LOVE FOR EVER

The War Boys (2009)

In these circles, people love to analyze behavior, but obviously, their biases prevent them from seeing the obvious. The young woman in the photos is a fanatic who had a genuine emotional overflow in front of a crowd, telling Caitriona personal things at an inopportune moment. The next thing we know, she moved to Scotland, studied a degree that would lend credibility to the profession she wanted to pursue, got engaged to a Scotsman in one of the iconic locations in OL, waited who knows how long for the chapel where Jamie and Claire got married to become available, and captured people's attention on social media. From there stems everything we see today: she does OL tours because, in theory, she's an expert in Scottish history and also a fanatic; she partnered with a relevant photographer to create content; we don't even know if SS ever hired her, since the business relationship was with the photographer; the point is that she ended up appearing in the brand's images (perhaps because the photographer used her as a model, since this girl has made everything too performative, and social media photographers love that), and now, with her tours, she takes people to Galloway and tags the brands, so Sam reposts her, as she does with a housewife who uploads a video receiving the Special Edition of her Sassenach whisky, or the people who take pictures in front of the rock. Obviously, none of the analysts realized that the event organizers (the media network that owns the rights to the series) took certain influencers from OL (because yes, mediocrity has led event organizers around the world to believe that being an influencer qualifies a person to be "press"), and placed them at those doors to fulfill some role.

In her case, she was recruited by none other than Parade magazine as a correspondent, and obviously invited by the company; guess who her plus one was? Yes, exactly, the photographer. An obvious connection. But lately, too many obvious things are being overlooked, such as the body language of the two subjects in the photograph that's meant to be presented as proof of "closeness," and I won't even mention the perspective and angle from which the photo was taken.

You don't have to believe me, you can see in the photos I've attached that both the young lady and the well-known Andy share the same ribbon holding a "press" ID, and in the caption of the image he shared, he clearly thanks the company for inviting him. On her profile you can read that she thanks Parade for the opportunity. What's more, there are even collages of her with other influencers.

So, this isn't a girl fight, nor is it about access to a man. This is simply a fan who meticulously planned every step to get close to the object of her obsession (which is not the man), even if it took her a very long time. A fan who suddenly stops overacting in public, and in a radical change of behavior, "built" a "business" that now allows her to be invited by a magazine and a well-known media company? Well, that's where the real analysis needs to be done, and Tumblr is obviously not the right place for it, because we're talking about things that are more complex and profound than just "patterns". Spoiler alert: the analysis isn't about clever moves to achieve your goals either.

However, images still tell stories; even an influencer's feed tells stories, and these are accessible to everyone. And what does the story that many choose to ignore tell us?:

- Does she have a business? Yes, her profile suggests so.

- Has she practiced her profession? Yes, I've seen her lead a group tour at least once.

- Is she truly focused on the described business? It doesn't seem so, because her profile appears more like a personal branding project than a tour guide profile. In fact, I've counted at least four alternative professions related to the same topic, all heavily focused on building prestige on social media.

- Is she a distinctive figure in the niche? Not really; she's simply leveraged her visibility to create a business around whatever it was that initially brought her into the spotlight. For example, she offered trips to last night's concert with the photographer, and well, on the surface that seems distinctive, but when you find out they were both going to be there anyway, it's easy to see that the planning of the experience was reduced to coordinating transportation, refreshments, and eventually, accommodations (tourism professionals, I'm so sorry that intrusion has reached these levels).

- Is it possible to connect with her just by looking at her profile? Well, I think that's a personal thing, but in my case, it's impossible, because everything is excessively performative, and for me, feeling something intensely and, at the same time, being performative in relation to what I'm experiencing are mutually exclusive conditions. I can't deal with things perfectly planned and curated for an image or video, and much less can I deal with preparing a camera before confronting an experience that I know will emotionally overwhelm me, to record and photograph myself, and for others to see what I live or what I feel about that experience.

And I'm going to stop here, because any analysis from now on would have to touch on topics that shouldn't be analyzed on social media, and also because while I was writing, another case resonated with me too much, which will not be given visibility in this blog.

Si vamos a analizar, ¡analicemos todo!, no sólo la parte que apalanca nuestro sesgo.

