Blog Post: A month of influence - What I bought because I saw it on Instagram

UPDATE (8/6/2019)

Wow, did this blog post change in less than 24 hours. Like full 180 degrees. The good: I know that atleast one person is VERY invested in what my blog has to say! The Bad: I was threatened to be sued by for posting a very positive review of her artwork in this post.

I don't really care for a lawsuit, and I really don't want to offend anyone so here I am editing the raw HTML on github for this post- at work to fix the "offensive" content. I know that she (Hi Biggest Fan!) will be giving my blog another click to make sure I have updated my blog.

I was honestly shocked at both the positive feedback and negative feedback recieved from this post. I have now contacted some of the other influencers I posted about, and they felt this post was fun and informative. Though in the end, I was unable to post an honest postive review without offending atleast one person. But again, not trying to offend anyone here. So the image of the image of her work has been deleted. I have left the (slander?) review I wrote below for you to read to decide for yourself how you would respond.

While I do have your attention, I want to explain a little bit about this blog. The first reason I have this website is to experiment with front end design and web development ideas and practices. I am a computer scientist not a blogger. The other reason for this personal blog is because..... one of my biggest flaws is *drum roll please* TYPOS.

I am not a talented writer. Grammer and typos evade me, even after 17 years of school. To improve myself, I write about interesting things I observe and think, kind of like a journal. I make this journal public so that I am forced to re-read and work on my writting.

No SEO tricks are added to this website to get extra views. No ads generate me money. Just my opinions and thoughts and a space for a computer scientist to explore. If I were to spend time being mean and attempt to destory a business, then I would probably do a Denial of Service attack, or build a bot to post thousands of negative reviews... I am after all a computer scientist.

Thanks for all the support,

-JoCee

What I bought because of Instagram "Influencers"

I hate being bored. That is probably just my Generation Z attitude talking, but I really hate it. There are many times throughout the day, where there is a short amount of time that isn’t accounted for. You must know, those times where it is too short to start doing anything productive, but too long to sit there and stare at the wall. The 15 minutes between classes, 5 minutes waiting for the train, 6 minutes standing in line for lunch, 10 minutes waiting for my husband to finish his hair, etc.

Naturally, during these intermittent breaks, I pull out my phone and open up Instagram. I’m never on Instagram for long, but the total time spent on the app quickly adds up. Instagram reports that I spend on average 1 hour and 48 minutes on their app each day!

I wouldn’t consider myself an Instagram super user, I hardly ever post on my own feed, I don’t take pretty enough pictures for that. I do find myself consuming content on Instagram like crazy though. Double tapping and swipping through stories is so natural.

Many companies are using Instagram to jump start their business or advertise. One of the major issues with this kind of marketing (and marketing in general) whether or not the money spent on influencer and Instagram marketing is worth it, and produces a purchase or atleast a bit more brand awareness.

To answer these questions for myself, I did an experiment and for a few weeks, I recorded the content that influencers (and normies) post that make me either shop around, or buy.

Influence Experient

For each post that triggered my attention and made me consider checking out a product, I recorded the steps that I took, what caught my attention, and if I made a purchase, how much I spent. All because I was “influenced” to do so on Instagram.

Instagram Posts that made me double take

I saw this amazing piece of art on @emilyijackson ‘s feed. I instantly fell in love and wanted on of my husband and I with New York city in the background. The artwork was done by @jenlublindesign, so I followed her and spent a good 30 minutes checking out her page.

Steps Taken:

1. Followed @jenlublindesign 20.7k followers
2. Emailed Jen Lublin inquiring about getting a print made
3. Looked through pricing and asked my husband if it was in the budget
4. Decided to NOT buy YET, but instead purchase for our one year anniversary
5. Spent almost an hour on her Instagram browsing her art, and deciding with my husband what we wanted ours to look like
6. Tried finding an artist with this style from Utah to support local. Wasn’t able to find anyone I liked as well as her

Update 8/6/2019: Jaden and I no longer have any interest in purchasing this work.

I love photos, especially for fun occasions. A few weeks ago, I got married, but before I got married, I saw this post on a popular Wedding Inspiration feed @NewYorkBridesMag. I followed the photographer, and spent quite a while going through her feed. Although I loved her style, she is based in Russia, which will not lead to a sale for this photographer by being featured. It did lead to a sale for a local photographer, who I asked to replicate this kind of shoot!

Steps Taken:

1. Followed @olganikiforova
2. Sent these images inspiration to a local photographer asking how much a shoot like this would cost.
3. Purchased a photoshoot from my local photographer ($200+)
4. Purchased robe, and garter to more closely get this style ($150+). I would have purchased from this post directly, if there was an option to do so

Three weeks after my fiancé and I got married, I flew out to New York City to live for the summer, while he stays home in Utah. During one of his visits out to New York, I wanted to get images of us taken to remember our summers of long distance. I went looking for New York photographers. I went to the pages of some NYC influencers I follow, and searched for the photographers who took some of their pictures I liked. I saw this image of @Catherinepdv and followed her tag to the photographer @someShellyPhotography.

It was so nice to quickly see where Shelly was located… In NYC! Perfect! I messaged her, and we set up a photoshoot for my husband and I.

Steps Taken:

1. Searched NYC influencers for tagged photographers on images I liked
2. Followed favorite photographers
3. Bought a photoshoot from Shelly ($200+ purchase))
4. Now we are friends, and we comment on each others posts. I also recommend her all the time!

Here is one of the amazing pictures that she took for us… I am super happy with this purchase, and that we found her.

Of course, I am always tempted to buy outfits I see people wearing. When I saw this dress on @kyliekatich, I immediately went searching to find where she links her outfits.

Steps Taken:

1. Went to Kylie’s 21 buttons site to see how much this dress was
2. Shopped around on her 21 buttons site for twenty minutes
3. Decided the shoulders weren’t my thing and didn’t purchase. Didn't purchase anything at all from her 21 Buttons account. It is hard for me to purchase clothing online when the only images is of models... Since I am not a model size, I like to see regular people wearing the clothes before buying!

I have been following @brushworkbabe for a while. I had never visited her shop at all, just admired her Instagram images, until this painting came up in her Instagram Story.

Steps Taken:

1. Visited her Etsy shop and saw it wasn’t there
2. Was so determined to get this image, I messaged her asking if she will be selling it
3. Revisited her Instagram multiple times until I saw she posted it in her shop
4. Downloaded and bought this image ($10)

Mayci mentioned in one of her stories that she loved her neon sign that she custom made at her wedding. I also loved the idea… so much that I bought one for our wedidng.

Steps Taken:

1. Asked mayci where she got her sign through an Instagram Story Question
2. Found @BestBuyNeonSigns on Instagram, and emailed them asking for a quote
3. Purchased Neon Sign ($600+ purchase)
4. Did NOT follow @bestbuyneonsigns their Instagram isn’t very well put together or interesting.

Here is the neon Sign that Jaden and I got for our wedding! I still love it, and although it was pretty expensive, I am very happy that I purchased it.

I will continue keeping track of what I buy on social media, and keep you updated every few months. I would love to know what you have bought because of an Instagram post, so let me know!

-JoCee Holladay