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A software engineering position at Uber in SF seems to be something of value to most people on HN. I know someone who quit that position to focus on her Instagr

by hadiz 7y ago

A software engineering position at Uber in SF seems to be something of value to most people on HN. I know someone who quit that position to focus on her Instagram career. She was not a mode or anything, one day she just announced she's turned vegan and voila, she was an influencer. Now she owns a house in West Hollywood. All within 8-10 months.

claudeganon 7y ago
The film “Ingrid Goes West” captures the inverse, dark reality of this phenomenon very well. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Goes_West https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Goes_West
- hadiz 7y ago
  yeah I watched that when it came out in 2017, I thought in the end the influencer was depicted as a good person who's earned her status, no?
  - ivraatiems 7y ago
    I would not call her a good person. Almost nobody in that film is a good person. In the end, the influencer is depicted (accurately) as a victim of the protagonist's mental instability and manipulation, but it's her vapidity and inability to genuinely relate to anyone that made that victimization possible. She's as damaged as Ingrid is, just in a more subtle, socially acceptable way.
  - claudeganon 7y ago
    There’s a subtle through line that the influencer couple were just boring, born rich people using the whole Instagram influencer thing as a means to launder themselves into something more hip and bohemian (and thus marketable in contemporary culture). Ingrid, being a lower class person, is drawn into this deception and they ultimately come out in more or less the same places they started. If I remember correctly, one of the influencer couple at the end is moving on to take a corporate art job (without any real merit or qualifications) at Levi’s or something.
    - ivraatiems 7y ago
      Yeah, it's Levi's. I didn't read class in the film quite the same way, but that's an interesting lens. I should watch it again.
odshoifsdhfs 7y ago
Is she pretty? I'm not trying to be sexist, and I don't even use IG, but my gf does and a while ago I worked in a product targeted at IG 'influencers'. When researching, basically your success as an influencer had to do pretty much solely on your looks (or your photoshop skills) rather than your message. (for both men and women). You can be a 'vegan' influencer or a 'I eat meat still dripping in blood' influencer, and the most important 'variable' on your success was how attractive you were. (outliers existed, but mostly they were 'connected/endorsed' by some big brand or celebrity already)
- asdfman123 7y ago
  You already know the answer to that question. It's just how it is. Tangentially, I've always been fascinated by anti-consumerist lifestyle design, and a little envious of people who have that natural earthy style to them, who appear cool without a lot of effort. Then I read an article about Instagram influencers in some surfing town in Australia and saw how much their "anti-consumerist" lifestyle cost: long story short, looking poor is extremely expensive and it turns out they were married to corporate VPs who were able to work remotely and fund that kind of lifestyle. It actually made me feel much better about my life. Now I'm convinced that actual anti-consumerism is frumpy, and I'm happy with that.
  - Loughla 7y ago
    Commodetized anti-consumers are exactly what you describe. Vapid shells of a 'message' who tend to be funded by wealthy external donors of some kind, be they spouse or the internet or whatever. If you want to meet real anti-consumerists, they're not on the internet extolling their lifestyle. (yes, I know, no-true-scotsman and what-not). They're busy surviving. Because they tend to be subsistence farming or very near to that. They may sell art at local fairs, or goods at local produce stands. But mostly they spend their time just trying to get by. It's just like the 'homesteading' and 'van-living' movements. The people who are actually living those lives, and who aren't just doing it for validation on the internet aren't posting updates daily about their cute new milk goats or whatever, because they're super busy not dying and just trying to get by. Source; the throw-back hippy communes near where I live.
SketchySeaBeast 7y ago
I wonder how the future will play out for these people. For the savvy it'll be fine, but for those who aren't I'm sure their appeal will fade in a decade or two. Hopefully they have a plan for then.
- hadiz 7y ago
  I think she's gonna be fine. Most of them are. Attractive people generally do well, attractive people with money almost always do.

by hadiz 7y ago

claudeganon 7y ago

The film “Ingrid Goes West” captures the inverse, dark reality of this phenomenon very well. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Goes_West https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrid_Goes_West

hadiz 7y ago
yeah I watched that when it came out in 2017, I thought in the end the influencer was depicted as a good person who's earned her status, no?
- ivraatiems 7y ago
  I would not call her a good person. Almost nobody in that film is a good person. In the end, the influencer is depicted (accurately) as a victim of the protagonist's mental instability and manipulation, but it's her vapidity and inability to genuinely relate to anyone that made that victimization possible. She's as damaged as Ingrid is, just in a more subtle, socially acceptable way.
- claudeganon 7y ago
  There’s a subtle through line that the influencer couple were just boring, born rich people using the whole Instagram influencer thing as a means to launder themselves into something more hip and bohemian (and thus marketable in contemporary culture). Ingrid, being a lower class person, is drawn into this deception and they ultimately come out in more or less the same places they started. If I remember correctly, one of the influencer couple at the end is moving on to take a corporate art job (without any real merit or qualifications) at Levi’s or something.
  - ivraatiems 7y ago
    Yeah, it's Levi's. I didn't read class in the film quite the same way, but that's an interesting lens. I should watch it again.

odshoifsdhfs 7y ago

Is she pretty? I'm not trying to be sexist, and I don't even use IG, but my gf does and a while ago I worked in a product targeted at IG 'influencers'. When researching, basically your success as an influencer had to do pretty much solely on your looks (or your photoshop skills) rather than your message. (for both men and women). You can be a 'vegan' influencer or a 'I eat meat still dripping in blood' influencer, and the most important 'variable' on your success was how attractive you were. (outliers existed, but mostly they were 'connected/endorsed' by some big brand or celebrity already)

asdfman123 7y ago
You already know the answer to that question. It's just how it is. Tangentially, I've always been fascinated by anti-consumerist lifestyle design, and a little envious of people who have that natural earthy style to them, who appear cool without a lot of effort. Then I read an article about Instagram influencers in some surfing town in Australia and saw how much their "anti-consumerist" lifestyle cost: long story short, looking poor is extremely expensive and it turns out they were married to corporate VPs who were able to work remotely and fund that kind of lifestyle. It actually made me feel much better about my life. Now I'm convinced that actual anti-consumerism is frumpy, and I'm happy with that.
- Loughla 7y ago
  Commodetized anti-consumers are exactly what you describe. Vapid shells of a 'message' who tend to be funded by wealthy external donors of some kind, be they spouse or the internet or whatever. If you want to meet real anti-consumerists, they're not on the internet extolling their lifestyle. (yes, I know, no-true-scotsman and what-not). They're busy surviving. Because they tend to be subsistence farming or very near to that. They may sell art at local fairs, or goods at local produce stands. But mostly they spend their time just trying to get by. It's just like the 'homesteading' and 'van-living' movements. The people who are actually living those lives, and who aren't just doing it for validation on the internet aren't posting updates daily about their cute new milk goats or whatever, because they're super busy not dying and just trying to get by. Source; the throw-back hippy communes near where I live.

SketchySeaBeast 7y ago

I wonder how the future will play out for these people. For the savvy it'll be fine, but for those who aren't I'm sure their appeal will fade in a decade or two. Hopefully they have a plan for then.

hadiz 7y ago
I think she's gonna be fine. Most of them are. Attractive people generally do well, attractive people with money almost always do.