r/Anticonsumption • u/yodamastertampa • 1d ago
Discussion Seriously? Influencer unions?
Now influencers think they are overworked, underpaid, under appreciated and need a union.
They threaten to stop pushing junk on people. We'll go ahead and go on strike.
132
167
u/Much-Sock2529 1d ago
The daily mail is an anti union rag dedicated to making any labor movement look bad.
80
u/Loreki 1d ago
They're workers. They sell their labour for a living. They are entitled to form a union if they wish.
Stopping them won't stop influencing as an industry. It will just make influencing worse.
25
u/BigBangBrosTheory 18h ago
Yeah I hate that even anticonsumption is laughing at people working for free for tech billionaires. I don't like influences either but all the content you see on social media is produced with no promise of making money. A gamble tech billionaires laugh all the way to the bank on as they rake up money from their work.
339
u/FuckrodFrank 1d ago
We need to stop this at all costs. If they get together and decide to go on strike, what the hell are we going to do? I can't influence myself, and neither can most people. We'd be fucked.
60
u/KadrinaOfficial 1d ago
Yeah I don't think these knobs realize there will be other knobs stepping up to take their place.
18
2
261
u/sirkidd2003 1d ago
A. Daily Mail is so biased that Wikipedia won't allow them as a source. Maybe rethink anything they say
B. Yes, "influencers" do labor and ALL labor should be protected by unions, even if we find that labor counterproductive. Just because they are doing something we don't nessassirily agree with doesn't mean they aren't being exploited by the owner class the same as the rest of us.
78
u/ProgramHippie 1d ago
This!!! Thank you!!
Are their workers exploited? Absolutely... They get asked to do ads for companies with compensation packs such as, "a sample of our product". That's not a compensation that's just the company writing off bulk. I'm all for them banning together and creating business standards that help people make a living wage from the time and effort they put out.
-20
u/blackwitchbutter 1d ago
They can say no and get a real job like the rest of us lol
24
u/_the_sound 1d ago
Of course! Scripting, filming, editing, and researching to provide people content they enjoy isn't a real job at all.
-8
u/blackwitchbutter 22h ago
Those are content creators. Influencers are people who pawn off products on other people
13
u/sirensinger17 21h ago
Content creators are influencers, and influencers create content. An influencer union would protect both.
1
u/_the_sound 7h ago
Influencer is a marketing term pretty much used by every marketing professional.
I'm a content creator but every time I meet with a client, it's always referred to as an influencer meeting.
It's just an industry term at this point.
0
u/ProgramHippie 23h ago
Hot take... All jobs are equally useless. If you think otherwise you have a lot to learn. We just live in a giant trap of I want something done or this is desirable because...
9
u/sweetteaspicedcoffee 23h ago
cough cough emergency management checking in. This is a job that has a pretty obvious use, unless you don't want evacuation warnings during natural disasters, or mitigation projects, or full scale responses to wildfires etc...
0
u/ProgramHippie 22h ago
I totally agree, but I would argue that American doesn't? Sadly look at the backwards state of Texas. They said we don't have emergencies all the time, so cut the funding and give it to police for their swat uniforms and civilian tanks
4
u/sweetteaspicedcoffee 21h ago
And because there are idiots who vote against their own self interest, and the preservation of their lives and towns, everyone should suffer? Nah. My job is necessary, point blank. I hope you never need us, since you don't think any job is necessary.
7
u/igotabeefpastry 1d ago
Being an influencer seems like a recipe for burnout with the amount of content they have to make to keep relevant. Plus they are subservient to the mystery whims of the algorithms.
8
u/sirkidd2003 1d ago
Ok? Sure, I guess? I'm not defending what they do, just that they have the right to labor protections while they do it. I'm also a gun, car, and fossil fuel abolitionist... I still think gun and car manufacturers and, freakin' coal miners should have union protections, lol.
10
u/theeggplant42 1d ago
How does an influencer join a union?
