Confessions of an Instagram Influencer • Hacker News Board

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#121

Post by sooheon » Fri, Dec 02, 2016, 11:41 PM UTC

razakel wrote: post #72

sooheon wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, what do you think is the distinction? The greatest contributor to flourishing capitalism is strong consumerism. And the biggest driver of the consumerist mind is capitalist manipulation. They feed off of each other, and are so intertwined that it's hardly useful to refer to one without acknowledging that it comes with the other.

>Interesting, what do you think is the distinction? The greatest contributor to flourishing capitalism is strong consumerism. And the biggest driver of the consumerist mind is capitalist manipulation. They feed off of each other, and are so intertwined that it's hardly useful to refer to one without acknowledging that it comes with the other. It would be disingenuous to pretend the two aren't highly interrelated, but…

I completely agree with you. But it's much more profitable (and therefore fit to survive in a capitalist system) to manipulate consumers to buying your shit mousetrap, than it is to engineer a better mousetrap.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#122

Post by shostack » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 12:15 AM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #32

thinkloop wrote: post #8

I would have liked to see him continue the test without the photography, keeping just the bots and offshore friend farming - I have a feeling that's most of it. TL;DR: How to get Instagram followers: - photo quality is very important, pay for a professional - submit 3 posts a day, try to make them interesting, but that's only medium important - pay for bot to like and comment on posts with similar hash tags, so their…

I wonder what will happen when AI is good enough to imitate real internet users and ad agencies just spin up some servers in some datacenter that handles millions of bots that are indistinguishable from real people and follow the formula of the influencers.

Direct response advertisers would see crap quality and stop paying. Brand advertisers would probably be slower to stop but their measurement tools to map impression data to purchases, whether offline or online is improving dramatically.

Advertisers who aren't savvy about analytics will continue to prop up the cottage industry of fraudulent eyeball providers.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#123

Post by ladytron » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 1:54 AM UTC

ikeyany wrote: post #103

razakel wrote: post #13

I'm with Bill Hicks when it comes to advertising and marketing. I adblock. I pirate. I don't use Facebook or other social networking sites. I don't want advertising in my life. It's propaganda. It shits in your head. If there's anybody reading this who works in those industries: you thought Generation X was cynical?

Ooh, he's playing the cynicism angle--that's a hot market right now. Very huge potential for profit.

I love Hacker News.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#124

Post by thesagan » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 1:55 AM UTC

equalarrow wrote: post #78

cyberferret wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But when I pay for a movie ticket or rent in on NetFlix/Apple TV/whatever, I am expecting it to be fiction, and I am mentally prepared to lose myself in the experience. Same with books, theme parks, plays etc. However, when I follow people on social media, I am expecting something that is a little more 1 to 1, and a lot more real. I am interested in programming, guitars, aviation etc. and follow people with the same…

Well, honestly, I'm not sure how anyone could expect any of this to be genuine or real.. Sure, there are a lot of normal folks posting normal, routine things on social networks, but Instagram was not purchased for $1b to be a mirror of real life (or is it??). Twitter is a public company, with shareholders and revenue they have to make. While we have all become acclimated to 'free' products and expect them, typically…

This is where Fred McFeely Rogers found his calling; when he saw how kids were being affected by commercial television he found is career. Recently I'm having an extremely strong urge to ask the same questions he did and do something about it. I wonder if this is a silly thought, though. I hope not.

Perhaps a kindred soul on HN knows of someone/group working on reaching children in a very authentic way like Mr. Rogers and crew did.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#125

Post by imh » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 2:04 AM UTC

carrot wrote: post #83

Angostura wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should check out the 'Ultimate Bill Hicks' DVD available. Amazon have got it at reduced price at the moment and it is excellent. I laughed and laughed.

Ironic that you literally threw an ad right in the parent's face through this simple comment.

I think that's the joke.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#126

Post by imh » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 2:09 AM UTC

mrtksn wrote: post #32

thinkloop wrote: post #8

I would have liked to see him continue the test without the photography, keeping just the bots and offshore friend farming - I have a feeling that's most of it. TL;DR: How to get Instagram followers: - photo quality is very important, pay for a professional - submit 3 posts a day, try to make them interesting, but that's only medium important - pay for bot to like and comment on posts with similar hash tags, so their…

I wonder what will happen when AI is good enough to imitate real internet users and ad agencies just spin up some servers in some datacenter that handles millions of bots that are indistinguishable from real people and follow the formula of the influencers.

That arms race is like some bizarre analogue to bitcoin mining.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#127

Post by stevekemp » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 5:06 AM UTC

cyberferret wrote: post #5

My wife and I were just talking about this today, coincidentally. She follows a few people around the world who are artists or collectors on IG. She pointed out to me that when she started following some of them more than a year ago, they had a few hundred followers, and were posting general stuff, but which all felt heartfelt and 'in the moment'. I think 'genuine' was the word my wife used. Kids doing silly things.…

Same for me. I do rock-climbing (bouldering) and weight-lifting. I used to follow a bunch of "fit men" and "fit women" which were both fun to look at and a little inspirational.

These days the vast majority of the "fitness model"-type accounts exist solely to sell their diet/workout plans, along with supplements. Sometimes this is subtle, but mostly it is not.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#128

Post by AndrewKemendo » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 5:27 AM UTC

chillwaves wrote: post #108

icebraining wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"All that once was directly lived has become mere representation." "Where the real world changes into simple images, the simple images become real beings and effective motivations of hypnotic behavior." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle

Can watch a rework here (I liked it). https://vimeo.com/60328678

Thanks for that. Very much a rabbit hole for Situationism which I had only ever barely interacted with when I was more active in Anarchist philosophy.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#129

Post by AndrewKemendo » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 5:33 AM UTC

cyberferret wrote: post #118

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have nothing against someone doing promotional work to earn money to live, but I do have a problem with people portraying a totally fake and unrealistic life as a reality. They are simply responding to what people want to see. If people wanted to see real life then that's what people would give them. People want inspiration and to feel like they are associating (by liking and commenting) with people they aspire to…

Is this 'celebrity culture' gone wild though? People regard other people more highly if they are 'celebrities', therefore even if the average Joe or Jane Schmoe is perceived as a 'celebrity' then they are automatically worthy of more recognition that your peers? Does the movie, TV, music and magazine industry have something to answer for when a person is famous for just being famous, whereas people who do meaningful,…

Implicit in your question though is the proposition that there is an objective hierarchy of what is "meaningful."

One could argue that what Lady Gaga and Truman Capote did for the LGBT movement was/is meaningful perhaps contextually moreso than what you or I might consider the more meaningful work of eg. Margaret Hamilton.

I agree that there is such a hierarchy but it's not uniformly agreed upon.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#130

Post by celticninja » Sat, Dec 03, 2016, 10:14 AM UTC

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #117

celticninja wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I brush my teeth so that they last longer and I can chew food longer and thus stay alive longer, marketing only comes into it for people in marketing.

You want to stay alive longer so that you can have a positive influence in the lives of the people around you - your family, your friends. It's well documented that "happiness" comes from positive interactions with other people. In fact you are posting here because you seek to influence, which is great! That's what we're here for. Desire to influence = Marketing.

I assume you work in marketing. To you guys everything is marketing.