TikTok Star Miriam Mullins has outlined some of the strange things involved in the influencer world and outlined how some people can be pretty shameless.
The Cork native is one of the apps most well-known users with almost 2 million followers, and now she's decided to "spill the tea" on how some people are buying followers, not being transparent, and how some companies looking to promote their products can be pretty bad when it comes to waste.
Not declaring that posts are ads
The 26-year-old said one thing she regularly sees is other influencers not declaring that they're being paid for certain posts.
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She said: "So many influencers don't disclose that they're doing an ad, especially on TikTok. I notice it so much.
"It is so obvious. If they're constantly using that product and they've got it tagged in their bio but don't have [it marked] ad.
"I don't understand how people are still getting away with it, especially those music ads as well.
"Influencers are actually paid sometimes to promote sounds, and that's how a sound goes viral.
Bought followers
"It is really obvious when someone has bought their followers, especially on Instagram.
"You can literally just tell by their engagement if someone has them bought or not.
"Like if someone has 100,000 followers and they're getting a 100 likes on a photo, like, c'mon.
"Instagram's algorithm is cat recently and everyone's engagement is down, but if you're getting 100 likes on a photo and have 100,000 followers there's something not right."
GDPR
"I know GDPR is a thing, but it's not at the same time. I've had so many people and brands who've gotten my address and sent me stuff when I've never given it to them.
"I've had companies call me saying 'oh I got your number off this person', or 'I got your number off this brand'. Like, people just share around information and no GDPR is involved at all.
PR (Public Relations)
A lot of the times brands will send out products for free to influencers and media in a bid to get attention and promote them.
Miriam said this often comes with a ridiculous amount of packaging and waste, which she's not a fan of.
"It's astronomical, I just had to stop accepting PR from certain brands because the waste is actually insane." she said.
Jobs
Miriam added that the back and forth between brands she's working with can also be very nitty-gritty. Saying some are "very picky"
"You could be doing an ad for a brand and they'll give you a brief, you could do EXACTLY what they say in the brief and then you'll send it off to them and they'll ask you to change this, this, and this, even though you did exactly what it said in the brief.
"That can happen like six times."
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