This story was originally published in the 2024 Winter issue of strategy magazine

I love-and-loathe Hannah Neeleman. I love-and-loathe how the momfluencer makes milking cows, arranging homegrown flowers, kneading homemade sourdough, lambing sheep, running a meat-and-dairy farm, designing linen aprons, being a Julliard-trained ballerina, entering (and winning) the Mrs. American pageant, and homeschooling her seven kids – with an eighth on the way – look so effortless… so orchestrated… so unrealistic.

Her @BallerinaFarm IG account is a vortex for my mom-guilt, yet she’s relatable/genuine enough for me to want to keep scrolling. Hannah doesn’t hide behind a polished beige-tone home, and there’s always a toddler bellowing in the background of her reels. Hence, the love-and-loathe quandary.

Before becoming a mom-of-one led to my social feed being congested with momfluencers like Hannah, it was fitfluencers and homefluencers telling me how to shape my body and accessorize my abode. I never really gave my unhealthy obsession with aspirational content creators more than a passing thought until recently, when the desire to emulate them (what they eat, what they do, what they buy) simply became too much.

Admittedly I’m just catching up, but influencer fatigue has been a thing for a while. Alongside it, a yearning for what WGSN coined as “genuinfluencers” – those who are far more interested in sharing authentic advice than simply selling stuff. They’d rather discuss issues, from gender equality to social justice. Back when the term was first introduced and the trend began to percolate, The Guardian led with the headline, “Being too aspirational is repellent now.” TikTok has its own name for the movement: Real-Tok, where picture-perfect lifestyles are out and raw conversations are in.

So where does that leave brands if a new generation of creators aren’t interested in peddling their products? Well, you could take advantage of the opportunity to join wider cultural, societal and, if you dare, geopolitical conversations. Unilever, not surprisingly, is at the forefront of this shift, calling on players in the ecosystem to “eradicate stereotypes from influencer branded content.” Now, all contracts with influencers encourage inclusive thinking and that no harmful stereotypes are being portrayed. It’s also pushing for more eco conversations to be tackled in content, and for creators to stop “greenhushing,” offering legitimate climate science to use in their posts.

 Advice from a recovering mom/home/fitfluencer addict? Forget the Joneses and their vanity metrics. The past is made up, but the future is real.