PicoBlog

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 before reading this post!

We’ve talked about some of the big scandals over the years and how influencers and content creators respond when they are held accountable, but there is another part we still have to discuss - the internet. And by “the internet” I mean the people who never forget. I talked a bit in Part 1 about how I discovered GOMI and how these snark spaces have evolved over the years. There are subreddits about so many different internet personalities (Aliandjohnjamesagain, HilariaBaldwin) or collective groups such as (Blogsnark, BeautyGuruChatter, and NYCInfluencerSnark) that are focused on chronicling the daily happenings of influencers and content creators. And from the perspective of someone who once ran an Instagram account dedicated to calling out someone else’s hypocrisy… yeah… it’s a lot all the time.

There is a specific entertainment factor that goes into it all, and I think for most people the interest stops there. When we look at the breakdown of an influencer’s audience, The Casual Follower may not even be aware a scandal is happening or they may not figure it out until the influencer decides to address it. This is why I think many times we don’t see influencers ever address it.

For example, Laura Beverlin made an Instagram post announcing that one of her elderly dogs has a tumor. This post was also a Farmer’s Dog ad. Almost as soon as Laura published the post, it was documented online through screenshots and archived forever on the snark subreddit dedicated to her. We are nine days post-post and I was easily able to find a screenshot to use here because the internet never forgets. Laura deleted the post almost instantly. She also never addressed it to her followers because even though thousands of people have seen it, Laura bringing attention to it to her 1.4m followers, would have resulted in more backlash from Casual Followers. According to Socialblade, it looks like she lost about 1000 more followers than she normally would due to the horrible ad, but by not addressing it far fewer people saw it and knew about it.

I would say The Casual Follower probably makes up around 50% of an influencer’s audience - and that’s likely low-balling it. These are people who are not following their every move. They may not even watch their stories every day because it just doesn’t reach them in the story queue. The Casual Follower may have followed more at one point but has since backed away or they followed for some other random reason, such as a giveaway, and never unfollowed afterward. When people ask “Why don’t more followers notice [insert bad behavior]?” it’s because The Casual Follower doesn’t care enough about the influencer to understand their values or lack thereof.

Even among those who are aware of when something happens, by and large, we see people choose to unfollow an influencer rather than make a comment, send a DM, or some further action. The part of the audience there to hold influencers accountable is far smaller. And I do think it’s important to point out here that when I’m speaking about the audience, I’m not talking about followers. The audience is anyone who will consume the influencer’s content and that includes using a third-party site to watch stories.

When it comes to the subreddits or similar sites that I mentioned before, one thing I think is interesting… weird… sad… is that the Accountability Police are documenting and commenting on everything. Of course, it’s not all of the subreddits, but the sheer number of comments on a handful of individuals daily is fascinating to see. I tend to sit in the camp that if you’re outraged by everything then nothing is outrageous. There are absolutely behaviors that influencers need to be held accountable for.

When I was brainstorming for this series, I asked on IG what influencer scandal had most captivated your interest. To me, most of the submissions weren’t necessarily scandals but some medium-stakes drama, like the Laura Beverlin incident I mentioned above. These were instances that affected others. The one most resembling a scandal was the Denner/Fletcher COVID Spread of 2021, while other submissions were related to an influencer arrest that she barely addressed, and nothing else was ever made public following the initial arrest. I know that’s my opinion. Even Merriam-Webster has seven versions of a definition for scandal. In my mind, a scandal needs more public fuel.

All that said, the internet does not forget nor does the internet want influencers or content creators to believe it forgot. I get the frustration or defensiveness from the influencer's perspective too. When I mess up at work, I never want to think about it again. And having people remind me of my mistakes makes me feel defensive too. But I’m also not sharing about my personal life and beliefs and getting paid for it. There will always be some followers out there to remind them of their transgressions, especially with so many eyes on these influencers who are ready to screenshot and save the information forever. The internet won’t ever forget.

ncG1vNJzZmiZnKTBsLLYqKyhmaaarrS3xJ1lrK2SqMGir8pnmqilX6V8sa3RrWRsZZmjs63BxKeanqpdlrCku9Snq5qamaG2tcU%3D