Post by wolfdaughter on Mar 31, 2018 19:52:36 GMT -6
Might as well post this here too, just in case anyone comes through. This is a topic that Bax and I want to have in a Therian Nation video. Below is a rough draft of what we will discuss. I also wanted to share with the community to see if anyone had anything they wanted to add. We could take video, audio, or text contributions. If you want to contribute but don't want a name displayed, I can always use anonymous.
A social media influencer collaborates with businesses to create marketing campaigns that increase brand awareness and drive sales by promoting products. The job, that they get paid to do, is to influence people's emotions, opinions, and behaviors. They affect purchasing decisions by appearing to have authority and knowledge.
In the Therian and Otherkin community we are talking about micro influencers. They are usually normal people who find a special niche interest or community and become familiar with it.
On Tumblr, Instagram, and Amino we see aesthetic blogs that make clothing collections and link to pages where those items can be bought. These pages might be fun, but we can't tell who is behind them. Are those people really Therians/Otherkin or not? Also, these types of blogs vastly outnumber educational ones. It's hard for anyone searching to find good information about us. So, in a way, these blogs are part of the problem we have with mainstream people misunderstanding us.
I question why anyone would ask another person who they don't personally know to find them clothing. It seems like no one in our community thinks independently for themselves any more. Why can't people find clothing that expresses who/what they are for themselves? We are allowing outsiders to tell us who we are, what we are, and what we want. It's changing our community, and we are blindly letting it happen.
I do see blogs and individuals that brag about having a lot of items such as collars, tails, and ears and they pressure others to buy more too. These are very likely influencers. If anyone is trying to pressure you into buying something, that behavior is a good indicator.
Therianthropy has gone from being an inner part of the self to owning stuff. The youth in the community focus too much on the outward appearance with clothing and items like tails. I would think that as people who feel like animals on the inside, we would want to reduce our impact on the earth and consume less. Also, with their focus solely on purchasing and collecting, I feel as if our community has back-tracked instead of improved and moved forward. We aren't seeing any new discussion.
I know these items can make people feel more comfortable, but we just want to bring this to the community's awareness. Brands and marketers have probably been watching us for a long time to try and figure out how they can make money off of us. It looks like they have done a good job, because we have seen a surge in mermaid items like the tails. Those are mass-produced now. Every kid wants a tail. I personally find it worrisome. This trend is making our identity into a lifestyle that can be bought and sold. It's just another product line.
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A social media influencer collaborates with businesses to create marketing campaigns that increase brand awareness and drive sales by promoting products. The job, that they get paid to do, is to influence people's emotions, opinions, and behaviors. They affect purchasing decisions by appearing to have authority and knowledge.
In the Therian and Otherkin community we are talking about micro influencers. They are usually normal people who find a special niche interest or community and become familiar with it.
On Tumblr, Instagram, and Amino we see aesthetic blogs that make clothing collections and link to pages where those items can be bought. These pages might be fun, but we can't tell who is behind them. Are those people really Therians/Otherkin or not? Also, these types of blogs vastly outnumber educational ones. It's hard for anyone searching to find good information about us. So, in a way, these blogs are part of the problem we have with mainstream people misunderstanding us.
I question why anyone would ask another person who they don't personally know to find them clothing. It seems like no one in our community thinks independently for themselves any more. Why can't people find clothing that expresses who/what they are for themselves? We are allowing outsiders to tell us who we are, what we are, and what we want. It's changing our community, and we are blindly letting it happen.
I do see blogs and individuals that brag about having a lot of items such as collars, tails, and ears and they pressure others to buy more too. These are very likely influencers. If anyone is trying to pressure you into buying something, that behavior is a good indicator.
Therianthropy has gone from being an inner part of the self to owning stuff. The youth in the community focus too much on the outward appearance with clothing and items like tails. I would think that as people who feel like animals on the inside, we would want to reduce our impact on the earth and consume less. Also, with their focus solely on purchasing and collecting, I feel as if our community has back-tracked instead of improved and moved forward. We aren't seeing any new discussion.
I know these items can make people feel more comfortable, but we just want to bring this to the community's awareness. Brands and marketers have probably been watching us for a long time to try and figure out how they can make money off of us. It looks like they have done a good job, because we have seen a surge in mermaid items like the tails. Those are mass-produced now. Every kid wants a tail. I personally find it worrisome. This trend is making our identity into a lifestyle that can be bought and sold. It's just another product line.
