If you search California locations or California wildfire-related hashtags on Instagram, you’ll see countless posts documenting the devastation caused by the deadly fires.
But you will also see a fair few Instagram influencers, wannabe influencers, and brands, exploiting the California wildfire exposure for their own gain.
Funny or Die’s show about influencers, Like and Subscribe, highlighted the trend of people strategically pushing out photos of themselves on Instagram with the pretence of sharing support for the people affected by the California fires.
we want to thank all of the brave influencers who have donated completely unrelated thirst traps to the victims of the california wildfires pic.twitter.com/3H76x4QtxT
— Like and Subscribe (@likeandsub) November 14, 2018
— Like and Subscribe (@likeandsub) November 14, 2018
There are literally hordes of rig shots, product offers, marketing pitches, self-advertising and actual nudes floating around amidst the photos of the actual disaster.
Piggybacking off keywords, hashtags, or locations related to big events or celebrities is what has been dubbed “keyword squatting” by researcher Joan Donovan, Buzzfeed reports.
Instagram currency is relatively simple: the more people see your photos, the more money you can make. It’s a cynical take on what could arguably have been intended as authentic messages of support, but the approach to sharing that support is either selfishly motivated or just seriously misguided.
Social media etiquette when it comes to disasters like the California wildfires might seem like a bit of a grey area, but it shouldn’t really need to be spelled out that hot pictures of yourself and unrelated brand promotions are not appropriate content for the California fires hashtags.