I’m not new to social media, I go way back to the Bebo days of sending your crush your one heart for the day and when Myspace had top friends. I wouldn’t call myself a veteran but I’ve seen a lot and signed up to every social media platform with the hopes it’ll be the next “big thing” …. introducing Instagram.
So, I got introduced to Instagram in 2012, when it started getting some traction. It got sold to Facebook for some crazy amount and I didn’t want to miss out. I made a profile and thankful was responsible enough to brand myself well and use my full name. At this stage, it’s just my school friends and I using it, just posting for the sake of looking cool, under the desk selfies in class, got my bellybutton pieced that’ll give me so good street cred. For a good comparison of how the app once looked check out my tweet bellow.
So that’s where I started and this is where I am now. Just over nine thousand followers, a better camera and a consistent theme running, it’s safe to say I attract a broader crowed these days. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t claim to be an ‘influencer’ I’ve never received payment for any promotions but I’ve had my fair share of companies using me in their marketing. So I guess this is the story of how my online identity started…
So, in 2017 I was approached via email to do my first ever collaboration with a teeth whiting brand, I had about three thousand followers and they had five hundred thousand so I was interested in what they wanted from me. The email started off with “I’m always looking for new promoters for our international brand HiSmile. We really love your page and believe you have a beautiful smile that would fit the brand and feel of our product perfectly!”, all I could think was thank god I had braces for three years.
I obviously replied to the email accepting the collaboration and they sent back a booklet called the “Influencer Handbook”. The booklet started off telling me that if we were reposted by them it’s a good way to network, connect and expand our following (they weren’t lying this was true). In order to be reposted the booklet also showed examples of photos that have been reposted so we could try and stick with the theme. A whole page of captions that we could use because god forbid we have any creativity in this collaboration. The booklet also goes on to discuss the importance of a good background in a photo where the inspiration was the Eiffel Tower and some beach holiday, I would be a little concerned if you were whiting your teeth on the beach or in Paris out and about so I stuck to what I know best and what my bank account could afford, my room. Due to signing no confidentiality agreement i’ll post the booklet bellow to see how ridiculous this got.
Being my first collaboration I wanted it to be perfect. I waited for a sunny day, did my makeup just right, hair curled, hey if Kylie Jenner was being sponsored by this brand you best believe I was going to do a good job. I got a good enough photo and worked wonders on my editing apps, making sure it fits my theme but also theirs and waiting for the notification that they reposted it as well. Days go by, nothing until one morning I woke up. Just a casual five hundred plus followers, they reposted it… do I like it, do I comment on their post I don’t know what to do. I was freaking out, they just sent my selfie out to five hundred thousand people. The post ended up getting over four thousand likes and I ended up gaining over seven hundred new followers from one photo, since then have offered to collaboration again.
So, the whole experience, I didn’t try the product once. Reading the guideline booklet back again there’s no expression of how the product works or the before and after result that they care about so much on social media. It just shows that “Social media has amplified the effects of peer recommendations, as it empowered consumers to share their opinions and experiences” (M Veirman, 2017), the company doesn’t care about the product, they care about the person who is holding their product in the photo, how much interest and followers they will get from that person. Hey it started my online identity so I shouldn’t really be complaining!
That’s all for now and once again,
Marijke De Veirman, Veroline Cauberghe & Liselot Hudders (2017) Marketing through Instagram influencers: the impact of number of followers and product divergence on brand attitude, International Journal of Advertising,
Jayde's Blog 
Okay but how did you have so many followers to begin with?
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It started from me going to so many different schools ( I attended 7 in 3 different countries) so that added to it. But I found being involved liking and commenting on bloggers photos and creating a theme on your instagram is where I saw my biggest increase
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