After 14 years of writing Liberty
London Girl, I’ve learned that honesty and authenticity are what readers want from a blog
From my early days online when I started writing an anonymous blog [Liberty London Girl] as a
fashion editor in
New York 14 years ago, I was never going to pretend that my apparently effortlessly glamorous lifestyle was affordable on a media salary, given that so much of it was underwritten by brands. I have always believed that if you are covering these things on
Social Media, you should disclose when you’ve been given a product, or your travel has been provided for free, and that it is wrong to imply that this kind of life is attainable without insider access.
On
Instagram there was always going to be a problem with influencers disclosing their commercial affiliations because the entire platform plays into the concept of promoting a perfect life. Whether you are a gardener in Somerset, a mumblogger in Birmingham, or a fitspo influencer in Kent, if that perfect life is actually impossible without being underwritten by money deals, press samples and access to exclusive events, then the idea of that perfect life comes crashing down. It’s no wonder some influencers skew their moral compasses by doing everything they can to blur the truth that much of their lifestyle would be impossible without a constant stream of “gifting” and collabs.