Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Racism in Influencer-Land

In 2020???

Yep.

I have dipped in and out of social media influencing since 2016. For the most part it has been a phenomenal experience! I've gotten to experience working alongside some amazing companies--big and small--and every opportunity has generally been a good one.

Because my scope is so varied--I blog, do social media, AND manage a huge mom group (online and off), I have an interesting advantage over the traditional single scope influencer.

Note: This doesn't mean I'm better...it means my audience is a bigger cross section of the actual population--NOT just a set of followers on a social site. I don't just present to one group. (My "influence" carries beyond just social media or a group setting.) I meet people in lots of difference places and my family speaks a total of 5 languages.

...and NONE of this matters sometimes because I'm NOT a blonde haired, blue eyed influencer queen with a million followers on a single platform.

Admittedly it's annoying as hell.

The same companies who will NOT work with my too dark, too unpopular self as an influencer will turn around and email me a coupon code. *insert side eye emoji*

Nah. Save it for Becky. *shrugs*

It's infuriating to me.

But even more so is that IF they view my analytics and media kit before they realize I'm indeed a little Black girl from Georgia, the tune changes.

I ain't good enough as Tayé, but once the blog numbers and media kit contacts roll across those desks, and they realize some of the people I'm connected to who bold a bit of weight, suddenly it is a different tune. Then it's, "Oh, let us do this." And instead of speaking like I'm an annoyance, they're kissing my ass. The one they were ready to toss me out on moments before.

I'm not feeding into that machine.

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