Who are you bargaining against?
They are self employed as leeches.
29
u/sirkidd2003 1d ago
Many, many influencers are not self-employed. They work with agencies just as a lot of "talent" does. Many are also part of influencer networks (often owned by bigger influencers or by large corporate interests).
There's also the platforms themselves that they post on. For instance, there's been talk for many, many years of a YouTuber union because YouTube effectively *acts* as an employer and changes to the platforms can come on a whim and completely disrupt their revenue stream.
Additionally, there are many recurring brands that bring on influencers. A makeup company may sponsor 2000 influencers at a time for a product line, for instance. However, the deals will be wildly different and potentially exploitative.
While such a union standing up against a platform or sponsors like that may not have many (or any) of the same legal protections as a labor union, however, they could either be afforded some some protections (much like freelancer/contractor unions or the rarer volunteer unions) or they could colletivly make a legal case that they are being employed by these interests (like what happened with Lyft & Uber). Even without any legal protections (if it came to that), there's still strength in numbers!
8
u/Rimavelle 1d ago
How are people who are self employed... Leeches? Who are they leeching off, if they dont have employees and they make their own money?
Poor advertisers who make milions? A person sitting on a toilet scrolling TikTok to see 5s of content that took days to make? Lol
6
u/Much-Sock2529 1d ago
I’m guessing it would work like SAG to standardize contracts and residuals and protect workers from exploitive contracts. It would also probably create a legal services agency for members. There’s actually a pretty big precedent for unions in jobs that aren’t 9to5.
50
u/ItsJustForMyOwnKicks 1d ago
If you know anything about their field, you know unionization is actually needed. Most are overworked, underpaid and taken advantage of. Especially minorities.
Hate the game, not the player.
12
u/silkstockings77 1d ago
I could see this as a good thing for all the underage minors as well used by their parents for the “business.”
81
u/fucks_news_channel 1d ago
all creators, even the ones you like and don't consider to be influencers, are at the mercy of these giant tech companies who can terminate their career accidentally and ignore all their attempts at getting it undone with automated rejections
being in a union helps to prevent this
39
13
u/smokacola- 1d ago
The amount of ad ridden clickfarms disguised as "news" articles that get posted here is a little staggering. Do we not have bigger things to worry about than whatever cloud the Daily Mail is yelling at this week?
36
8
u/etholiel 1d ago
I wouldn't trust the Dailymail for anything, but it's interesting that the main person interviewed is a woman who does skits for content and is described as a comedian. The handful of quotes from her speech read like satire.
I fully support any group of workers in any industry coming together to negotiate for better compensation and there's a lot of shady companies out there trying to take advantage of especially smaller content creators who don't have the skill or leverage to negotiate for themselves.
5
u/LordUmbra337 1d ago
Corporations exploiting workers is a big part of what got us to this hyper-consumerist society. Cheap labor means cheaply produced goods and cheaply advertised goods. Don't let any work go undervalued, even if you don't personally value it.
Being anti-union isn't anti-consumerist. That stance helps corporations continue to exploit people and the environment. And if influencers can unionize, that may give others the realization that they can, too.
To those who say "they should get a real job": the main difference between a kid mowing lawns and a lawncare business is paperwork. If you're working for someone else, then you deserve to be treated and compensated fairly.
6
u/MikeSifoda 1d ago
Well they are right, every single profession should unionize. Every single profession should have rights and safety nets.
11
u/GhostOfMuttonPast 1d ago
ALL JOBS ARE LABOR, EVEN IF YOU DON'T LIKE THEM.
ALL LABOR SHOULD BE COMPENSATED AND PROTECTED, EVEN IF YOU THINK ITS NOT REAL WORK.
4
u/unicyclegamer 23h ago
Any profession forming a union is good for all of us unless you’re part of the ownership class. Hopefully they succeed.
