B
y daytwoofInstagramhiding
likesinAustralia,JulesLund
hadalreadyfeltcompelledtopost
a “rant”smackingdownthemedia
forderidinginf luencers.Afterthe
newsfromInstagrambroke,it nat-
urallyledtoa waveofcommen-
tary, both from new and old
media,onhowit impactscreators,
manygleefulthemovewouldbe
theendofinf luencers.
ThetheorywasthatInstagram
hadtakenawaytheirsourceof
power– likes– renderingthemval-
uelesstobrands.Now,therewould
benoneedforcreatorstopostout-
rageouslyf lawlessgymshotsor
vapidbrunchsnapseveryday.
Thesepredictionswere not
onlyuntrue,butalsounfair,says
Lund,thefounderofinf luencer
providerTribe,andtheresultofa
fewbadactorsintheinf luencer
categorywhoarepickedupand
amplified,tarnishingtheimageof
allinf luencers.
“Inf luencersaren’tmuchdif-
ferenttoanygroup[that]people
enjoybashingfortheirownenjoy-
ment,”Lundsays.
“There’scertainbehaviourthat
frustratesanyone,anda lotof
thoseinf luencersleavethemselves
opentothatcriticism.Attimesit’s
constructiveandreasonable,and
I toowouldagreewithit.”
Ridiculinginf luencershasbeen
a trendnotjustinthepublic,but
alsowithinthemarketingindus-
try.Forexample,askingcreatives
andsocialmediaexpertstoreview
inf luencers’Instagrampostsfor
brands,ledtocommentslabelling
themas“embarrassing”.Onecre-
ativeturneddowntheopportunity
toreviewthem,sayingtheyhad
nothing positive to say,while
Glenn Dalton,ECD atHardhat,
boldlysaidhe“hatesmostinf lu-
encer marketing” for its
inauthenticity.
Marketers too have down-
playedtheriseofinf luencers,or
predictedtheirdemise,nonemore
prominent than the former
UnileverCMOKeithWeedwho
saidtheindustryneededto“take
urgentactionnowtorebuildtrust
beforeit’sgoneforever”.
Detractors’view isthatthe
meteoricriseofinf luencershas
taken awaytheverythingthat
made them valuable – authenticity
- orhasbeenbuiltonemptymetrics,withtransparencyaroundreporting
andmeasurementthebiggestconcern.
Inadditiontothesechallenges,inf luencersalsotakeontheissuesof
socialmedia,theenvironmentinwhichtheystilllive,whichhasbig
brandsafetycomplications.
FollowingtheChristchurchterroristattackinMarch,bothFacebook
andYouTubewerecriticisedgloballyforfailingtopromptlyremovethe
livestreamoftheattackwhichleft 51 peopledead.
InanothercaseintheUS,a youngmanpostedimagesofhismurdered
victimacrosssocialmedia.
Whileplatformscanworktotakesuchcontentdown,therealityis
thattheycan’tkeepupwiththevolumeofcontentbeinguploadedonline
everyday,andbrandsthatchoosetoadvertiseonsocialmediarisk
appearingnear“violent,abhorrent”material– nothinganymarketer
wantstoassociatetheirbrandwith.
BBCStoryWorksAustraliabossJelenaLiwarnedthatmanymarketers
whorelyonsocialmediaarestuckinshort-termthinking.“Qualityof
contentis onethingbutif you’renotpushingoutthatcontentontheright
platformthenit can’treallyshine,it can’treallyunleashitsfullpotential,”
Lisays.
Thisstringofcriticismshasdriventheskepticismaroundinf luencer
marketing,buttheopposing,morepositiveviewofinf luencers,which
Lundsubscribesto,isthatthey’recreativegeniuseswhouseda free
platformtoturnthemselvesintoadvertisingpowerhousesandareonly
goingtogrowfromhere.
TarynWilliams,TheRightFitCEO,pointsoutthatwhileinf luencers
are paid less than creative agencies, and often given less credit, they’re
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