It's crazy to think that thousands of people around the world "make a living" from being a social media influencer.
A social media what now?
A social media influencer is basically someone who has gained a large number of followers, mostly on YouTube or Instagram, and have established credibility in a certain industry, whether that's beauty, travel or fitness (etc). Users can earn a fortune from being a social media personality, but what about those who don't earn the living that they had hoped for from posting on Insta every day?
An Instagram influencer has recently admitted that his very own mother works two jobs to fund the Insta lifestyle of himself and his wife. Trust me, you're not the only one whose jaw dropped when reading that...
Read on to learn more about the obnoxious couple and their ridiculously high expectations of their followers...
The invasion of Instagram...
via: Shutterstock
Since its launch in October 2010, Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms. It's now a multi-billion dollar beast that has around five hundred million users.Is there anybody who doesn't have Instagram?
Instagram isn't just a social media app, it's a way of life. People take to the app obsessively to flaunt their little luxuries, document every (good) inch of their lives, and catch up with their favorite (and unrealistic) "influencers."The Insta reality...
It's a well-known fact that the lives portrayed on Instagram are edited and tweaked to look as perfect as possible. Nobody's life is as perfect as Insta makes it look...And that goes for the thousands of social media influencers out there.
via: Getty Images
Social media influencers are basically paid to portray a perfect world online. Everything that they post gets taken into consideration, and if they lose even a couple of followers, it can all go downhill from there. It sounds just like a normal job, doesn't it...These influencers go to the extremes for that perfect Insta snap.
Meet Catalin Onc and his wife, Elena. The German couple has created their joint Instagram account, "another_beautiful_day_official", to document their travels around the world and their lifestyle of "freedom and peace."And in typical Insta fashion, every upload is close to perfect.
Cat and Elena make sure that their Instagram is aesthetically pleasing and it seems that they go to extreme lengths to get the perfect photographs for their 34,000 followers. There isn't even a hair out of place in this one snap...The couple travel the world for their Instagram.
Traveling through and exploring different parts of the world is how Cat and Elena have gained their following. They have shared their travels over the past few months in lush locations such as Paris, Nepal, Bali and Copenhagen. Their earthy and free lifestyles have recently been contradicted, however...The couple have asked their followers to fund their upcoming trip to Africa.
On 20th July, Cat and Elena are planning to cycle from Germany to Africa to raise awareness of mental health problem - or, in their words, it's "a celebration of life as they ride freely across mountains, by the sea, and through metropolitans." The catch? They're expecting this trip to be funded completely by their family, friends, and dedicated followers on Instagram. So much so that they have even set up a Go Fund Me page to allow easier payments.Pretty cheeky, if you ask me...
It's an extremely bold move to ask strangers for money to fund a trip because they clearly can't be bothered to earn it themselves. Totally getting grumpy cat feels from this...To make things even worse...
It has emerged that it's been Cat's mom all along who has been funding their adventurous lifestyles by working hard at two jobs. What on Earth happened to fully grown adults earning their own money and not relying on their poor, overworked mothers?Catalin's poor mom "has not much herself."
In a recent Insta post from Cat and Elena (which has now been deleted) the pair wrote:
"At this very moment, my mother is funding us, she works two jobs and has not much herself. We didn’t ask her for money but she loves that she is able to help. Mum, I want you to know, that it is not only us but hundreds of others that benefit from your help."