XPost: alt.fan.sean-hannity, talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: alt.war.civil.usa   
   From: obamaalumniassociation@gmail.com   
      
   Hilaria Baldwin owes her followers an explanation.   
      
   It’s absurd that Hilaria and Alec Baldwin expect to allow the   
   public into their private lives to the advantage of both their   
   careers and then call foul when that same public comes looking   
   for answers at the sudden appearance of a new baby.   
      
   Earlier this week, fans were surprised to learn that the couple   
   had secretly welcomed their sixth child, Lucia, just months   
   after the arrival of their fifth, Eduardo. How did that happen?   
   On Wednesday, it was reported that they had delivered the baby   
   via surrogate. But the couple has remained silent on the details   
   — though Alec did tell one curious social-media commenter to   
   “shut the f–k up.”   
      
   Hilaria has built a lucrative career based off her large   
   Instagram following, most of which was gained from her overtly   
   confessional posts about being a mom. And when you turn your   
   life as a mother into a brand, you must open yourself up to the   
   same accountability we expect from any other business.   
      
   It’s complicated and uncomfortable to criticize a new mother. I   
   have two kids under the age of 4, and I know how real the   
   struggle is. But I also haven’t turned my family into a public-   
   facing business. The Baldwins are not your average family, and   
   Hilaria is not your average mother.   
      
   Hilaria’s brand is built on being a mom — on many pregnancies,   
   many births and many adorable naked baby selfies. Through those   
   photos, she’s built a following of nearly a million people on   
   Instagram.   
      
   I’ve spent the past year reporting a podcast, “Under the   
   Influence,” on the world of Instagram’s mom influencers. So I   
   know that in the mom industrial complex, Hilaria’s massive   
   following puts her in the top tier of mom influencers, some of   
   the biggest money makers in the field.   
      
   When you are a brand, you answer questions from the consumers of   
   your brand about your product. In this case, the product happens   
   to be children. This is not a judgement about the decision to   
   broadcast your life as a parent and your children on the   
   Internet.   
      
   If you can make money posting pictures of your kids and some   
   vacuum cleaners on Instagram and manage to capitalize off of all   
   the unpaid labor of motherhood, then good for you. But you do   
   not get to be outraged when people question you. You cannot act   
   as if these questions are crossing a line when until now you   
   have implemented no boundaries around what you share.   
      
   You made a choice to put this child out there on the Internet.   
   You made a choice to make this child part of your personal   
   brand. And therefore you should be held accountable. Mom   
   influencers make money by posting pictures of and information   
   about their children. They make their lives seem aspirational   
   and therefore shoppable.   
      
   I have no idea what Hilaria Baldwin gets paid per post, and if I   
   asked Alec he would probably tell me to f–k off, but there is a   
   baseline formula for how much an influencer gets paid for a   
   single post.   
      
   At about $100 per 10,000 followers, the top influencers —   
   accounts with more than 800,000 followers — can make $8,000 for   
   a single post, and much more if they do a Story or a video.   
      
   A very casual glance of Hilaria’s Instagram feed from the past   
   six months reveals paid posts from Bissell, Fisher-Price, kids   
   learning device Osmo and sanitizer spray bottle O3waterworks.   
   She also appears to be developing a lavender ointment cream with   
   the natural skin-care brand Waxelene.   
      
   That is potentially a lot of money. I won’t speculate on an   
   exact amount, because I’m vaguely afraid of Alec Baldwin coming   
   to my house and punching me in the face.   
      
   But I will say that it is f–k-you money to most of us. And that   
   money is dependent on the audience Hilaria has. Let’s think of   
   them like shareholders in a public company. She needs them. So   
   to act like you don’t owe those consumers an explanation is just   
   simple workplace malfeasance, at least if you’re a mom   
   influencer. You cannot take offense when people ask questions   
   when you’re making so much money off of them.   
      
   I believe that Hilaria Baldwin is a marketing and publicity   
   genius. She’s built an incredibly successful company around   
   herself. And just like any successful company, she managed to   
   change the conversation when her brand was threatened in   
   December when she was accused of cultural appropriation after   
   long claiming she had grown up in Spain, when her real name is   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)