by Daniel Hurst
Urgh. Cringe. Always use a filter. You’ll only regret it if you don’t.
Trust me.
I often think about the person that came up with the word ‘filter’. Whoever it was surely had no idea the trouble they were going to cause in the future. They probably just thought the word would be used to describe a part of a machine or something a plumber would one day need to fix.
But it’s used for something much more important than those things. It has become a key tool in how people display themselves to the world.
It has become the vital part of social media.
And it’s no exaggeration to say it has become my life.
I copy and paste the caption and hashtags that I had prepared earlier, right before my change of heart had caused me to backtrack and lose it the first time. Now I’m almost ready. All that is left to do is share my location. But it’s not as simple as hitting the ‘Add Location’ line. Oh no. It might work for you, but I won’t get away with that.
I press ‘Advanced Settings’ and search for the hotel I’m currently a privileged guest of. I find the name easily and with them now tagged I’m finally ready to go.
My finger is once again poised over the Share button. Even though I know the post is ready I still experience the familiar wave of anxiety that I always do at this point.
I have been known to spend over an hour at this stage in the past, questioning if I am really ready to go through with it or whether there is a better image to be taken or something more that I could do with the editing. I even threw up once before sharing a post although in my defence that one was a big deal.
But I push any lingering doubts firmly to the side now. My mind is made up. This is the post I will publish.
My thumb touches the Share button and just like that the message I have been working on physically and mentally for god knows how long is finally on its way to the mobile phones of my 1.3m followers.
I feel sick. But that’s normal. You would too if you had that much power at your fingertips.
I quickly check the post is up and confirm the caption has come out as I intended it. Everything seems okay until...
OHMYGOD.
My heart almost leaps out of my chest when I think I spot a spelling mistake with one of my HashTags.
No wait. False alarm. I was seeing things. The spelling is fine. Thank god.
I take a deep breath and wait for the avalanche of affirmations to start rolling in. The comments will follow in good time, but we all know it’s really just about how many people will press the little yellow Glow button to indicate that they are a fan of my post. That’s what I will judge myself on and more importantly, what the people paying me will judge me on.
But I feel good about this one. You can never be too sure when it comes to social media, but this particular post has all the ingredients to be a big success.
The photo is the most important thing and just as I suspected, my choice of filter has the beach I’m standing on looking A-MA-ZING.
My caption is on point, a perfect blend of personality and humour:
Waking up to this view. Not bad for a girl from Grimsby.
And the Hashtags are solid, every single one of them fulfilling their role and ensuring this post reaches its maximum audience.
#OceanView #Maldives #WinterSun #LovingLife #GirlDoneGood
But it’s the single line above the image that is the driving force behind all of this and the reason I’m standing on this beach in the first place.
In Paid Partnership with OceanView Resorts.
It was annoying that we now had to say when we were explicitly advertising something but those were the rules in this new age of social media influencing and let’s face it, it’s a small price to pay when you are literally getting free things.
I get free food, free clothes, free travel and free holidays, which is the reason I’m here in paradise today.
In exchange for all these freebies I must use my extensive platform to promote these generous companies and hopefully encourage my followers to spend some of their hard earned cash on purchasing these things I get for free, which boosts my client’s profits and reinforces my status as a powerful influencer.
Getting paid to experience the finer things in life is the dream of many and I am living proof that it is attainable. If a girl like me, from a humble council estate in Grimsby, can become a well-paid and well-travelled online celebrity then there’s no reason other people can’t do it too.
And many others do.
Influencing is big business. It’s competitive, it’s stressful, it’s a lot of work, but it is lucrative. And most of all, it’s powerful. Companies are paying big money to have people like me send direct messages to the phones of millions of people instantly.
It’s advertising on crack.
But what’s the saying? With great power comes great responsibility.
For every good and genuine company out there, there are a dozen others who want to use you to send more unscrupulous messages. Where one man sees the chance to sell, another man sees the chance to brainwash. There can certainly be more sinister things advertised on your social media timeline than just holiday locations and designer dresses.
The tropical breeze blows stronger around me this time and I’m reminded of what I had to do to get to this position.
And what I’m still expected to do to remain here.
Except I’m not going to do it. Not anymore. Now I’m only going to use my platform for good and not the things they want me to.
