[Lifestyle]Keeping it real is the key to my success as a lifestyle blogger'

[Dr@g0n]

rom my early days online when I started writing an anonymous blog [Liberty London Girl] as a fashion editor in New York 14 years ago, I was never going to pretend that my apparently effortlessly glamorous lifestyle was affordable on a media salary, given that so much of it was underwritten by brands. I have always believed that if you are covering these things on social media, you should disclose when you’ve been given a product, or your travel has been provided for free, and that it is wrong to imply that this kind of life is attainable without insider access.

 

On Instagram there was always going to be a problem with influencers disclosing their commercial affiliations because the entire platform plays into the concept of promoting a perfect life. Whether you are a gardener in Somerset, a mumblogger in Birmingham, or a fitspo influencer in Kent, if that perfect life is actually impossible without being underwritten by money deals, press samples and access to exclusive events, then the idea of that perfect life comes crashing down. It’s no wonder some influencers skew their moral compasses by doing everything they can to blur the truth that much of their lifestyle would be impossible without a constant stream of “gifting” and collabs.

 

While a failure to disclose commercial affiliations has been one way of skewing the truth on Instagram, another increasing issue has been the use of filtered images. Though many of us might use Photoshop or Facetune to increase the saturation of a sky, as any photographer would with a raw image, mani[CENSORED]ting a face or body is quite another thing. The temptation to tweak a bad angle is always there, not least because it’s hard not to look at images of other women on social media and find oneself wanting – and I am a grown woman with my feet on the ground. I cannot imagine what it must be like for younger women to be perpetually bombarded by pictures of unattainable beauty standards.

 

As one measure, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has announced influencers should not use filters to exaggerate the results of beauty products. While I absolutely agree that mani[CENSORED]ted images have no place in promoting the efficacy of skincare products, I think the ASA and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) don’t necessarily understand the industry they’re trying to regulate, not least because they insist on talking about filters. The problem is far more wide-ranging than that.

 

Recent influencer bad behaviour hasn’t just been restricted to “forgetting” to disclose paid campaigns and PR samples, and reshaping noses and breasts; certain influencers have shared tone-deaf content from holiday hotspots during a global health crisis. Their unswerving belief that their audience only wants them to post images that involve swimsuits and cocktails shows a lack of imagination. If Liz Hurley can make standing topless in a muddy field in Ledbury seem aspirational, I’m pretty sure all those fitspo influencers currently in Dubai could work something out that didn’t involve getting on a plane.

Much of my online constituency started following me when I was in Manhattan. Fast forward to now, and my feed features snow and dogs. My most po[CENSORED]r picture of lockdown has been of the avenue of trees that I drive through to get to the supermarket. The point is that you can evolve your content: my main takeaway from the 14 years I have been active on social media is that so long as you are authentic, people stay with you.