The state of influencing.

I have to get something off my chest. It’s been bothering me for awhile and it involves the blogging/influencer community that I happen to be a part of. I love it for so many reasons but this year, like so many of us, has been a real shit show of vanity metrics, cheating the system, inauthenticity, a lack of regulation and overall head scratching for me.

Let me rewind. I started this blog 11 years ago because I needed a place for my thoughts. I needed to write and to learn how to take photos and edit and overall be creative apart from my impending divorce and corporate day job. It’s natural that this industry would change a ton over the decade. How could it not? Social media is the epicenter of our information retrieval, our news source and a way to pass the time…now more than ever. <I’m looking at you Covid-19!> I will always be grateful for the opportunities that have been presented, the gifts, the trips, the experiences and most of all, the relationships. Most grateful for that.

But…

What in the hell is going on? We are giving away cars, Pelotons, $5000 Target shopping sprees and trips to gain followers? I thought taking away “likes” on IG would set the record straight but it’s gotten worse. Let me back up. I have participated in giveaways in the past. Yes, I have tried them to grow quickly but I quit for two reasons. I stopped because: 1. you lose followers as quickly as you gain them and 2. it’s extraordinarily costly to maintain because you have to do more giveaways to gain and keep more followers. Unfortunately, I don’t have that disposable income and my husband would murder me! There’s also this thing where I want people to follow me for me…not for the next LV NeverFull Giveaway. <although I do love those bags!>

I’ve also tried comment pods. That ran its course because I couldn’t keep up, I was actually bad at my job, and I think it really affected my engagement. In all fairness, you have to try this stuff out. I get it and I want to be transparent about that, too. I’ve tried almost all of it. Almost.

I am not perfect. I am not the biggest influencer and I never will be. I am not the best editor, model or photographer but I try. And that’s the thing - you try.

Let’s get back to these giveaways. Bottom line, that’s buying followers, right? It is. And the content creators that are really busting their humps to do something unique, to come up with an original idea for their next collaboration or spend their days tirelessly honing their craft — they, we/I, don’t have a chance. Our content doesn’t get seen, we get less likes, less comments, less impressions, less reach - all of the above. But we keep doing it because we hope that our content impacts one person. Maybe one person feels less alone. And guess what? We love what we do! It sparks joy and if it doesn’t - quit NOW!

Would I do another giveaway? Absolutely, if it was between the brand and myself and it was something cool I could offer my readers. That’s my way to say “thank you” to the people who religiously follow me. Will I do another hidden or loop giveaway? Right now my answer is “no”. Something has to change. Something has to level the playing field.

This year is hard. There are no magical travel shoots. There are budget cuts and we are all desperate to cling to our audiences and connect. I am with you! But I also think 2020 is an opportunity to reset. Create content that you love. Create content that feels good, that speaks to your soul. That feels like the most genuine real you. Let’s do more of that!

We all have a lot on our plates. A pandemic, BLM, anti-semitic injustice, child trafficking, murder hornets, dust storms, salary cuts, job loss, loss of loved ones and oh, homeschooling. That’s a lot to digest. We need all the self care and then some.

Somehow, I want us to give two shits about how many followers we’ve gained or how many likes we’ve received and give a whole lot more shits about how our content makes us feel and is it helping the community in some small way. Because micro and macro efforts snowball into real change. Change that allows us to speak out freely, to disagree peacefully, to lift each other up daily, to right the broken history of our country and to overall, just be a better person. Imagine if we all did that…and wore masks while doing so? Imagine where we would be in a year!

Will you do it? Will you get comfortable with less inflated numbers? Less friends? Less likes? Less compliments? All of these things are nice, heck, I like them, too, but I would be willing to throw my hat in the ring. The question is: How many of you are willing to do it with me?

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