The Polarising World of Social Influencers with Felina Tan - Episode 12
Influencers have changed the internet forever - can we trust them to do so for good?
Modern social media is awash with brand deals, collaborations, and audiences hanging on every word of these internet personalities.
This week I’m joined by career marketeer Felina Tan to look back at how exactly we got here, and what the future holds for influencer marketing; who’ll police the bad apples, will the positive influencers win out, and what should platforms be doing to clamp down on misinformation and misleading content?
This episode of Disconnected covers:
The birth of the influencer in 1760, and today’s evolution of influencers
Shining examples of how influencers use their power for good
Warning signs of online personalities abusing their influence
What platforms can do to sway influencers’ behaviour
Episode Highlights:
“King George the Third was known to be the first influencer ever and it's because he gave his royal stamp of approval for pottery to Josiah Wedgwood in 1760. So Josiah, being a clever man, used the stamp of approval to his ultimate advantage just to increase sales of his pottery. So that was the first known encounter of influencer marketing and it's brilliant.” - 3:50 - Felina Tan
“Influencers have their finger on the pulse of culture, they know what to say at the right time. That's the differentiating factor between them and celebs. So when you talk about how agencies use them now, it's all about tapping into the relevancy of culture, how they’re knowledge experts, and how they can bring value to the marketing funnel to sell products and services.” - 6:20 - Felina Tan
“We've got a lot of doom and gloom in the news. So coming onto social media and seeing people like Joanne Molinero, making a step change in how people consume content online is a breath of fresh air.” - 12:20 - Felina Tan
“Rawvana faked her vegan lifestyle content, so she's now Yovana, which is her actual first name. She's also changed the topic of the conversation as she's had a baby, so the content focuses on staying healthy during pregnancy and motherhood, which is great for her. But if she was lying about being a vegan, will she now be this Instagram-perfect mummy that makes other mums feel depressed? I guess time will tell…” - 21:55 - Jag Sharma
“A video surfaced earlier this year of ‘Lil Tay’ crying because she's potentially had to move away from her mother and go to her father in a custody battle because of her content. It’s sad that she’s being really affected and has been used by a number of people close to her. It also comes back to the question of how did a nine year old get an Instagram account?” - 29:35 - Jag Sharma
“We're seeing small steps from the platforms. There’s definitely a lot more pressure now with all the mental health discussion that's been going around for years and years and years. So firstly platforms need to have a better code of conduct. Then individuals need to have a sense of accountability. They need to be true to themselves.” - 37:25 - Felina Tan
“Influencers can rarely go on a hiatus. There's no button for verified accounts on Instagram, where they can press and say, ‘I'm taking a month off Instagram, but please don't punish my reach for when I come back’. That's what I think is an issue and ties into your other point about the platforms taking more responsibility.” - 45:00 - Jag Sharma
“Platforms should probably offer more support, but the sad thing is these platforms don't ‘need’ to give them support, because there's people queuing up around the corner to be the next influencer. So if one has a mental breakdown, it’s fine for them because there's another one.” - 51:40 - Jag Sharma
“Influencers will always have a role to play in the digital age, and I think there will always be good eggs and not-so-good eggs.” - 57:30 - Felina Tan
Links & references:
Felina Tan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/felinagabrielletan/
Jag Sharma:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jagsharma
https://www.instagram.com/jagsharma/
Positive Influencers:
Joanne Molinaro – Chicago, USA - @thekoreanvegan
Ex-partner at law firm, now content creator and cookbook author
Writes and tells stories about hard hitting topics – identity and fitting in growing Asian in a western culture, family ideologies, divorce, showing up for yourself, etc.
Content is unique – cinematic reels of vegan Korean food being cooked voiced over with her meaningful, compelling stories.
Rianne Meijer – Amsterdam, Netherlands - @riannemeijer
Shares unfiltered and unedited photos of herself alongside enhanced versions to explain that not everything on social media is realistic. Huge sense of humour, relatable in many ways. That perfect shot, that perfect angle, that great Instagram lifestyle, she cuts through them with reality.
https://www.demilked.com/instagram-vs-reality-rianne-meijer/
Jenn Im – Los Angeles, USA - @imjennim
Veteran influencer, has been in the scene since YouTube first became a vlogger hub. Seen her evolve as an individual with the times. From starting out with unique fashion videos to her proposal then her wedding, and her pregnancy journey, Jenn bares all. She got married to Ben who used to be in a band called Young Guns. Their son Lennon was born a few months ago but this was what Ben said in April 2020 in an interview with The Guardian:
“I’m terrified for when we have kids, because this world is becoming more competitive. There’s a constant pressure to maintain your social media. I hate the fact that people think you’ve disappeared off the planet if you don’t post. I find the opposite is true: real life starts when the camera switches off.”
