The True Cost Of Online Fame

You post like crazy, but your profile still lacks the “likes” to make you the next Instagram star. Would you ever pay to give it a boost?

Who wouldn’t want to wake up to 40 million Instagram followers? For emerging beauty or fashion bloggers, it would be a social media dream come true. With such huge amounts of online followers comes the ker-ching of a rapidly filling bank account (toptier fashion bloggers can reportedly earn six figures a year) and lucrative endorsement deals – not to mention all of that free stuff.

A 2014 report by auditing company PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that, as one of the most digitally advanced markets in the world, Singapore has one of the fastest growing Internet advertising markets. This, in turn, attracts many advertising companies to base their Asian regional offices here. The report forecast that our total Internet advertising revenue is set to increase to US$264 million by 2018. So can you blame the tech-savvy generation for wanting a slice of this multi-million dollar pie, especially when all we need is a smartphone?

Fool me once, shame on you

But let’s face it, we’re not all Kimmy K, and with more than 400 million Instagram users, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. It’s difficult competing with feeds filled with models, far-flung tropical locations, camera-wielding boyfriends and swags of amazing clothes. But now, aspiring social media influencers are also vying against mega-bloggers who are getting a boost via the dubious practise of buying their Instagram followers.