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{"id":7849,"date":"2018-05-17T03:54:02","date_gmt":"2018-05-17T03:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box2045.temp.domains\/~qdgxdzmy\/atozaatar\/?p=7849"},"modified":"2018-06-22T08:55:38","modified_gmt":"2018-06-22T08:55:38","slug":"dont-call-me-an-influencer-my-thoughts-on-the-upcoming-influencer-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atozaatar.com\/dont-call-me-an-influencer-my-thoughts-on-the-upcoming-influencer-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Call Me an Influencer: My thoughts on the upcoming UAE social media influencer rules."},"content":{"rendered":"
Before June, and perhaps, before the industry changes forever, let’s clear the air.<\/p>\n
First of all, I’ve never considered myself an Influencer.\u00a0 I don’t categorize myself as one, and I’ve never set out to become one.\u00a0 I have spoken about this differentiation to both private and public groups, on panels and to various audiences.\u00a0 I know who the influencers are in the world of F&B in the UAE, and for many reasons, we are in separate categories.\u00a0 If we’re getting into semantics, I would most closely identify as a food writer or food blogger.\u00a0 And for the record, I’m not addressing fashion, beauty, lifestyle, or fitness influencers — my comments are solely focused on food and travel.<\/p>\nYes, this is often me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Although you might find this difficult to believe, when I’m invited to a restaurant, it is rarely with specific deliverables.\u00a0 I have cultivated good relationships within the industry, and don’t have to spell out what I’m going to do.\u00a0 Overall, I see my visits to venues as a chance to honestly review and share that feedback with my readers (and in some cases, directly with the outlet).\u00a0 Yes, I’m well aware of the unspoken expectations of the brand, but in the event\u00a0where 1) I had to meet specific requirements, and 2) no money was exchanged, I have always over-delivered.\u00a0 As someone who reviews and dines out a minimum of two times a week, my feedback is genuine.\u00a0 If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you’ll know I have been invited to venues and not liked what was on offer.\u00a0 And written just that.\u00a0 Even when I’m friends with the team, PR, or chef.\u00a0 I have provided public and private feedback.\u00a0 Sometimes, this practice has resulted in me being blacklisted by certain agencies, other times, the company will take my feedback as it was intended — as constructive criticism.<\/p>\n
So, enough about me.\u00a0 Before we go much further, this is how the government defines an Influencer (from the National Media Council):<\/p>\n
\u201cAny person who practices the above-mentioned media activities on Social Media, on a commercial basis, shall obtain a prior license from the Council, provided that:<\/em> \n 1. It shall have an account on the generally recognized Social Media;<\/em> \n 2. Ads that are presented on Social Media shall be subject to the advertising standards that are applicable at the Council;<\/em> \n 3. Social Media accounts\u2019 owners who offer paid advertising services shall obtain a license from the National Media Council in accordance with the applicable regulations in this regard and hereunder.<\/em> \n 4. The account owner is responsible for the content of the account.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While I’m active and ‘generally recognized’ on social media, I rarely (if ever) advertise.\u00a0 When I do advertise — this is, being paid to post — I always clearly mark the post as #sponsored.\u00a0 As I’m usually an invited guest of a venue, my first hashtag is usually #invited, and all of my blog posts clearly state if I am a guest or not.\u00a0 Furthermore, as I often cross-post to Zomato, I would be non-compliant if I was taking money for visits to restaurants — and I completely understand and respect that mentality.\u00a0 There is a difference between ‘here, come and eat my food and tell me what you think’ and ‘here’s some money to come to my restaurant, we really<\/i> hope you like it (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).’<\/p>\n
Most recently, the NMC is calling for regulation on ‘free gifts and experiences in exchange for coverage on their channels.’\u00a0 Guys, there’s no getting around it — that’s precisely what I do, and what many of my friends in the industry do.\u00a0 Thus, in the past week, my DMs have been blowing up with this topic.\u00a0 While I’m not going to name anyone specifically, here’s where things generally come down:<\/p>\n
\n
This\u00a0type of framework is (overall) a good thing.\u00a0 Transparency and regulation are absolutely fine and perhaps, overdue.\u00a0 While I always declare when a meal was paid for, both on this blog and on my Instagram, it’s not consistently the case across my section of the industry.\u00a0 I honestly wish those with more significant accounts and industry leaders would have done a little more ‘best practice’ before now, but they tend not to, so I can only continue to look after my backyard.<\/li>\n
Honestly, I’m very surprised not to have seen ANY movement from the PR\/Marketing side (and I say this with lots of love for the other side of the fence).\u00a0 I have great relationships with many PR professionals in town, and only one or two has asked me to provide evidence of a license, or if I’m compliant in any way (really, this goes back months).\u00a0 This leads me to wonder:\n
\n
Who is supposed to protect the client?\u00a0 The agency or the brand itself?\u00a0 I would assume when the agency contacts an influencer, that it is on the agency to ensure everything is above board.\u00a0 If I was a client, that is what I would be paying for.<\/li>\n
In fact, if I did have a license, I’d be flaunting it everywhere.\u00a0 I’m also a bit shocked no one has taken this approach…which leads me to believe almost no one has a license — even those who can well afford it.<\/li>\n
Similarly, for those influencers who have agency representation, wow, I feel sorry for how things are playing out.\u00a0 If I were an agency, I’d be fighting hard against this, because really, what motivation is there for an influencer to stay in-house?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Most of us wouldn’t mind paying for a license\u00a0every year.\u00a0 Personally, I would feel comfortable paying AED1,000 per year.\u00a0 This amount feels fair to what I do\/what I make and for administrative fees, I would be happy to comply.\n
\n
On the topic of money, 30K is overwhelmingly<\/i>\u00a0too high for almost everyone I know.<\/li>\n
If the license is enforced, all of us will have to stop what we’re doing — which is more and more looking like what will happen (well, to a point, I’ll address some additional questions below).<\/li>\n
If the PR doesn’t ask for a license, we can consider taking free meals as usual, but run the risk of the 5K fine (which is considerably cheaper than the 30K licensing).\n
\n
If we take the risk of the fine, but do get charged for posting against the law (???), how exactly is this enforced?\u00a0 Who is the payment made towards?<\/li>\n
How exactly will the evidence be presented?<\/li>\n
So many more questions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And because I’m trying to start a dialogue, here are my predictions and ongoing questions:<\/p>\n
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