Mona Chalabi – NYC, USA - @monachalabi
Amazing data journalist and writer. She produces illustrations on data and statistics, which explains the frequent use of figures in her cartoons. In addition, she deals extensively with the issue of women through her cartoons. Politics as well, pay gap, racial divide. Has worked with BBC, National Geographic, Channel 4 and VICE.
Pablo Rochat – Atlanta, USA - @pablo.rochat
Creative director and owner of his own studio. highly sought-after Art Directors in the tech world. His focus on endless fun and riffing in his work combines with a genius for understanding how humans interact with the physical world to create playful works of public art that have made him a hit on social media. In 2019, he launched one of the simplest and yet most effective viral pranks of the year by printing out photorealistic Airpod stickers and placing them on sidewalks,
subways, and stairs all around SF.
Potentially Problematic Influencers:
Carla Bellucci – Hertfordshire UK - @officialcarlabellucci
A 39 year-old former model. Faked clinical depression in order to get a nose job on the NHS and then bragged about it. The cost to the NHS and therefore the UK taxpayer was about $14k USD.
Now all comments are turned off on her IG. And she earned the title of most hated influencer in the UK in 2019. She also tried to crowdfund a Brazilian butt lift from her fans.
Aga Brzostowska – UK Polish born - @alicja_ab - 320k followers.
She’s been accused of Blackfishing. Pics of her have emerged from when she was younger, clearly showing her as white. Yet her Instagram clearly shows cultural appropriation. Cornrows and a style that can only be described as urban.
Rawvana – Texan lady
Used to have 1.5m followers on Instagram who hung off her every word about veganism is living a raw diet lifestyle. In 2019 she was found out for eating eggs and meat. She owned up to it in a lengthy YouTube confession video, stating that she once was vegan but it was messing with her menstrual cycle and that her doctor ordered her to eat meat and eggs.
Why didn’t she come clean? She’s now down to 1.1m followers, changed her IG name to Yovana (her actual first name… can’t be Rawvana as she’s not eating raw anymore), and she’s had a baby & changed the theme of her content to focus on staying healthy during pregnancy and motherhood.
Emily Ratajkowski
The model who shot to mainstream media fame when she appeared almost completely naked in the ‘Blurred Lines’ music video
Emily and her millionaire filmmaker husband avoided paying rent on their loft apartment due to a loophole in the law that allowed struggling artists in New York not pay rent. Her husband is worth over $100m US dollars, and her net worth is about $8m USD. They are clearly not struggling artists.
They ended up not paying $160k USD worth of rent. They even had numerous loud and lavish parties in the apartment, with numerous complaints from neighbours about the noise. The landlord ended up paying them to leave. It was an undisclosed amount. They then bought a $2m house in LA.
Lisa Li – Weibo influencer from China with over 1m followers
Her account, like that of many young Chinese influencers, is a glossy catalogue of travel adventures, parties and fine-dining experiences. When she moved out of her apartment, she still owed rent, she left the apartment in such a mess that professional cleaners refused to clean it. There was even tons of dog excrement on
the floor.
She only came back and tried to make amends when her landlord live streamed the apartment on social media, which caught widespread attention.
Your Highness Qiao Biluo
Video blogger in China on Doyou, which charges fans to watch their favourite people. She was known for her sweet voice and super cute looks. Due to a technical glitz her face filter failed during one live stream and she turned out to be a 58 year old woman. She dropped from 100k followers to 60k in a day.
Tana Mongeau – @tanamongeau - 5.7m followers on IG
Had a fake wedding with Jake Paul. Promoted it heavily on her social media. People paid $50 USD to watch the stream of the wedding. The wedding was never registered, and both Tana and Jake left the wedding separately.
Logan Paul – 23m YouTube followers & 21m IG followers @loganpaul
Japan suicide forest video. Posted a video showing a man who had committed suicide in a forest in Japan. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42644321
Belle Gibson - @healing_belle (account no longer exists) Australian.
Belle announced that she was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and given 4 months to live. She ‘healed herself through food’. She raised $300k USD for charity and then didn’t give the money to charity. She wrote a book called The Whole Pantry, as well as launching an app. Trading on her fake illness.
Ocean El Himer – @oceanelhimer - 950k IG fans
Faking business class when travelling in economy
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2021/06/instagram-influencer-caught-faking-business-
class-flight.html
Lil Tay – Vancouver Canada
Very very sad & tragic. A 9 year old girl who was being coaxed into doing and saying outlandish things on social media by her older brother, who was encouraged by their mother. Lil Tay’s mother even moved the family from Vancouver to LA to capitalise on Lil Tay’s fame.
Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9hKuA4tyTE