The biggest issue for me regarding the Murs Alison influencer talk was his commitment to the word “hard-work”. I love instagram and I really do think that being a passionate, honest, and successful influencer does take time and hard work, however I think the biggest thing is acknowledging the privilege to do so.

Having instagram and being able to make money off of social media and online consumption is not a basic right it’s a privilege, acknowledging that and being honest about your line of work I think is what gains an audiences respect. Piggy-backing off of middle classes’ consumption habits and not acknowledging that your success comes out of their willingness to trust you is being dishonest.

Whilst I see how Murs Alison has definitely started a potential career for himself it was sad to see how he lost some of the passions and talents he originally had (i.e swimming / graphic design). He quantifies everything not by how much he enjoyed doing it or being there, but by how much interaction it got with followers, how many likes it got, or how well it did for him.

On my personal instagram I really post for myself and myself only, of course there is a subconscious nature where I want people to see what I am creating or what I am doing but I edit and post pictures that I love and that I feel represent me at that moment in time, which is mostly colourful but constantly changing. I hope that as time goes on I do become an influencer in my own rights in terms of owning my own company and being my own brand, however I never want my identity to be creating content for people.