Malaysia ― Malaysian influencer Jenn Chia is probably one of the most authentic public figures out there, as evident by her 419K followers on Instagram.
Jenn Chia has a straightforward personality, and she wears her heart on her sleeve. It has been reported that the influencer only makes it a point to promote things that she believes in, whether sponsored or not.
On Sept 24, a fan asked the 30-year-old influencer about the type of cat food she feeds her three felines.
She feeds them Fussie Cat (the Salmon & Chicken flavor) which is grain-free. Other brands may be allergic to her cats. Jenn Chia also added a disclaimer that “this is not sponsored”.
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She later took to Instagram to elaborate that while it’s more authentic when she highlights that it wasn’t a sponsored post, there’s a downside to it. “It makes my sponsored posts seem less authentic,” she wrote, before insisting that “I only ever share or recommend things I love and actually use after assessing it.”
As Jenn set a pretty high standard for herself, it is difficult to avoid clashing with clients and brands who want things done their way. That is why certain brands labelled her as a “diva” but according to her, “I’m happy to be a diva” if it means being able to keep it 100% authentic with her audiences.
A few months ago, Jenn was testing out the benefits of retinol and experienced a dramatic skin purge. It is evident that Jenn really takes the time to research and commit to the process before promoting it to her followers, reported Hype.my.
Unfortunately, her skin reacted so badly that she was advised to do an extraction to treat her skin congestion.
It is common to hear influencers saying “A lot of you guys have been asking about….” out of the blue and then starts to promote their sponsored posts. Some influencers don’t even bother to use certain skincare products or taste the clients’ food products but continue to sing praises about it.
Not only it is misleading but people do feel cheated when influencers disguise paid advertisements as personal posts.
To quote Jenn herself, “Social media is fun but when it intrudes your self worth… that becomes a problem – especially if you’re comparing your life to a “curated” reality.” /TISG