EP 21 IG is a Highlight Reel: How Far Will Influencers Go To Be Considered #GOALS?
How far are influencers going to portray the perfect life? Join us as we reveal some shocking stories from the influencer industry with tales of purchased followers, fake paparrazi and more. While the industry is evolving to reward people who embrace reality and connect with their audience on NOT having the perfect life, are we moving quickly enough?
Timestamps:
[0:41] The life of an influencer.
[2:53] Faking it until you make it.
[5:00] Does "pretty" still sell?
[9:25] Gifting influencers, and the money they make.
[12:55] Working in an "aesthetic" space.
[16:33] Are the "fake lifestyles" bad?
[17:52] You don't need aesthetics, you need a thing.
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LINKS:
Find Harley:
IG: @theharleyjordan
Website: https://www.theharleyjordan.com/
Find Sonia:
IG: @Sonia.elyss
Website: https://www.soniaelyss.com/
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Welcome to brand meet Creator Podcast with me Harley Jordan and Sonia Elise, a place where we pull back
the curtain and the trashy filters on the influencer marketing industry.
So pull up a chair and grab a notebook, it's time to shed some light
on the ever changing it's diverse.
We've all heard the phrase Instagram is a highlight reel, but how far are influencers really taking this to ensure that we think they are hashtag goals? Living the aspirational really becomes a sales tactic to bring in new eyes. So let's jump right in. Sonia. I know you have the stories. I know you have stories to tell about real life of being a big influencer. So what first comes to your mind?
Well, I think as you know, I have a lot of history working with fashion influencers and there is no place where this is more apparent than with the fashion influencer crew. In my early days, I used to watch influencers, drain their bank accounts on the latest leave Aton, the latest product, whatever it was that was coming out on the runway, they needed that piece so that they could be photographed with it ASAP, spending 1000s of dollars on the best hotels, the best wardrobe and anything else they could get their hands on for New York Fashion Week. I even know someone who hired a photographer to go outside of New York Fashion Week and photograph them as though they were paparazzi being street style to attract other street style photographers to photograph them in thinking that oh, this person is important. And we didn't know. And it works. It works.
You know, I think all of this is so crazy. So last episode, we were talking about how like all of this is about perception. It's not about your intentions. It's not about the behind the scenes. And like I think that's really what you're seeing is that like, if I position myself online to look like I have it all, you will think that I have it all thirst, there's no way.
My favorite saying is if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it must be a duck. And I think that is exactly what must be a duck and that is what fancy influencers want to personify. If I'm staying at the most luxurious hotel if I'm wearing the most luxurious clothes, I must be making a ton of money and have a ton of brand deals, thus attracting more brand deals to me more followers who have aspirational lifestyle that I'm living, even if we're in reality. I'm essentially the ANA del v of Instagram influencers.
Yes. Okay. I've been thinking about the story and I didn't get to tell it in our deep dark depths of Instagram episode, but I have I know this girl who bought all of her followers one day, she just had 30k. And like me and my friend like stalked it we like went through her followers were like these are all bots like she definitely doesn't have a real following. But this girl is like this beautiful model like always wears designer clothing like takes these amazing beachy photos. And as time went on, she just became it because people would end up at her account and be like, Oh, you have 30k followers like this is someone that I want to follow. And a little by little she started bringing on those brand deals started bringing on those modeling contracts. And now I'm pretty sure all of that 30k is real and she has a huge tick tock following to boot but it all started fake.
Oh my goodness. I mean fake it till you make it that is that is the American Dream surely. I think this has a lot to do with like sociology and psychology and just like the way that we are as human beings wanting to feel accepted wanting to feel like we fit in and there always has to be like a queen bee there's like normally a leader. And I think now we're getting more out of that where there are I'm sure they're still influencers queen bees of every genre now. But there's a lot more where you can find a place to fit in. But definitely early Instagram, there were no alternative genres, there were no people who were showing their skin without filters. There was no people who were body positive or showing cellulite or doing a lot of things that we see today that people identify with. And we're definitely moving into an era where I think buying those followers isn't going to make sense. Trying to fake it until you make it either is just seen seen right through people know that you're being fake
Right. Yeah, and I do agree that Instagram is prioritizing the more interesting guys and girls at this point. Because you have to have a personality, you have to be an overshare you have to have some kind of value, whether that is like your journey or storytelling or whatever teachable tips. But you're pretty girl. I don't I don't think she's gonna go viral anymore, I don't think pretty cuts it. And I was actually talking to a client about this. Oh, let's go deep into this. So I was talking to a client. And we were talking about this guy that dresses up like Johnny Depp and runs marathons. And like, that's his thing online. And I'm sure he has a ton of Tik Tok followers and like, the content isn't even great. It's like this terrible video quality. It's like not good content. But he's bringing in tons of views. I'm sure he has tons of followers, like, this guy is going to be a hit. And I sent this to her. And I was like, you know, what I hate is that guys can just not try like, there. This guy has a thing. And it's dressing up and there's really realistic Johnny Depp costume. And that's all he needs to do. There is nothing else. And she was like, actually, I think that if you just have boobs that you have out like that's, that's the method. And I was like, actually, I don't agree with that. I don't agree with that at all. I don't think pretty I don't think anymore. What do you think?
