The best influencer marketing news fit to share this week. Stories, articles and content collected throughout the week of September 24-28 and curated by our influencer marketing experts especially for you in this weekly thought leadership roundup.
The Burden of Content, Part 1: Are Social Networks Responsible for Content?
Adweek
How much attention and freedom should be given to the angry rants of internet trolls, to the ideas spread by conspiracy theorists and to the false or misleading news stories created by those who want to forward their own agenda? It all depends on whom you ask. Some argue that “free speech” means anything goes online, and that the individuals and entities creating this content have just as much right to express their opinions and distribute those ideas as anyone else. Others argue that coverage of unsavory topics and stories in some ways legitimizes those thoughts, helping to further spread harmful or hateful ideas, even if the intent is the opposite.
Read more…
The Burden of Content, Part 2: Navigating the Social Terrain
Adweek
Content: The word has become so ubiquitous that it has lost so much of its meaning. And yet, how can something as universally seen, consumed, shared and discussed as content be so poorly understood by nearly all parties? In part one of this series, I discussed the current state of social content as it relates to the platforms responsible for its dissemination. Social networks are continuing to feel the bumps in the road that come with the territory of being industry pioneers—by creating a new space, they have assumed some responsibility in keeping their highly visible products safe for public use.
Read more…
The Internet is Obsessed with this Instagram Star for Promoting her False Eyelash Brand During Her Labour
Cosmopolitan
You have to respect the never-ending hustle of influencers. While, we all know that one person who thinks they’re an undiscovered National Geographic photographer, taking close up pictures of tree bark with the hashtag #texture. The rest of us are free to upload terrible quality Instagram pictures, as and when, we like. None of our 73 followers care if we post 5 blurry pictures from our birthday night out, but for influencers whose grid is quite literally their career, the #content never stops. Former Shahs of Sunset star, turned makeup mogul, Lilly Ghalichi, is known for her false eyelash brand: Lilly Lashes. Proving that influencers are more resourceful than most, Lilly used the birth of her first child as the perfect business opportunity.
Read more…
JCPenny Wants Made-For-Instagram Clothing to Save It
Quartzy
US suburban-mall staple JCPenney has long been in financial trouble, unable to keep up with the demands of a society that is shifting away from malls and towards the convenience of e-commerce. Now, it appears to have a new idea for how to save its failing business: Instagram. The retailer is launching Peyton and Parker, it announced yesterday(Oct. 2). It’s a clothing and home-goods brand inspired by Instagram, made for Instagram, and to be marketed on Instagram—a maddening circle of “fashionable squares” as an executive quoted in the announcement calls Instagram photos.
Read more…
Avoiding a $40M Tweet: 7 Tips for Making a Solid Social Media Policy
PCMag
On August 7, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent out what may have turned out to be the most expensive tweet ever. Following his tweet, in which he said he was considering taking Tesla private, Musk stirred up a storm among investors. The tweet caused the share price of Silicon Valley-based Tesla to drop dramatically and attracted a series of lawsuits from enraged investors. But Musk’s tweet also attracted the attention of another group that business leaders cross at their peril: the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Following almost two months of consideration, the SEC sued Musk and Tesla. The resulting settlement cost each party $20 million, and Musk was forced to resign as Tesla’s chairman.
Read more…
The Word “Influencer” Appears 79 Times in Revolve’s IPO Filing
Quartzy
Several factors have driven the outstanding success of fashion e-commerce site Revolve. It’s adept at staying on top of trends, capitalizing as they break and hurrying on before they become overexposed. It has built a roster of 19 data-driven, private brands that account for—amazingly—eight of its top 10 labels this year. And then, of course, there are the influencers. Since it first started sending free clothes to bloggers in 2009, Revolve’s work with influencers has turned into a deluge of Instagram-friendly events and parties populated with social-media personalities large and small, who are shuttled around the world on Revolve’s dime. On these sponsored trips, skin-baring women enjoy brunches, beaches, and lots else in locations like Bermuda and Lake Como, sharing it all with their millions of collective followers.
Read more…
