By Kate Bucaro Free To Be Talks Facilitator and U.S. Program Liaison, Mental Health Advocate and Eating Disorder Recovery Speaker
When I decided to unfollow all influencers, I had no idea how many were actually showing up in my regular feed. Scrolling through perfectly curated images of women styled head to toe with designer brands had become completely normal to me. I was mesmerized by the way each influencer showcased their highly desirable lifestyle while promoting all kinds of products and quietly receiving commission for every purchase I made. I was naïve to believe that each of these influencers “only shared products they genuinely loved”, and I found myself dissatisfied as I compared my ordinary life with the filtered grid of images that portrayed theirs.
While Instagram started as a fun photo-sharing platform that allowed users to express themselves and create an online community, overtime it has spiraled into an addictive social media app that leaves users with harmful effects including thoughts of inadequacy, a fear of missing out, a disconnection from real life relationships and so much more.
In the same sense, influencer marketing started as one of the most powerful marketing initiatives to reach target consumers across industries, and now it only adds to the long list of detriments on mental health.
Now to be fair, it’s important for me to disclose that I am well-seasoned in the world of influencer marketing. I started my career working for a small integrated marketing agency and one of my primary tasks was to research, vet and pitch my client’s product to influencers that had significant clout with our client’s target consumers. I know the benefits of influencer partnerships for brands because I used to push those benefits on almost all of my consumer-focused clients. The process became second nature to me; pitch the influencer, negotiate payment and promote the influencer’s “honest” opinion about our client on their blog and Instagram…
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