percysmith

Maybe she can write a new blog/vlog post about "How to survive travelling on [KA/UO]/HX/outstation airlines when being based in HK"

First time I think of ability to travel in CX as a privilege, similar to driving licence.

TravelLawyer

Well, this person is clearly not an “influencer” or “blogger”.

Off topic, but I had the “pleasure” of a long haul flight on CX F when one such person was also on board. It was so obnoxious that I almost wrote to CX, but at the time, I didn’t think that CX may have invited him. This guy had hung string lights all over his part of the cabin and window making it hard to sleep or see out your window from the glare. He ordered one of everything on the menu, which meant that they ran out of some selections for myself and Mr. TravelLawyer. Attention from the FA was 80% to this guy and 20% spread to the rest of the cabin. So many photos, posing, talking to their camera - that I had to double check that I wasn’t walking in their shot when I used the lav. It was hands down the worst CX F experience I’ve ever had. (Although that’s still much better than some of the “best” F experiences I’ve had on some other airlines.) So long story short - just hope you’re not actually in a premium cabin with one of these guys/gals.

ijgordon

Defining an acronym that’s presumably not in the FT glossary is cyber bullying??

moondog

1. I think KOL falls into the common knowledge category for many/most people

2. While defining terms falls short of cyber bullying, this thread has drifted perilously close to cyber stalking, to the extent that spelling things out in an even clearer manner could prove to be regrettable

jdsworld

That sounds awful, sorry to hear. I'm really hating how some companies fall over themselves to keep these bloggers happy. Even more when the people who watch their videos can't afford to fly F in the first place. Or worst, get themselves into debt in order to do so.

A friend of mine had a similar experience to yours a few weeks ago in BA Club World flying from the US.

Visconti

I don't get it either, especially how so many actually follow these guys/gals and take what they throw up there seriously. I mean, whatever happened to understanding the concepts of hidden agendas and conflict of interests?

Anyway, these days, as TLaw observed, we're in the midst of a generation of people wanting to take pics of every experience, however ordinary or insignificant. Half of my dining companions these days insist on taking pics of their or my food (I've been asked to not begin eating until they've had a chance to snapshot it onto their phones). Whatever happened to being reserved and act as "you've been there before"? Decade ago before "mansplaining" was a thing, I would have explained this concept to my dining companions as it had been explained to me.

jdsworld

Well exactly, I doubt very few of these "influencers" actually use or believe in whatever product they're schilling. I'm old enough to know that, but if you're young, you might not know better...

moondog

I can't speak for the airline sector, but influencers for fashion and consumer brands do tend to use the products they endorse; this is sort of a prerequisite for the arrangement.

jdsworld

Oh yes, I'm sure a certain % do use and trust the brands the plug on social media, but I would be pretty sure a good proportion schill for whatever brands offer them free stuff and would never actually spend their money on the product.

Nicc HK

If you want a social influencer try ex-SQ stewadess Jamie Chua. Ended up marrying a billionaire and now has over 1 million followers. Big brands queue up to hand her gifts. I once read her closet is the same size as my apartment.

MSPeconomist

There's also the daughter of the actress in the USA who was kicked out of USC (which she wanted to attend for the football games and parties, not the academic programs) and lost all of her accounts/sponsorships (primarily clothes and cosmetics AFAIK) when she and mommy were caught cheating to get her into college. Her YouTube channel used to be said to have a lot of followers.

moondog

IME likable minor celebrities who might appreciate an extra $US1,000 per month in exchange for 2 hours of "work" are usually the most effective from an ROI perspective.

Number of followers (regardless of channel) is no longer a remotely useful metric (easy to make fake followers, and it's impossible to tell whether the real followers care). Fortunately, it's not difficult to measure actual influence (e.g. shares, reshares, purchasing), often before formal engagements are established.

pbd456

These are real life influencers are like....

https://www.elle.com/fashion/accesso...store-palessi/

garykung

CX does use certain social influencers to promote AM, especially through cobranded credit cards or transfer partners. I also believe they are paid.

However - again, as I have said before, I seriously doubt that CX will give out upgrades to these people. CX isn't stupid.

jdsworld

And I really doubt CX would say "Because of your social network..."