Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Getting Paid to Socialize

Social media has opened the door to so many people for building their own brand, not only with a physical business but also branding themselves as individuals. Frances Cairncross' Trendspotter's Guide predicts that home life and work life will coincide. In my previous post I had explored this idea when it came to electronic commerce, similarly we see this blurred line in the world of social media. However, this only applies when we look at social media and the business side to it- which in society today is not uncommon. For the sake of my argument, I want to focus on fashion bloggers whom work from home to cater to their blog, fans and overall branding. Blogging has become so popular, some universities are now offering their own rendition of a "Blogging" course. The truth is, anyone can blog, but how do you get paid to blog? It's a question I have been asking myself for some time now, from all of the famous bloggers I follow on Instagram it's hard to justify that getting paid to post photos online is fair...unless you're the one getting paid. The reason why we can apply Cairncross' trend to aspects of social media is because of access. Social Media can be accessed by so many people and is also accessible anywhere, so a (personal) business that relies on this is going to thrive in our tech-savvy society. It also has the ability to reach a number of people quickly and effectively. Most higher-end bloggers that are getting paid is mostly through advertisements. If a blog gets enough traffic in a day, then a company that shares a similar audience would be inclined to provide advertisements for their site.  We see the lines blur here between home life and work life, especially when some bloggers today are making more money than those working 9am-5pm jobs during the week. Don't believe me? Check out this E online article