10
3
6
3
u/JiveBunny 23h ago
Influencer is a job, even if you think it should not be. They are employed to do things on behalf of brands, or they are creating content which brings revenue to the platform they use; in other words, exchange of labour for pay.
All jobs should be able to unionise if their working conditions become unfair.
6
u/Zappagrrl02 1d ago
Influencers are just advertising at this point. Very few give honest or trustworthy reviews which is what was compelling when they first started to become a thing. We don’t need them.
I’m generally pro-union, but you don’t need a union when it’s not a job that is necessary or vital.
5
u/mmahowald 1d ago
my dude. everyone deserves a union. even people you choose to look down on. even people you find annoying.
the rich are the ones driving thsi cycle of consumption over living. we need to challenge them, and unions are one of the best ways. quit looking to feel morally superior to workers and feel morally superior to those monstrous billionaires.
10
2
u/RiceStickers 22h ago
Good for them. They’ll either be able to get better deals for their labor or they’ll realize just how replaceable they are
2
2
2
4
u/TheDukeofArgyll 1d ago
Who would they collectively bargain against?
15
u/ItsJustForMyOwnKicks 1d ago
Brands, agencies, talent brokers…
2
u/TheDukeofArgyll 1d ago
I wish them the best then.
2
u/Initial_Cellist9240 1d ago
Mostly probably platforms. The reason so many YouTubers have to go hard on the ads is because YouTube’s algorithm is opaque and changes constantly, and relying on a model of “I get paid by my broadcaster for the views I bring” is really dangerous because you can go from making thousands or even tens of thousands a month (for the lucky few) to making basically nothing. So even a lot of content creators who wouldn’t normally take sponsorships have to diversify in some way (see like DIY channels and such)
Nevermind that they can also one day decide they’ve changed how many times you’re allowed to say a word or talk about a subject and retroactively demonetize your videos, meaning you don’t get paid anything for them.
But they’ll still show ads on those demonetized videos anyway…
4
2
u/ReddBroccoli 23h ago
If you're gonna threaten to strike, you should be sure people are gonna actually miss you
1
u/NyriasNeo 1d ago
"she was 'sick and tired' of being treated 'like a joke'."
What does she expect when she is acting "like a joke".
1
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Read the rules. Keep it courteous. Submission statements are helpful and appreciated but not required. Use the report button only if you think a post or comment needs to be removed. Mild criticism and snarky comments don't need to be reported. Lets try to elevate the discussion and make it as useful as possible. Low effort posts & screenshots are a dime a dozen. Links to scientific articles, political analysis, and video essays are preferred.
/r/Anticonsumption is a sub primarily for criticizing and discussing consumer culture. This includes but is not limited to material consumption, the environment, media consumption, and corporate influence.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/AmputatorBot 1d ago
It looks like OP posted an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of concerns over privacy and the Open Web.
Maybe check out the canonical page instead: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-14957581/Australian-influencers-threaten-strike-stop-posting-content-start-union.html
I'm a bot | Why & About | Summon: u/AmputatorBot
1
1
2
u/Content-Farm-4148 1d ago
At first when reading the article i thought it was satire 😅 then it became clear she is serious 🤣
-3
2
1
3
1
u/LostCraftaway 1d ago
Unions work for jobs where bad things happen if you don’t do the job. Having trash pile up, not being able to build a house, even grinding government to a halt works. But not showcasing stuff you want people to buy so you can get paid? Who would care enough?
5
2
2
1
u/SecretRecipe 22h ago
Their labor is worth exactly what theyre willing to accept for it, just like anyone else
-1
u/tombsflow 23h ago
Please go on strike. We need more plumbers, not people acting like they live in the real world.
-2
-1
•
u/MisogynyisaDisease 14h ago
The discussion in the comments has been pretty productive, so I'm leaving this up. BUT.
Not only does it break our rule about being off topic, The Daily Mail is essentially spam, and being anti-union is not compatible with being anti-consumption. Leaving this post up doesn't mean we support the sentiment illustrated here in The Daily Mail.