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Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

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Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#21

Post by celticninja »

mozumder wrote: post #15
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?

Bill Hicks never figured out the meaning of life. The entire purpose of life is to market. You get up in the morning and brush your teeth so that you're more marketable than the slob that doesn't. Everything you do can be traced back to marketing. The more people understand that, the better off they will be at handling life.

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.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#22

Post by panorama »

mtrn wrote: post #16
panorama wrote: post #9

We live in a society where, because ad dollars drive so much of online commerce, attention _is_ currency. And right now influencer marketing is outperforming many other channels, so naturally a lot of money is headed this direction, allowing many 'ordinary' people to monetize. I don't think this is a problem - I believe in the power of the internet democratizing revenue opportunities and disrupting outdated media cha…

In one way, this is sponsorship taken to a micro level. And sponsorship is fine - and usually open, for the benefit of both parties. But if I open a random influencer agency website, I can read something like this: "Influencers drive trust". The message here seems to be: Yes, trust is super valuable - and now the price is finally dropping! But is it really?

It's a weird middle-ground. I myself constantly ask people for their recommendations on books and such. I trust them and act upon their suggestions. The only difference is that influencers are paid to suggest, and sometimes this leads to low-quality products being touted by low-quality influencers appearing in your feed. Definitely bad.

DHH suggested a book in an interview with Tim Ferriss[0]. I read what DHH says often and trust his taste - is this bad? I don't think so. Obviously DHH wasn't paid to talk about this book, but it wouldn't matter either way to me; a lot of his influence comes from the fact that I know he wouldn't willingly shill for something he doesn't believe in.

[0] http://fourhourworkweek.com/2016/10/27/david-heinemeier-hans...

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#23

Post by Illniyar »

So he hired a bot for a month to do 30,000 likes. Anyone wonder how many of his own likes are from bots?

All this social media advertisement seems like one big fraud to me - from profile farms to click frauds, has any of the people buying the ads actually attempted to verify the actual increase in sales? Or maybe it just looks good in powerpoints when showing to the clients where the money is spent.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#24

Post by Freak_NL »

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…

Presumably without the professional photography no one would be interested in buying advertising space (product placement, hashtagging brands) on his account, so you need a veneer of 'authenticity'. I guess that at a minimum this means having a model unique to your account (himself in this case) along with the other trimmings of an influencer (the muesli with lime curd blob type of shots).

Here is my recipe for a golden (if ephemeral) business opportunity:

* Live in a country with low costs of living, in a city with a historical city centre (backdrops! texture!)

* Have access to professional photography equipment

* Have access to a bunch of attractive, but cheap (hence the locality, think Odessa, Bratislava, or Baku) generic looking models

* Compose a team of decent writers and photographers

* Create 'inspired', 'authentic' Instagram profiles for each model, provide content

* Profit?

Don't forget to tag each post #bohemian. Guaranteed hit.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#25

Post by thret »

walterstucco wrote: post #18
mozumder wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bill Hicks never figured out the meaning of life. The entire purpose of life is to market. You get up in the morning and brush your teeth so that you're more marketable than the slob that doesn't. Everything you do can be traced back to marketing. The more people understand that, the better off they will be at handling life.

I don't brush my teeth every morning. And I still manage to have a life that is more than enjoyable

I brush my teeth because I dread and loathe the dentist, false teeth are gross, and toothaches hurt like hell.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#26

Post by Freak_NL »

askdjso wrote: post #10

I know a local "artist" that lives off Instagram and not her "art". She publishes all her "songs" on Youtube for free, and lives off sponsored content on Instagram and media appearances. Is she lazy and getting "free-money"? no. Is she talented? also no.

She's just gaming a system that rewards her output. Whether the advertisers are getting a good return on investment is debatable, but apparently they are convinced that advertising on her channel is worth it.

The only drawback is that she might be investing a good part of her career in something that may prove prone to inflation and whim.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#27

Post by Inconel »

mozumder wrote: post #15
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?

Bill Hicks never figured out the meaning of life. The entire purpose of life is to market. You get up in the morning and brush your teeth so that you're more marketable than the slob that doesn't. Everything you do can be traced back to marketing. The more people understand that, the better off they will be at handling life.

I brush my teeth several times a day mostly because I had a cavity once when I was a kid and didn't particularly like the sound the drill at the dentist's office made. That and I enjoy various types of jerky and hope to continue enjoying it for the foreseeable future.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#28

Post by razakel »

mozumder wrote: post #19
razakel wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The entire purpose of life is to market. Maybe my target market isn't slavish devotees of a vapid consumerist culture who assert their identity with commercial brands?

You know your marketing yourself right now with your statements to the audience here, right? An audience built around silicon valley's capitalist culture...

>You know your marketing yourself right now with your statements to the audience here, right?

I understand your sentiment, but I believe that's a toxic worldview.

>An audience built around silicon valley's capitalist culture...

I am criticising consumerism, not capitalism.

Re: Confessions of an Instagram Influencer

#29

Post by zeroer »

mozumder wrote: post #15
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?

Bill Hicks never figured out the meaning of life. The entire purpose of life is to market. You get up in the morning and brush your teeth so that you're more marketable than the slob that doesn't. Everything you do can be traced back to marketing. The more people understand that, the better off they will be at handling life.

> You get up in the morning and brush your teeth so that you're more marketable than the slob that doesn't.

Speak for yourself.

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