For Sale: One Radio Announcer

My name is Angus O’Loughlin, and I’m for sale!

Don’t take this in a ‘Bangalore road in Thailand’ type of sale, but I do have a price.

Since 2010 I have been all across Twitter, in fact my first Tweet was on January 6: Soooooooooo Sunburnt.

I joined Instagram 172 weeks ago and Facebook, well, who really cares anymore.

These days you see celebrities, personalities or just good-looking people flogging fit teas, shoes and body scrubs hidden among sunsets. We are for sale… and at the lowest price!

I have 100,000-plus Twitter followers and 29,000 Instagram followers. (All real, I might add, but ‘fake followers’ is for another rant another time). I only, on rare occasions, tag a clothing brand, most of the time who are nice enough to send me a new shirt or pair of kicks.

Of course I understand for some people Instagram is a genuine source of income; brands or PR agencies will contact someone with a large following asking them to preview a client’s new spring offerings for a couple of thousand dollars, which is great… for some.

I can remember the days when social media was how I connected with old and new friends, where I would see a family member’s newborn for the first time and throw it a ‘thumbs up’. It used to be a place of privacy, but now, we all overshare.

Over the weekend, I was browsing through my feed and had FOUR, yes, four blatant posts from gorgeous women I was following, all promoting themselves alongside a product. Two were coconut based schemes, one was a clothing brand and the other a diet bar. These are posts I definitely won’t double tap, no exception. But it got me thinking. I have a very young teen female following because of the radio show I host, where we speak to the Harry Styles, 5SOS and Taylor Swifts of the world quite regularly, and I imagine these beautiful people would also be in their following tab.

I wondered, are we sending the right messages? These gorgeous, toned men and women with seemingly no flaws beneath their face tune apps and valencia filters encouraging their followers to try their ‘skinny teas’ and ‘laser hair removal’ companies. In a world where girls and guys are exposed more than ever to the superficial, I thought, what is the real price we are paying when we post ways to ‘improve’ ourselves?

It’s very hypocritical of me to post the above because I myself will sell my social media feed for the right price and brand. Happily!

I do, however, justify it in my head by only posting brands I actually associate with and actually support, making sure they send the right message.

What is the real price we pay or get paid?

About Angus:

Angus O’Loughlin and Ash London have been doing the Shazam Top 20 around Australia for around 10 months on the Hit Network.