A STORY ABOUT INFLUENCE

Is social media is reaching it’s peak? People are either running with it or they’re running away from it. I wonder if something’s going to happen - will Instagram shut down? Or become uncool like Bebo or MySpace?

Something that has concerned me recently is noticing these two very different ways of interacting with people and commerce online:

Option 1: “Guys, I’m not sponsored to say this - just so you know - I am sooo in love with this new rose quartz face roller!”

Option 2: “Love my new rose quartz face roller #ad”

So there’s a fundamental issue of how and when we’re making disclaimers. When these statements exist in their own entity, I don’t see any issues other than it being annoyingly banal crap (I’m totally guilty of posting annoyingly banal crap, and I OWN that banal crap). My concern arises when we see these two trends operating online together. This is because when we look at these two different ways to make a claim, most of us would agree that we’re supposed to think that Option 1 is the ‘genuine and honest’ approach whereas option 2 is not. This is because in Option 1, the person is disclaiming that money does not influence their choice to promote a product, therefore, it’s going to be a more authentic and trustworthy review, because if we have to disclaim that there’s no sponsorship involved, it’s GOT to be GOOD!"

However, in Option 2, the person has made the simple “#ad” disclaimer to ensure we all understand that money has passed hands. So to disclaim that you’re not sponsored to say something is to say that you genuinely believe in this product, whereas when you have been sponsored by something you disclaim that fact but we interpret that perhaps you don’t genuinely believe in it? When you see Option 2 as a contrast to Option 1, it’s common to think: “Yeah but do you really love that face roller or do you love being paid to tell us you love it…” However, if we investigate bloggers, most will remind you regularly that they only sponsor product that they believe in/care about etc. So in all honesty, the person behind Option 2 probably does genuinely care about the rose quartz face roller whereas the person behind Option 1, well, I don’t know why you’d bother needing to say that in the first place. If you want the company to ask you to sponsor them, please send them a private email asking if they need ambassadors instead of confusing me the fuck out about why you’re rolling a rock over your cheek in the first place.

This is a story we tell ourselves about what we believe in and why. It’s honestly a mind f*** and I truly don’t care whether someone is sponsored to say or believe or promote or share ANYTHING. What I DO care about is authenticity. When you are trying to make it clear to someone that you’ve “not been sponsored to say this”, question why you’re really saying it in the first place, and then, gram accordingly.