I think you can still build a following off of boobs. I agree. I do think that you can still build a following. But can you monetize it in the right way and the way that maybe you want to be known? I don't think so like I remember working with a swimwear brand way back when and wanting to number one, it's difficult or at the time, it was difficult to find people who would post on Instagram in swimwear, it was just not as frequent. Now we see of course, people in lingerie and underwear and all sorts of things. But back then it was a little bit more difficult. And the next most difficult thing was that when we would ask for their audience metrics, it was always a significantly higher line of men, all men, so we weren't really able to hire them to sell women's swimwear as an influencer, because men were the one watching them put on swimwear and talk about it. With, you know, with the launch of brands like somersault where you're seeing that they are body positive, and using lots of different models and role models more than typical model they. They've shown up name. And what's the underwear company that you love? I just saw that you arranged for love them?
Can I give a shout out to them? I don't use my code. I think it's hardly 20
Damn Harley for a code but similar concept, you know, before it was like Victoria's Secret era. And then we dove into Parade which is every body type, every human type. Yep, exactly. That are fields. So I just think the evolution is so wide now that they're number one is less of a reason to fake it, because you can be successful with any sort of look or feel. And yes, I mean, I am the first to admit, it's still not as easy for people who are not traditionally pretty light, etc, I get it. And I'm willing to admit that 100% But we are seeing the doors opening we are seeing the needles moving, we are seeing the conversations happening. So I think there's just less of a reason for anyone to fake it, like they used to, and end up in a position where they're, you know, desperate for the next paycheck desperate for the next job because they are using so much money on just stuff. And that they are probably personally and this is what really worries me personally so disconnected from who they really are so disconnected. And when you have that disconnection, you just can't feel happy. All you're doing is projecting a person who is not truly you. And that just leads to misery like how can that be a way of life that you want to sustain for a long period of time?
So I see multiple issues here and one of them as an industry as a whole is perpetuating the idea that influencers make tons and tons of money. I think with this like new clothes, new clothes, new clothes, new thing, new thing, new thing, even if the influencer is getting gifted, or here's another one that I see they're selling it after on Poshmark or something like that pretty much brand new, or they've worn it once just to shoot and not even not even like in real life just to shoot in to actually make some of that money. back, like that's not a living like, I'm hate to throw this out there but like free clothing is just not going to pay my mortgage.
No, no agreed. And I know a lot of people who did make a lot of money. When gift I mean gifting is still so rampant. Now, we talked about this in a previous episode, the amount of waste that goes into gifting, especially in the fashion industry. So I just think that I don't know, I just think that we're not going to be going in that direction anymore. Because influencers even when they were getting so so so much stuff, and they were selling it at the end of every month, you know, on we would gift influencers, oh, this is a great story. We would gift influencers when I used to work as a PR agency and had fancy fashion clients, things that were very expensive. And within seconds, and it would be like the weeks before they were it was even going to come out. And this goes for editors as well. Honestly, the weeks before they were going to come out we'd see it already on the reel reel. And we'd be like
who? Who did this? Do this? And
now I feel like it's commonplace. But still back then brands saw this coming up on eBay. Yeah, we saw that come up on eBay. We saw this come up on Rent the Runway or not Rent the Runway on the real real. And like, why are people selling this thing that we gifted that I'm like, we can't really do anything once it leaves our hands. But yes, I understand it.
can afford to live.
Yeah, truly. And that goes renters to I think like starting editor salaries are very low. It's shockingly low. And I think people are exchanging a quote unquote glamorous life for stuffs and no money.
Yeah. And I think that that's, that's part of the thing that just needs to I don't know if this comes down to disclosing that this is an ad or that it's gifted or like it just goes into those those recommendations those rules, or if it's something bigger?
Yeah, I mean, I think it's, I think bigger. I think it's more than just disclosing that something was gifted, although I'm seeing more and more people disclose gifted in stories all the time. And I see more and more not wanting not enough. Oh, no, not nearly enough. Everyone should be disclosing.
So here's, here's another weird piece of this is like, I think that any recommendation feels like an ad, as if I can, you know, reach every single brand that I that I want to work with like as if I wish and get some kind of link some kind of thing that actually pays my bills. But that's not the case. Like if I'm recommending something like nine out of 10 times I'm not making something from it. So I think that that standard needs to come out more in that like, we're really not like my recommendation doesn't do anything for me.