But just like the breeze that is swaying the palm trees on this idyllic island, things aren’t always this smooth. One day a hurricane will barrel through here and snap those palm trees. It’s happened before and it will happen again.
Just like I’m not the first person to rise to fame and fortune by doing ungodly things to other people. Just because the public don’t know about those things it doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.
But I’ve decided I’m not going to do those things anymore. I can’t change my past, but I can change my future. I have told the people that helped get me my platform that I am done working for them. From now on I will go it alone, without their advice or instruction.
I just hope they respect my wishes...
#MondayBlues
Emily Bennett
Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if we all knew what the future had in store for us.
Like today for instance. Here I am sitting on a crowded train, surrounded by glum faces all staring out at a sky that’s as dark as the mood in here. Presumably the only reason we all got out of bed this morning and boarded the 07:10am service that runs from Billericay to London Liverpool Street is because we believe somehow that better things are ahead for us all.
One day I won’t have to do this anymore. One day I’ll be rich. One day I’ll be happy.
But what if we could see into our future and what if we saw that those things were never going to happen for us? Would we still be able to get out of bed and ride that train to the job we hate?
Maybe.
Or maybe it would just be anarchy.
With my daily bout of deep reflection and morbid thoughts over and done with for now I go back to the other thing that passes the time on my commute. My mobile phone.
Thank god for phones. What the hell did people do on journeys like this before them?
Read the paper? How exciting. People watch? Meh. Talk to the stranger next to them? No thanks, especially not the stranger sitting next to me today. He looks like a cross between Donald Trump and that guy from Tiger King.
I use facial recognition to unlock my screen and my finger instinctively finds the app for PhoGlo.
I know it’s been less than 5 minutes since I last checked it but like I said, I’m bored.
I see that I have new notifications and so that’s the first thing I check on. I have 2 new followers which is cool until I see who they are.
Two dweeby looking teen boys, neither of
them older than fifteen and neither of them in anyway influential on this platform. They probably saw one of my bikini pics and just about managed to hit the Follow button amongst the tidal wave of hormones and desires surging through their bodies at that moment.
But it’s another 2 to my total, which makes that 4,732. It’s good to have them on board. But I won’t be following them back. And I definitely don’t want to think about what they’ll be doing the next time I upload a photo of myself in a figure-hugging dress.
Moving on I see that my post from last night now has 381 likes. Not too shabby for a picture of a vegan burger without the bun. There’s also a new comment from @play_er07 which is to be expected considering he’s commented on every single photo that I’ve published since he began following me a couple of months ago.
That’s a lot of comments. This particular one says “mmmm looks tasty” which would be fine if it wasn’t the exact same comment that he left on my last selfie.
I like it to be kind. He’s harmless and we all need our fans. Even ones that call themselves play_er.
I do a quick once over of my profile page, just to make sure everything is in order which of course it is because why wouldn’t it be? But best to make sure.
My current profile picture is one of me smiling on a boat during my holiday in Greece last year. My blonde hair looks great in the sun and my face is tanned and clear. It’s a far cry from what I look like right now but it’s nothing a good filter can’t sort out.
My bio description underneath the photo is short and clean:
Emily Bennett
Public Figure
Ahead of my time
London
I guess my names okay. I thought about changing it, or at least making one up to use online but in the end, I decided it might be better in the long run to be authentic.
I also used to have my age, which is 23, beside my name but then I removed it. I might put it back in the future. I’m experimenting.
When you switch your PhoGlo account from a Personal one to a Business one there are a number of different features you gain access to and one of those is the ability to select your profession.
As an influencer, or wannabe influencer to be exact, the best one to use is Public Figure. There is no option to list your profession as Influencer. Not yet anyway.
Okay, so strictly speaking describing myself as a public figure is a bit of a stretch. I’m not famous. Nobody on this train knows who I am never mind anybody in places like America, Australia or Asia. But it’s all about the perception. I also believe in the law of attraction, which states that if you want something you first have to visualise it and imagine that you already have it.
Believe and achieve. I want to be a famous and successful social media influencer and even though I’m not quite there yet, it doesn’t mean I can’t fake it until I make it.
I chose to write ‘Ahead of my time’ in my bio for two reasons. Firstly, its bold and sassy and that’s something every wannabe influencer must be. But it’s also what my father used to say whenever he made one of his bad jokes.
You know the ones. They’re called ‘Dad jokes’ because they’re so bad. One of his favourite ones was:
“I slept like a log last night. I woke up in the fireplace.”
Terrible, right? As everyone would be cringing and sarcastically laughing at his latest attempt at humour, he would give that cheeky smile of his and say, “I’m ahead of my time.”
God, I miss that smile.
He was called Dave and it’s been eight months since he died. Bowel Cancer. He was only 51. When I eventually have the large platform I desire, I will use my fame and power to raise money for other sufferers of the disease. I might even be able to start my own charity. He’d be so proud of me. But he’d have been proud of me no matter what because he was great like that.
He was the best.
The last piece of information in my bio is my location. London, one of the greatest and most iconic cities in the world. Having that on there definitely elevates my account to the next level. And let’s face it, it’s way better than putting on where I actually live which is a town called Billericay in Essex.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with the town itself. It’s a standard suburban hub surrounded by green fields and farms. But there are already a few popular influencers from Billericay, and they like to portray the place in a certain way. Let’s call it the ‘Essex’ way.
You know, where the tans are so fake that they look like gravy stains and the nightclubs are so trashy you almost feel sticky just from looking at the photos.
I made the decision early on that I wanted a different tone for my profile and London fit the bill perfectly. It has connotations of elegance, prestige and class, as well as more modern ideals like wealth, power and excess.
It’s important that my photos fit the description and I ensure that they do. There’s no photos of dark brown legs and bottles of Lambrini here. Just stunning shots of some of the capitals most famous landmarks mixed in with me drinking cocktails in high end bars and clothes shopping in West End stores.
I love London and I’m lucky I live so close to a city that can help me grow my brand. That’s the goal after all.
To grow.
The more followers you have the more power you have, and with power comes influence. That’s why people with large followings are known as ‘influencers.’
One well edited post of a certain product sent out to thousands or even millions of fans can boost sales exponentially. A photo of an influencer eating at a certain restaurant or wearing a certain handbag can expose it to massive numbers of potential customers.
But it’s not just businesses or products that influencers can sell. They can sell something bigger. Something just as unattainable but nevertheless just as desirable.
They can sell a lifestyle.
The holidays. The parties. The celebrity friends. It might not seem like much but in a world where we all want the best for ourselves, seeing people who already seem to have it all is impossibly alluring. Not only that, it’s aspirational. It’s motivational. It’s everything. And the best thing of all?
You can get paid to sell this lifestyle.
The train passes through Havering, a place where nobody aspires to be and so I look back to the phone in my hand and at PhoGlo, in the search for a better view.
I find one quickly.
It’s a picture-perfect scene straight out of a holiday brochure. The sand is white and pure. The ocean clear and true. And the sky, cloudless and comforting. It looks a million miles away from where I am right now, both literally and metaphorically.
The post belongs to Ivy Lane, a full-time influencer and one of my favourites to follow. I love her because she started out as a normal English girl with a big dream. I love her because like me she’s from a small town, although hers is in the north while mine is in the south.
But most of all I love her because despite all the money, fame and success she has experienced since she made it big on PhoGlo she has never changed. She’s still the funny, charming, down to earth person she was in her early posts.
It’s no exaggeration to say she is my role model. I look up to her and aspire to be just like her. And there’s no reason I can’t be just like her. All it takes is a talent for selling ‘the lifestyle’. And if you don’t have it yet then remember the golden rule:
Fake it until you make it.
Which is exactly what I plan to do today.
I don’t usually catch the early train into work, but I woke up at 4am this morning with an idea for my next post and if I’m going to make it happen, I need to be the first one in the office.
Yes, I’m tired and yes, I really could have used the extra time in bed but if I want to be like Ivy Lane one day then I have to make sacrifices. I have to be willing to do anything.
Even something that could cause me to lose my job.
About The Author
Daniel Hurst lives in London w
ith his wife but space is at a premium so he would prefer it if you would visit him at his online home www.danielhurstbooks.com
You can connect with Daniel on Facebook at www.facebook.com/danielhurstbooks or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/danielhurstbooks
He is always happy to receive emails from readers at [email protected]
