an international renowned one.

I'd hate to think Ireland would end up in the same state as the UK. There's something very bland and disingenuous about the UK high street, it's all chains, marketing, pseudo rapport, and promoting looks and style over knowledge and practicality.

A city like London is so big that it has an undercurrent that rejects all those ideals of corporate London, and when they do craft it's excellent.

That kind of aggression in sales (harassment, coercion and undue influence etc) is unlawful in the eyes of UK consumer rights guidelines. Although, I doubt many people report it, and even if they do, it must be pretty difficult to prove.

Having that kind of thing becoming commonplace would be a bad development, it would be like chugging amped up by 11.

ScumLord

mzungu wrote: »

That kind of aggression in sales (harassment, coercion and undue influence etc) is unlawful in the eyes of UK consumer rights guidelines. Although, I doubt many people report it, and even if they do, it must be pretty difficult to prove.

To be fair to the people that do it, they're probably under huge pressure to perform and there isn't much room for failure in the city of London, one slip could see you pushed out.

mariaalice

It harmless as long as its not taken too seriously, its possible a way for those who want careers in PR, media, marketing ect to make a name for themselves