I think a great story that goes along with this topic actually just happened to me today on Tik Tok, I had an influencer comment that she feels like what's holding her back from growth is that she doesn't live in an aesthetic apartment. And it made me feel so sad to think that someone felt like the content that they were making couldn't be successful or couldn't be loved by brands because they didn't live in a fancy house. And the hacks I have seen to like make it feel aesthetic is beyond. So I just feel like those need to be shared and I'm definitely going to do a video that talks about like all the things that you can do to fake a beautiful bathroom and all these great like backgrounds and stuff right but it just went along with this topic really well that she felt so concerned that her actual living quarters were not good enough to be shy
I think it's so funny that you say that because if there is anything that I like, except with an excuse that you're not making content right now, it's I'm moving in two weeks, or I'm moving in a month like I'm waiting until I'm like in the nicer space with a better lighting like I can't I can't with my life being a mess right now. I can't make content and I relate to that so much. I used to live in this house with the darkest kitchen ever. At this point I was like all into like posting my like smoothie bowls and being really creative about it. It's it was actually like a whole wild journey. And I couldn't I felt like my lighting sucked so much that I couldn't take it full on. I couldn't make the full recipe the full tutorial the full video that was aesthetic because my kitchen was such a dark little cave. So once we moved I was like Oh, hell yeah, like it's about to come out like this is the thing that I'm going to be doing like Little did I know I'm absolutely never going to create cooking rails because I actually suck at cooking or baking like it's like a character flaw because I can't follow directions but you Moving moving man.
Yeah, I mean, I felt for her so deeply. But also it's like, okay, even in that scenario, hardly where you like hide your cool smoothie bowls, like, you could make them in the dark kitchen and then walk outside, put them on a white background, or I just feel like there are so many hacks when you're first getting started. And you know, like, Okay, the next house is out of reach for XYZ amount of time. And to feel like held back by any sort of circumstance, there's always a workaround, but I think it just, I get it in light of truly is the most difficult portion of content creation, you can make as many fake backgrounds as you'd like, there's tons of different hacks to make things seem like they are without the actual reality of it being real marble and all these great things. But I do feel like light is the hardest thing. Yeah, in a great way, besides just walking outside. So hopefully, she lives in California, like our Sun every day.
At the end of the day, like if we even think about photo content that I used to take when I used to go out and do these like content days, what you start to like spy and like when I'm on vacation, I still do this is like those little corners like I don't need a full beautiful backdrop like I can be right by the dumpster. But I have this big palm tree in the back of me. So like, oh, beachy content to the depth dumpster. Like that's just how it works. So pulling it back to this, like unattainable fake lifestyle. Is this bad.
I mean,
I think it wouldn't be bad if you were like I'm on the best vacation I've ever been on. But you're like really just at a dumpster and you're not even on vacation. But if it's just about finding the vignette as a backdrop, I don't know that that's like the same as say as like spending $4,000 A night on a hotel room that like overlooks, you know, the Eiffel Tower like those are different. Those are completely different things. But it's all it's all one slippery slope. I think in terms of takeaway, I just hope that people realize that we're moving towards an era more quickly. I wish we were doing it more quickly, but we are doing it where there is an acceptance for every type of creator. And we don't need to peddle the perfect aesthetic all the time. We don't have to peddle the perfect wardrobe, the perfect vacation, the perfect relationship. The reality is more what people want to connect with these days. So leave behind that feeling that you have to fake it till you make it and really embrace your actual reality.
Right? One person that I want everyone to go look up is Elise Myers. Because this girl blew up on tick tock has like a million followers on Instagram, maybe more. And she just tells stories with her in her pajamas, like with her hair and a fun bun, like looks like an absolute hurricane. And she's the cutest. She's the cutest. But I'm obsessed because she tells these hilarious stories in this poor lighting. And she has a thing like you need a thing. You don't need this crazy aesthetic world. So I mean, the more we can get used to that and just promote that, as a culture on Instagram, the sooner that we can get into or get away from this weird unattainable lifestyle because we really see it, we see it across the board as the sales tactic. Like I said, In the beginning, we see coaches pushing this myth myth of you can have passive income just like me, I'm living in this luxury villa. And like, I just saw my courses. I don't do any work, which is just a such a lie. But because we see it because of perceptions there. We buy into it. It feels like hack culture. It's not real. And I think us as a viewer need to pull back that veil for ourselves to and say, Okay, we wait, we wait, like, what, what's real here? What's for
sure, I think the audience does. audience needs to take more responsibility for doing the due diligence between reality and what they're seeing on Instagram. And also creators on Instagram need to be doing their part as well. I do think it's a two way street and that the audience can't just play in the fandom. You have to also think to yourself what is realistic for my life? What in this scenario do I think is real and you know, can I keep in mind that the person that I follow probably isn't sharing parts that are harder all the time. But know that they do You have those parts and that it is part of their reality just like yours influencers that are just like us.
influencers are just like us. Today has been one big deep topic. I know that you have thoughts and feelings and deep concerns and we want to hear them coming out with us on Instagram at the Harley Jordan and Sonia dot Elise. We'll catch you next time