Under the Influence with Jo Piazza

Prepare your flux capacitor because we’re going back to the future. In the final episode of Season 2, Jo talks to experts in social media to predict what’s to come in the influencer world. Right now, social media could be compared to the Wild West: unregulated, unpredictable, and quite frankly, unfair to a lot of people. But luckily, with the help of some incredible women, influencers and consumers are starting to fight back. This episode features Lindsey Lugrin who is working to eliminate unpaid labor in social media with F*ck You Pay Me, Jenna Sereni who is working to create a more authentic social media experience with HandsDown, Peggy McDermott who is bringing influencing to academia, and Kim Nortman who is focused on Web3.0 with Tellie. Listen to this final episode to join the movement to change the term “influencer” from a dirty word to a respected profession. Oh! And Jo finally reveals the long awaited date of The Women’s Day Off the Internet.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

These days it seems like everyone’s houses look remarkably similar. White kitchens, brushed brass accessories, exposed beams and all the shiplap. Why, you ask? Because we are all under the influence of design influencers. These people log on to Instagram every day and show you, yes you, how to take your older home and make it look newish, modern, but still cozy and old-timey. In a lot of ways this has been a revolutionary and wonderful development: free advice on how to renovate your home at your fingertips. No more subscriptions to design magazines, hiring expensive designers, or spending hours doing research. Nope, it’s right there on Instagram. But, of course, this type of influencing is not without scandal. Often the pressure to perform and establish yourself as a brand has led to overcharging and under providing. And then inevitably, the takedown is much larger than the rise. Ultimately, this episode helps us answer two questions: how does hustle culture lead to cancel culture and why is it so important for influencers to diversify their content over several platforms and maybe even go back to the basics of blogging. We get to talk to one of Jo's favorite design and renovation gurus, Emily Henderson, who takes us back to the early days of the design blog and explains how she has managed to slow down, take stock, and focus on the basics.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There truly is an influencer for everything! After spending a week in the hospital when her son got a concussion (don’t worry, everyone is ok), Jo left with a glaring realization: Rule 35 even applies to the medical industry. The nurses in the ICU revealed that they all follow nurse influencers, even post on Instagram during their breaks, and some have over a million followers. But nurse influencing isn't all scrubs sponsorships. COVID-19 and vaccine hesitation have created a social media battle between nurses who are pro-vaccine and those who are against the vaccine. Some of these nurses have lost their jobs for the things they have said on social media. Some have gotten death threats against their entire family. Some live in terror that misinformation could lead to more and more deaths. Because of the largely unregulated nature of social media, some nurse influencers can spread disinformation with few consequences for themselves and massive consequences for society at large.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Influencers pop up where women need them most. They create a space to discuss taboo topics and provide resources when social structures fail us. Fertility is one of those topics, and fertility influencers have a large community of women flocking to them for answers, advice, and support. But not all women feel the same about this content. Are fertility influencers good? They destigmatize the topic and offer free information for an otherwise pricey process. Or, are fertility influencers bad? They often are not associated with a medical professional and cannot deliver individual care, just like with mental health influencers. And ultimately, what does the increase of fertility related social media content say about the lack of resources in our society? We wouldn’t even need to turn to social media if we were able to have these discussions IRL. Listen to this week’s episode to decide if you’ll be cheering YAY or NAY for fertility influencers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is nearly impossible to find a therapist that is covered by insurance, doesn’t have a waiting list, or even just returns your phone calls. Nowadays, we tend to rely more on people we know through social media to provide us with the alleviation of our mental struggles rather than traditional paths such as face-to-face therapy. What are the dangers of this? Being diagnosed by unlicensed advice givers? Being given recommendations for prescription medication that will mess with your brain? Developing an unhealthy parasocial relationship with your mental health provider.Parasocial! What the hell does it mean? We dig into the history of parasocial relationships from 19th Century French philosophers, to 1950s TV celebrities to today's social media influencers. The stakes of this relationship only escalate when influencers are discussing mental health. Sure, there’s some good in destigmatizing mental illness, but what are the chances they’re exacerbating the mental health crisis we’re already in? Hint: the answer is somewhere in the middle and it's up to us to strike the right balance.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week we dove down the rabbit hole of mental health Instagram. We're all in the midst of a mental health crisis right now and frankly we could all use a little help. While social media is often a major contributing factor, if not the source, of these mental health problems, there is also the flipside: comfort creators. These are the people who use social media to post content that you turn to when you are feeling down and need a pick-me-up. They are not necessarily there to give advice like the mental health influencers we covered last week, but instead to show you a picture of their fluffy dog or read you an uplifting poem that helps to release the stress you’ve been carrying all day. For this special bonus episode, Jo is joined by her comfort creator: the poet Kate Baer, whose poems helped Jo through the insanity of her postpartum time and still lift her up today. If you want more Kate Baer in your life you can buy her books I Hope This Finds You Well and What Kind of Woman wherever you buy books.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen to host Jo Piazza take on the role of guest on a new podcast about the LuLaRoe scandal hosted by Buzzfeed writer Stephanie McNeal.#BecauseofLuLaRoe: The Dream Vs. RealityLuLaRoe’s rise coincided with the rise of influencers and platforms like Facebook Live which retailers used extensively to sell their products and host online events. These platforms became the perfect medium for depicting the aspirational lifestyle that LuLaRoe was selling. Top sellers were encouraged to show off a flashy and upbeat lifestyle by posting about their achievements and using the hashtag #becauseofLuLaRoe. So how did LuLaRoe retailers build their followings online, and what was the reality vs. the image they were creating? Author and Under the Influence podcast host Jo Piazza joins us this week to break down how social media and influencer culture contributed to LuLaRoe’s success.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re in the midst of a mental health crisis. And women, especially mothers, have been hit the hardest. But what is an entire generation of mothers to do when they live in a country where any kind of health care, especially mental health care, is largely inaccessible? A lot of moms turn to Instagram. Mental health creators have been around for a while, but should they be trusted as a source for psychological well being? Do these creators really help or just make people who are already broken more vulnerable? Maybe both can be true at once. Join Jo on a deep dive into the history of self help and mental health media to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If it exists in the world, there’s an influencer for it. Teachers absolutely fit the bill as Jo learned when a listener reached out to her about her kid's teacher whose Instagram content concerned her. Should we judge how teachers present themselves outside of the classroom? And if we’re offended by what they post, is it legal to demand repercussions? These questions sent Jo down a rabbit hole into the wide world of Teachergram. Turns out Instagram is a sort of shadow support system for teachers. Influencing can be a way for wildly underpaid educators to support themselves and each other. And this isn’t unique to teachers. Ultimately, if there’s a deficiency in the world that’s ailing women, an influencer who can fill that need is just a click away.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What would it take for you to get off Instagram? The promise of better mental health? An urge to detangle yourself from the algorithm? Or maybe it would take a scare. The threat of someone stealing your photos and role playing as you and your family. Any way you spin it, the decision to get off Instagram is a hard one. But if we’re ever going to use our power to improve the platform, it might be what we have to do. This week, Jo talks to two women–one who took the leap off Instagram and one who didn’t despite a horrific experience. These stories tell show us what we risk when we stay on Instagram and why getting off is such a personal choice. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices