Social Influencers

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

....... wrote: »

You can buy them.

Yeah, but companies are wising up to that now. They look at how many people interact with a social influencer’s page. Sometimes buying followers can make things worse because it means that an even smaller percentage of your total followers are actually interacting with your page.

fattymuatty

I have a big enough folowing(for me but not compared to mega influencer types) on instagram, just shy of 30k. I didn't set out to have that many followers, it just happened. It is hobby based not about me or my life and I have so far refused all offers of freebies etc but who knows if the right thing comes along in the future maybe I would be tempted.
I wouldn't be cut out to be an influencer though, as it is I get tons of messages every day and have had abusive messages because I didn't see and reply to the comment they posted at 3am 20 posts back. I can't imagine what it must be like for influencers with huge followings. Not to mention having reddits,gossip gurus and the like set up just to slag you off. A lot of them give up so much privacy in return for their paychecks, for me that is too high a price to pay but if they are ok with that and clearly mark ads etc I don't see a problem with what it is they do.

El_Duderino 09

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

To me, the difference is that the model does their day’s work and goes home. Social influencers have to almost make their whole life a commodity to be successful and even then it’s not guaranteed. Now, if someone wants to do that and is happy to, let them off. But I would fücking hate it myself. It seems like giving up a lot for possibly quite meagre returns.

The influencer I used to follow has around 50k Youtube subscribers and around 20k Instagram followers. She says she makes about $200 per month plus a small amount of freebies. It’s basically just a hobby for her because there’s not that much filthy lucre in it. And it’s not that easy to get 20k followers on IG!

And surely the more people try to enter the field, the less money there is to go around.

That’s a difference alright but I just see it as a matter of difference in success.

Whether it’s a Hollywood actor advertising aftershave or an actor from Geordie Shore advertising a fake tan product, it’s the same as far as I can see. The Geordie Shore actor isn’t going to make as much as the Hollywood actor so they’ll have to work more hours to sell their the products they’re endorsing. But that’s normal enough for any self employed business owner.

I wouldn’t sell my private life but it’s easy for me to say because nobody wants to but it.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

That’s a difference alright but I just see it as a matter of difference in success.

Whether it’s a Hollywood actor advertising aftershave or an actor from Geordie Shore advertising a fake tan product, it’s the same as far as I can see. The Geordie Shore actor isn’t going to make as much as the Hollywood actor so they’ll have to work more hours to sell their the products they’re endorsing. But that’s normal enough for any self employed business owner.

I wouldn’t sell my private life but it’s easy for me to say because nobody wants to but it.

Sure, but the successful actor/traditional model/musician still has more set hours and defined downtime. Like I said, if people want to be an influencer and give up their own lives to that extent, they should go for it. But I’m just saying I would hate it whereas the idea of being a traditional model doesn’t fill me with dread.

I also wouldn’t say it’s the same as any small business owner. My dad was one and kept regular hours as much as possible.

whisky_galore

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Isn’t it similar to an actor advertising aftershave or hair dye? It’s just the natural extension of capitalism and marketing. It’s just very targeted marketing at a very specific audience.

But to answer the question I don’t subscribe to any or know any.

Couldn't care less if some sportsball person is pushing an electric shower or a cattle drench or an actor selling cat food or cologne. Doesn't mean anything to me.

Gimme A Pound

Advertising affects us all.

GLaDOS wrote: »

I've no issue with these people. They saw a gap in the market and exploited it to their own gain, fair play to them. They're not doing any harm.

It's the people who follow them religiously I'd judge.

I agree they saw an opportunity and took it - nothing wrong with that. But the ones who document every second of their life and make a big deal out of nails or whatever ****, still seem woefully vapid and narcissistic. The followers who worship them are worse though.

B.A._Baracus

Here's the craic....
If someone can make money online more power too you. Hell even well done. Problem is most people don't earn nothing or next to nothing and call themselves a "social influencer" or blogger or "content creator" (YouTuber)

You have to wade through the BS-blowing-yourself out crap.

Bob Harris

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Youtube is making a lot of folks wealthy.

It's crazy what people will subscribe to.

For instance I follow a long distance truck driver in the States who vlogs his journeys.

The only problem now is that the fcker is getting too big for his boots with his youtube cheques and endorsement deals and is talking about quitting the trucking business to focus solely on vlogging his home life. :mad:

We watch for the scenery mate, not your personal life. Now show me the back roads of Idaho again. :mad:

Please tell us the name of the channel so we can all watch this man's fascinating journey.

Will I Am Not

Will I Am Not wrote: »

There’s one around where I am. She’s driving around in a lovely new Mercedes. There’s money to be made in any old sh*te and she’s making it so fair f*cks to her.

My brother is doing a marketing class and he was saying there’s about 60% of the class ( mainly females) are using Instagram to try and blag free things ... there’s one I know whose desperate fir A mineral company to give her free stuff so she puts it in every post she does with 50 hashtags but she’s only had 30 followers

magic_murph

magic_murph wrote: »

It's the self importance they give them self that's the most painful to tolerate

If you can get paid decent money for 10 mins worth of work then fair play but don't be slapped c*nt about it

Mentioned in another thread, won’t say who it was but I happened to be in a restaurant and directly facing a sort of well known one and she not once looked away from her phone, through the meal (I was seated directly viewing her) barely talked to the person she was with unless it was to get them to take a video or photo ...and the poor waitresses fawning/fangirling over her whole she barely acknowledged anyone ...they seem to have a inflated ego once they hit ‘big time’
And think they’re saving the world with their ‘opinions’

Bigbagofcans

I feel for younger people, especially young girls who are growing up thinking that being seen as an influencer on social media is something to aspire to be.

And the pressure on young girls to be basically makeup artists. There are 14 year olds looking like 18 year olds using huge amount of makeup and fake tan to be seen as 'socially acceptable'.

.......

Bigbagofcans wrote: »

I feel for younger people, especially young girls who are growing up thinking that being seen as an influencer on social media is something to aspire to be.

How is it any different to a a young girl aspiring to be a model or an actress or tv presenter?

Bigbagofcans

....... wrote: »

How is it any different to a a young girl aspiring to be a model or an actress or tv presenter?

You're kinda selling your soul being a social influencer. Most of them document nearly every aspect of their lives.

.......

Bigbagofcans wrote: »

You're kinda selling your soul being a social influencer. Most of them document nearly every aspect of their lives.

Same as reality stars - some people crave that kind of attention/validation.

meeeeh

I have a 10 years old boy who thinks being a Youtuber is a great thing. I can't see how someone recording themselves playing games is any better than someone doing make up tutorials or whatever other nonsense. There is no need to overly moralize about it, they found marketing niche and they are exploiting it. It's up to regulation to do it's job.

I think parents have a role here too. If you let your kids on Instagram (or any other social media channel) when they are 10 or 11 you are asking for trouble. Teenages will do thing teenagers always do and I think there are challenges with new technologies but part of it is on parents, big bad tech companies can't be blamed for everything.

El_Duderino 09

Gavin Billions Spokesman wrote: »

Advertising affects us all.

I agree they saw an opportunity and took it - nothing wrong with that. But the ones who document every second of their life and make a big deal out of nails or whatever ****, still seem woefully vapid and narcissistic. The followers who worship them are worse though.

How do you know they’re documenting their actual life? The conflation of ‘reality’ tv and reality is really interesting. I don’t presume that an actor advertising aftershave, driving a sports car on a cool California evening at sunset is actually doing that regularly. But if a blogger films from their kitchen and talks about x product people do seem to assume it’s their actual life.

It’s very likely that they create characters and sell that character’s life. Though there will inevitably be crossover into real life. Not unlike an actor getting pictures of them self on the beach in a bikini the week before their movie launch or selling the rights to their wedding photos.

If for example someone thinks it’s perfectly normal for Chris Hemsworth to advertise Hugo Boss (a product they might or might not buy) but think it’s the job of a vapid Geordie Shore wench to blog about a fake tan product (which they will never buy) then it’s just a matter of whether they are personally interested in the product being advertised.

It’s just how advertising is done now. James Bond has always advertised cars in his movies. Actors advertise clothes designers on the red carpet and Marnie Simpson (Geordie Shore) advertises fake nails. It’s just advertising.

DJIMI TRARORE

IMHO it's the gob****es who are "influenced" by these morons that have the problem

.......

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

How do you know they’re documenting their actual life?

Arguably the reality star or blogger is doing a better job than the actor with the advertising because people DO believe its their real life whereas we all know that Chris Hemsworth is being paid to advertise Hugo Boss and its just an ad and not, ya know, reality.

xckjoo

DJIMI TRARORE wrote: »

IMHO it's the gob****es who are "influenced" by these morons that have the problem

Ya exactly. If they can and want to make money from posting all over social media, why wouldn't they? It's like getting mad a pro footballer for making their money kicking a ball around. If nobody followed them, they wouldn't be getting paid.

.......

I cant agree that aspiring to be a social media influencer is a bad thing, anyone aspiring to do anything to earn a living is a good thing IMO.

Boards.ie is a funny place. Life on the dole - youre a waster, a parasite. Social influencer making a living - boo, its a bad thing to aspire to!!

meeeeh

I don't think there is problem to aspire but I would be very annoyed if my kids dropped out of school to be an influencer. I don't believe many will earn enough with it to sustain them for their lifetime.

It all kinda goes over my head so I don't mind them. I hear the odd snippet and there usually seems to be some kind of drama going on

.......

meeeeh wrote: »

I don't think there is problem to aspire but I would be very annoyed if my kids dropped out of school to be an influencer. I don't believe many will earn enough with it to sustain them for their lifetime.

Is there ANY job that a child should drop out of school for though?

Agricola

Miracle Zealous Seeker wrote: »

Mentioned in another thread, won’t say who it was but I happened to be in a restaurant and directly facing a sort of well known one and she not once looked away from her phone, through the meal (I was seated directly viewing her) barely talked to the person she was with unless it was to get them to take a video or photo ...and the poor waitresses fawning/fangirling over her whole she barely acknowledged anyone ...they seem to have a inflated ego once they hit ‘big time’
And think they’re saving the world with their ‘opinions’

You hear this kind of thing a lot when it comes to these influencers.

The whole thing is just feeding into the mega narcissism that social media in general, promotes.

meeeeh

....... wrote: »

Is there ANY job that a child should drop out of school for though?

C'mon that's disingenuous. If they felt that they wanted to do trade instead of university course I would have no problem. However if they dropped out to vlog I would be less enthusiastic.

.......

meeeeh wrote: »

C'mon that's disingenuous. If they felt that they wanted to do trade instead of university course I would have no problem. However if they dropped out to vlog I would be less enthusiastic.

Well a trade isnt dropping out of education - its just learning a practical skill instead.

While I dont think a kid dropping out of school is a good idea for the most part, it would probably depend on the nature of the vlog tbh - if it involved some level of expertise that would be a useful transferrable skill then maybe its ok (Im thinking along the lines of the make up artist ones here).

There are different types of vloggers i think, some people are showcasing a skill, some are just selling their personality.

But the ability to do it at all probably gives some transferable marketing/sales skills.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Miracle Zealous Seeker wrote: »

My brother is doing a marketing class and he was saying there’s about 60% of the class ( mainly females) are using Instagram to try and blag free things ... there’s one I know whose desperate fir A mineral company to give her free stuff so she puts it in every post she does with 50 hashtags but she’s only had 30 followers

Has it ever worked for her?

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Bigbagofcans wrote: »

You're kinda selling your soul being a social influencer. Most of them document nearly every aspect of their lives.

This is it. It’s similar to wanting to be a reality TV star but I see it as different from acting or traditional modelling. And, to be frank, many influencers wouldn’t be good-looking enough or have the body to do traditional modelling. On their own social media pages, they can do a lot of honing and tweaking. I know an influencer who looks like a different person in real life. Yes, there is some airbrushing of traditional models but they are generally hot stuff to begin with.

El_Duderino 09

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

Miracle Zealous Seeker wrote: »

My brother is doing a marketing class and he was saying there’s about 60% of the class ( mainly females) are using Instagram to try and blag free things ... there’s one I know whose desperate fir A mineral company to give her free stuff so she puts it in every post she does with 50 hashtags but she’s only had 30 followers

Has it ever worked for her?

I would have thought that’s a great way to practice the skills and theory you’d learn in a marketing class.

I wouldn’t like to do it but I’m not involved in marketing

yourdeadwright

“in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes"
Was once said by Andy Warhol and that time is now ,

Shows how bad society is that people like the Kardashians are famous and looked up to and being a social media influencer is an actually even thing,

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

....... wrote: »

I cant agree that aspiring to be a social media influencer is a bad thing, anyone aspiring to do anything to earn a living is a good thing IMO.

Boards.ie is a funny place. Life on the dole - youre a waster, a parasite. Social influencer making a living - boo, its a bad thing to aspire to!!

meeeeh wrote: »

I don't think there is problem to aspire but I would be very annoyed if my kids dropped out of school to be an influencer. I don't believe many will earn enough with it to sustain them for their lifetime.

That’s it. It’s very lucrative for only a small percentage from what I can see. The ones who are really successful probably can make it their day job and therefore have some downtime from it. But many wannabe influencers need to have full-time jobs too and I suppose I’d want more for my children than them commodifying their free time in the hopes of getting swag or pocket money. I’d rather they feed their brains.

And it seems like the more people enter the field, the more stretched the freebies will become. Companies are analysing influencers more now. Buying followers is fairly cheap but companies can actually check out how many of those followers are actually interacting with the influencers’ social media pages.

Traditional employment advertising goods was always more tough to crack into so the whole thing was fairly self-regulating and sustainable. But the influencer strand doesn’t seem particularly so.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

Has it ever worked for her?

keep seeing she has one of the drinks in her photo but seems like they're not interested in her and her 30 followers or don't think she's worth it:D