Fed up (F-ed up)
This is how I look when I get upset
Ya know what I'm utterly fed up with?
Being sold things.
Just to head things off - my ANM posts contain purely non-affiliate links. I get zero dollars from anything I talk about here, nor am I telling you that your life is garbage if you don't have the things I'm recommending. All I'm aiming to do with the series is to share things that have brought genuine value to me over the course of the month that I'm hoping will be useful to you, my amazing audience. One of my love languages (I know, gag, but it's a useful way of thinking) is sharing. If you love those things too - awesome! If not - I'm sorry, hope you'll like the next ones. If I can be doing better about making that crystal clear, please let me know!
That said, I've been noticing that slowly all the media I love have started selling me things. Whether it's designer clothes, meal services, beauty treatments, biohacking tech, ebooks, or self-help seminars; everyone is trying to get me to buy something.
I understand that in order to make a living doing something like blogging or podcasting there needs to be a way to monetize content. Everyone hates pop-up ads and we've developed sidebar blindness, so the best way for companies to influence us effectively is through native advertising.
Some folks are better than others at being transparent about their advertising practices; some are great at making it clever enough that we enjoy it anyway, but more and more I'm finding that I'm sick and tired of clicking on a link to find where to get the sweet sundress someone wore on their (partially sponsored) vacation to find that it costs the same as my damn student loan payments.
It's an insidious feeling when the price tag is so high on these sponsorships too. I can speak from experience that there is a notable pang of unworthiness that comes with the realization that what's being sold is so far out of budget.
It's disheartening that these people who make content designed to lift people up are forced to also make content that can wind up ruining someone's monthly spending plan or making them feel bad, even though that can't be their responsibility in the end. It's up to the consumer whether to buy or not, but with the constant stream of advertising we experience daily it has become overwhelming.
The blogs and podcasts and music I consume are all made by talented, intelligent, downright inspiring people. Many of them are strong women whom I hope to emulate. It's frustrating to see them walking around with their hands outstretched saying "I'm glad you liked what I made, now please click on this link so this faceless corporation will pay me".
They're not all faceless corporations of course, some content creators have extremely rigid standards for what they will or will not promote, and many will only accept sponsorships from smaller, local businesses (major kudos there considering the dollar signs they're turning away).
I don't have a solution to the problem. People have been shouting about this as far back as radio advertising goes. I'm not an economist or a politician or an entrepreneur; I don't have the skillset to find a solution.
This post may be just a gripe, but I'm hoping that by drawing attention to it, maybe we can all take a step back and see the ways we're being manipulated and can stand a little stronger against it. Maybe we can see the strings being pulled and instead choose to rely less on commercially produced goods and more on ethically sourced ones. I am by no means perfect in this regard - far from it. But I'm trying to lean in the direction of positive change, and I hope you will too.
Feel free to gripe with me in the comments, or even better disagree with me! I'd love to talk with you. :)