The Dislike for Likes: Instagram in the Time of COVID-19
Remember the times last year when you had an okay night’s sleep because you were up late binge-watching the latest season of whatever show(s) just came out? Remember waking up before your 9am class / meeting and spending time on Instagram, catching up on posts about sports, the newest fashion and travel trends from the influencers you follow as you ignored the annoying notification: “Your screen time is up 8% from last week.” Those were the days.
Fast forward to today. Companies and brands have had to take a “thoughtful” approach to marketing all the way from traditional to digital marketing. Marketers have taken the emotional approach with campaigns pulling on your heart strings, sending messages about unity and togetherness during this time. But where does that leave Instagram and other influencers and bloggers? Full-time influencers on Instagram, who earn the majority of their income from marketing brands and traveling, have taken a serious hit as a result of COVID-19. Although major platforms like Instagram have reported a surge in users (don’t even get me started on TikTok),there has been a drop in advertising since the pandemic began. Companies and brands who sponsor Instagram influencers have taken a back seat. Several of these companies and brands of course are responding in consideration to the loss of income and jobs of consumers around the world, but many of them are on hold with their marketing to avoid consumer backlash on inconsiderate marketing, trying to persuade consumers to continue to purchase and spend during the pandemic.
Who has received the backlash instead? All of our favorite influencers on Instagram. For many of them, it’s been hard to internalize the new normal for many of their followers — reducing large purchases, cooking at home to save money, as well as delaying travels. As many companies and brands have halted their social media marketing efforts, influencers are rethinking their curated aesthetics because they can’t leave their houses or shoot with their photographers. The thoughts in their minds: Do people still want to see cute outfits during a recession? How do you take a studio-quality photo when the only available photographer available is you and your selfie? Despite their best efforts to be creative, many influencers have received backlash so grave — some as serious as death threats. Influencers are being criticized for their disregard of public safety as they left high-risk cities during the pandemic to post pictures in their escape homes — also known as the Flight of the Influencers. Some are being criticized for skipping the line by utilizing their influencer status to obtain a coronavirus test. Followers continue to face mountains of uncertainty as we are less moved by images and new swag, and influencers posting such things make themselves look detached or tone deaf. Could this be the end of the influencer era? Will the coronavirus kill influencer culture? Maybe, but probably not. We may criticize all we want but the power of likes and follows are far too great.
Life may seem dramatically different today than it was from last year, but is it really? You’re still waking up from an okay night’s sleep because you were up late watching show(s) from last season (since no new content is being produced). You wake up later than usual (no need to shower and get ready before you hop on Zoom!) but still spend as much time on Instagram catching up on the throwback posts from the most recent sports seasons, influencers posting their leftover travel and outfit posts before the lockdown as you ignore the annoying screen time notification, but this time: “Your screen time is up 185% from last year.” What can you do? Consumers ‘gonna’ consume.
