This was originally written and published by me on Patreon in 2021, but as an added extra for the week, I wanted to repost it here on Substack, my new (and much better) home.
Welcome, too, if you’re new to me, which I know lots of you are. Thanks for being here, and thank you especially to new paid subscribers – the fact that you value my writing enough to pay me is an honour that will never be lost on me.
Part of the reason I wrote this piece in the first place was to do with the lack of responsibility I found in the influencer marketing sphere, and one of the reasons this Substack is called ‘The Outfluencer’ is because of how outside of that whole arena I felt (and still feel) in spite of being very much adjacent to it.
-
Some things you should take as fact before you read this piece:
I think beauty influencers of all kinds are, for the most part, great
I am fully in support of influencer marketing as an industry
I don’t partake myself for various reasons but am happy for those who do
This piece is written out of frustration at seeing people being misinformed in subtle but potentially harmful ways by people online (both traditional and new media) who just don’t seem to care and will shill anything to make money
This is mostly focusing on beauty, but a similar argument could probably be made by the other genres I don't have expertise in.
-
I got a T-shirt sent to me recently as part of a press pack. Crisp, white cotton with small black lettering sewn on that read ‘Informed, not influenced’.
I stared at the short statement for longer than I expected to, and the genesis of this piece was born therein. It was admittedly helped along by this post by Caroline Hirons, where she – quite rightly – drags Gwyneth Paltrow and Vogue US for platforming… a heap of shit, frankly, about SPF and how much one should wear.
I recalled the MANY times over recent years where I’ve rolled my eyes listening to people on social media with a considerable following rabbit on about some product or other, extolling its virtues, licking the brand’s arse and then dropping an AF link or a #spon a week later for the same brand/product.
BY ALL MEANS, get that cash, gal, yes. By all means. Someone’s making it, it might as well be you.
But when does responsibility come into it? And why does it seem that no one is trying to police that? Even US Vogue let a non-expert (Gwyneth) spout total and potentially dangerous crap to their massive follower number. For what? Clicks, I suppose?
Before I go on, I’ll say this: Yes, I’m a print journalist first and foremost, trying to make myself relevant in front of a digital audience. It’s a challenge that I don’t often succeed in.
And yes, I am a die-hard magazine lover who will always believe and trust editorial content. I buy into (having seen it firsthand) the hierarchy of writer → editor → publisher → publishing company’s broader history and heritage, particularly when it comes to taking responsibility for content published.
I acknowledge entirely the bias that can emerge within print titles – I’m not blind to the fact that gifting, press trips and free bars have been a mainstay of the magazine journalism world for decades and longer – I’ve benefited directly from that exact thing many times over. HOWEVER, and this is what I see a big difference between ‘traditional’ beauty media and ‘new’ beauty media: