4 ms·

Every reputable travel publication/blog I know of have strict editorial policies against accepting freebies/discounts/gifts in exchange for reviews/coverage. T

Every reputable travel publication/blog I know of have strict editorial policies against accepting freebies/discounts/gifts in exchange for reviews/coverage. Those so-called "influencers" aren't really about serving their audience -- they strike me as just a scammy way to travel "for free".

forapurpose 8y ago
From another angle, I wonder why their readers trust the influencers when they are well-known to be bought and paid for.
- themodelplumber 8y ago
  Some influencers take this issue head-on because they know their followers will actually be buying and evaluating the stuff they are reviewing. So they want to build trust because they know it'll be obvious if they are shilling. Newspaper columnists faced this question long before the internet, and some did handle it really well.
- pessimizer 8y ago
  Because the quality of the product or experience is irrelevant. The goal is to imitate the influencer, and to thereby also become someone who people want to imitate. If I can pattern myself 90% after someone that other people are imitating, those other people are virtually already 90% imitating me anyway, they just don't know it yet. If I can get them to remember my name, and a significant chunk to think that my 10% difference is in qualities where I'm superior to the person I'm imitating, I've at least carved out a niche, but I maybe on the road to completely replacing them. Of course on a very small scale, this could just be amongst people at my workplace, or who go to my college.
  - forapurpose 8y ago
    Very insightful; thanks.
drb91 8y ago
Influencers don’t serve reviews, they serve ads. There’s no editorial conflict here at all: of course they’re biased.
jrnichols 8y ago
The "influencers" reek of "I'm young, female, and attractive, and therefore i am worthy of attention and lavish gifts." Thing is, it works.
- mayniac 8y ago
  To be fair on them, despite what their instagrams show it is a lot of work. My girlfriend follows Alexis Ren and showed me her workout routine, it's easily 3 hours a day. Which combined with reaching out to brands, dealing with advertisers, scheduling, photoshoots etc I could easily see it being a full time job. Plus the constant dieting on top of all that which I can't remember the details of, but I know is hugely restrictive: no eating after 5pm and zero alcohol for example. For sure a lot of them are pretty low effort and just do it as a side job, but I don't think it's as simple as just being attractive and I don't think a lot of them are as entitled as they seem.
  - drb91 8y ago
    It seems a lot like managing your own modeling and PR business. I am not by any means saying that all influencers are attractive (or that it’s the source of their popularity when they are!) but the line between being an influencer and an “instagram model” seems very wide and grey.
    - coatmatter 8y ago
      It's a term that I only see the media industry using. It's all cut from the same cloth but at the end of the day, advertising works.
- ufmace 8y ago
  Apparently for many, it works in exactly the way you would think - see http://tagthesponsor.com/ http://tagthesponsor.com/
cityhomesteader 8y ago
> Every reputable travel publication/blog I know of have strict editorial policies against accepting freebies/discounts/gifts in exchange for reviews/coverage. Sure, for the writers in order to maintain an illusion of objectivity. But none of them have policies on the publication/company taking ad money in exchange for positive reviews. > Those so-called "influencers" aren't really about serving their audience -- they strike me as just a scammy way to travel "for free". Nobody "serves" the audience. You develop an audience so that the audience can serve you. Also, it isn't "scammy". It's business and it's been going on long before social media. Do you think tv execs put Bud Light commercials during football games because they love horribly watered down beer? Do you think X athlete chooses Nike over Adidas or vice versa because one treats their chinese slave laborers better? Do you really think matthew mcconaughey thinks lincolns are the best cars? Do you think steven spielberg or other directors use product placement in their films because they believe in all those products? Do you think newspapers run rolex ads in their papers because they really believe it's worthless to spend money on rolex? No. The answer is the all these influencers push products that pay them the most. You and I would do the same if we had a following.
- balt_s 8y ago
  This sounds like a touch too much protestation to be coincidental...
Lazare 8y ago
I think you misunderstand the situation. Influencers are offering ad space, not reviews. There's no promise of impartiality. Also, those "reputable magazines" still sell ads to the companies they cover. There's zero difference here. > Those so-called "influencers" aren't really about serving their audience They're about serving their customers, ie, the brands. Some do a great job; others do not. And others, as discussed in the article, aren't even trying to provide marketing services and are just trying to scam a free hotel stay. Similarly, some ad networks aren't even trying to provide value to clients and are just trying to soak up advertising dollars, but that doesn't mean all advertising is a scam.
Mediterraneo10 8y ago
> Every reputable travel publication/blog I know of have strict editorial policies against accepting freebies/discounts/gifts in exchange for reviews/coverage. We must move in separate travel worlds. Within bicycle touring, travelers with established blogs very often accept free stuff, because this hobby requires a great deal of gear (and gear replacement) that isn't cheap. But this usually doesn't affect their reputability in the eyes of the community, especially when they review some of this gear negatively and note how it broke on the road.
- coatmatter 8y ago
  To be fair, the parent commenter was vague about what "strict editorial policies" meant. Tech publications receive free stuff all the time too. And for people like Casey Neistat - people send stuff to him unsolicited.

forapurpose 8y ago

From another angle, I wonder why their readers trust the influencers when they are well-known to be bought and paid for.

themodelplumber 8y ago
Some influencers take this issue head-on because they know their followers will actually be buying and evaluating the stuff they are reviewing. So they want to build trust because they know it'll be obvious if they are shilling. Newspaper columnists faced this question long before the internet, and some did handle it really well.
pessimizer 8y ago
Because the quality of the product or experience is irrelevant. The goal is to imitate the influencer, and to thereby also become someone who people want to imitate. If I can pattern myself 90% after someone that other people are imitating, those other people are virtually already 90% imitating me anyway, they just don't know it yet. If I can get them to remember my name, and a significant chunk to think that my 10% difference is in qualities where I'm superior to the person I'm imitating, I've at least carved out a niche, but I maybe on the road to completely replacing them. Of course on a very small scale, this could just be amongst people at my workplace, or who go to my college.
- forapurpose 8y ago
  Very insightful; thanks.

drb91 8y ago

Influencers don’t serve reviews, they serve ads. There’s no editorial conflict here at all: of course they’re biased.

jrnichols 8y ago

The "influencers" reek of "I'm young, female, and attractive, and therefore i am worthy of attention and lavish gifts." Thing is, it works.

mayniac 8y ago
To be fair on them, despite what their instagrams show it is a lot of work. My girlfriend follows Alexis Ren and showed me her workout routine, it's easily 3 hours a day. Which combined with reaching out to brands, dealing with advertisers, scheduling, photoshoots etc I could easily see it being a full time job. Plus the constant dieting on top of all that which I can't remember the details of, but I know is hugely restrictive: no eating after 5pm and zero alcohol for example. For sure a lot of them are pretty low effort and just do it as a side job, but I don't think it's as simple as just being attractive and I don't think a lot of them are as entitled as they seem.
- drb91 8y ago
  It seems a lot like managing your own modeling and PR business. I am not by any means saying that all influencers are attractive (or that it’s the source of their popularity when they are!) but the line between being an influencer and an “instagram model” seems very wide and grey.
  - coatmatter 8y ago
    It's a term that I only see the media industry using. It's all cut from the same cloth but at the end of the day, advertising works.
ufmace 8y ago
Apparently for many, it works in exactly the way you would think - see http://tagthesponsor.com/ http://tagthesponsor.com/

cityhomesteader 8y ago

> Every reputable travel publication/blog I know of have strict editorial policies against accepting freebies/discounts/gifts in exchange for reviews/coverage. Sure, for the writers in order to maintain an illusion of objectivity. But none of them have policies on the publication/company taking ad money in exchange for positive reviews. > Those so-called "influencers" aren't really about serving their audience -- they strike me as just a scammy way to travel "for free". Nobody "serves" the audience. You develop an audience so that the audience can serve you. Also, it isn't "scammy". It's business and it's been going on long before social media. Do you think tv execs put Bud Light commercials during football games because they love horribly watered down beer? Do you think X athlete chooses Nike over Adidas or vice versa because one treats their chinese slave laborers better? Do you really think matthew mcconaughey thinks lincolns are the best cars? Do you think steven spielberg or other directors use product placement in their films because they believe in all those products? Do you think newspapers run rolex ads in their papers because they really believe it's worthless to spend money on rolex? No. The answer is the all these influencers push products that pay them the most. You and I would do the same if we had a following.

balt_s 8y ago
This sounds like a touch too much protestation to be coincidental...

Lazare 8y ago

I think you misunderstand the situation. Influencers are offering ad space, not reviews. There's no promise of impartiality. Also, those "reputable magazines" still sell ads to the companies they cover. There's zero difference here. > Those so-called "influencers" aren't really about serving their audience They're about serving their customers, ie, the brands. Some do a great job; others do not. And others, as discussed in the article, aren't even trying to provide marketing services and are just trying to scam a free hotel stay. Similarly, some ad networks aren't even trying to provide value to clients and are just trying to soak up advertising dollars, but that doesn't mean all advertising is a scam.

Mediterraneo10 8y ago

> Every reputable travel publication/blog I know of have strict editorial policies against accepting freebies/discounts/gifts in exchange for reviews/coverage. We must move in separate travel worlds. Within bicycle touring, travelers with established blogs very often accept free stuff, because this hobby requires a great deal of gear (and gear replacement) that isn't cheap. But this usually doesn't affect their reputability in the eyes of the community, especially when they review some of this gear negatively and note how it broke on the road.

coatmatter 8y ago
To be fair, the parent commenter was vague about what "strict editorial policies" meant. Tech publications receive free stuff all the time too. And for people like Casey Neistat - people send stuff to him unsolicited.