En estos espacios aman analizar conductas, pero obviamente, los sesgos que tienen, no les permiten ver lo obvio. La señorita de las fotos, es una fanática que tuvo un auténtico desbordamiento emocional, frente a una multitud, diciéndole cosas a Caitriona de su vida personal, en un momento inoportuno. Lo siguiente que observamos es que se mudó a Escocia, estudió una carrera que le diera credibilidad al oficio que quería desempeñar, se comprometió con un escocés en una de las locaciones icónicas en OL, esperó no sé cuánto tiempo para que se liberara la capilla en la que se casaron Jamie y Claire, y captó la atención de la gente en RRSS. De allí se desprende todo lo que vemos hoy: hace tours de OL porque en teoría, es experta en historia escocesa y además fanática, se asoció a una fotógrafa con relevancia para crear contenido, no sabemos siquiera si SS la contrató a ella alguna vez, pues la relación comercial era con la fotógrafa, la cosa es que pasó a estar en imágenes de la marca (quizá porque la fotógrafa la utilizó de modelo, ya que esta chica se ha encargado de hacer todo demasiado performativo, y a los fotógrafos de RRSS, les encanta eso), y ahora, con sus tours, lleva a gente a Galloway y etiqueta a las marcas, por lo que Sam la repostea, como lo hace con una ama de casa que sube un video recibiendo la Edición Especial de su whisky Sassenach, o las personas que se fotografían frente a la roca. Obviamente, ninguno de los analizadores, se dio cuenta que los organizadores del evento (la cadena mediática dueña de los derechos de la serie) tomaron a ciertos influencers de OL (porque sí, la mediocridad ha hecho creer a los organizadores de eventos en todo el mundo que ser influencer habilita a la persona para ser "prensa"), y los pusieron en esas puertas para que cumplieran algún rol.

En el caso de ella, fue convocada nada más y nada menos que por Parade, como corresponsal, y obviamente, invitada por la compañía; adivinen ¿quién fue su +1?, sí, exactamente, la fotógrafa. Una relación obvia. Pero últimamente, hay demasiadas obviedades que se están saltando, como por ejemplo, todo el lenguaje corporal de los dos sujetos en la fotografía que pretende ser presentada como prueba de "cercanía", y ya ni les cuento lo concerniente a la perspectiva y el ángulo con el que se tomó la foto.

No es necesario que me crean, pueden ver en las fotos que anexo, que tanto la señorita, como el conocido Andy, comparten la misma cinta que sostiene una identificación de "prensa", y en el caption de la imagen compartida por él, claramente agradece a la compañía, por haberlo invitado. En el perfil de ella pueden leer que agradece a Parade por la oportunidad. Es más, hay hasta collages de ella con otros influencers.

Entonces, aquí no hay una pelea de chicas, ni tampoco se trata de acceso al hombre, ésto simplemente es una fanática que planificó muy bien cada paso a dar para estar cerca del objeto de su fanatismo (que no es el hombre), así ésto le tomara muchísimo tiempo. ¿Una fanática que de pronto ya no se desborda en público, y en un vuelco radical de conducta, "construyó" un "negocio" que hoy le permite ser convocada por un magazine y una empresa de medios, reconocidísima?; bueno, allí es donde están los verdaderos análisis a realizar, y que obviamente, no son Tumblr el lugar adecuado para hacerlo, porque estamos hablando de cosas más complejas y profundas, que "patrones". Alerta de spoiler: tampoco el análisis va de jugadas inteligentes para lograr sus objetivos.

Sin embargo, las imágenes siguen contando historias, inclusive, el feed de un influencer, cuenta historias, y esas si son accesibles a todos. Y ¿qué nos dice la historia ante la que muchos se hacen los desentendidos?:

- ¿Tiene ella un negocio?, sí, su perfil así lo plantea.

- ¿Ella ha ejercido su oficio?, sí, por lo menos he visto una visita de ella con un grupo de personas.

- ¿Está ella realmente enfocada en el objeto descrito del negocio?, no lo parece tanto, porque su perfil parece más la construcción de una marca personal, que un perfil de guía turistica. De hecho, he contado por lo menos cuatro oficios alternativos, asociados al mismo tema, y muy enfocados en la creación de prestigio en RRSS.

- ¿Es ella alguien distintivo en el nicho?, no realmente, sólo ha aprovechado la visibilidad, para crear negocio en torno a cualquiera sea el motivo que le dio visibilidad en un momento. Por ejemplo, ofreció, junto a la fotógrafa, viajes al Concierto de anoche, y bueno, eso en la superficie parece ser distintivo, pero cuando te enteras que ambas iban a estar allí de todos modos, no cuesta pensar en que la planificación de la experiencia se reducía a coordinar traslados, refrigerios, y eventualmente, hospedajes (amigos profesionales del turismo, lamento muchísimo que el intrusismo haya llegado a estos niveles).

- ¿Es posible conectar con ella sólo viendo su perfil?, bueno, creo que eso será algo de cada quien, pero en mi caso, es imposible, porque todo es exageradamente performativo, y para mí, sí son condiciones excluyentes el sentir algo intensamente, y a la vez, ser performativa respecto a eso que estoy experimentando. No puedo lidiar con las cosas perfectamente planificadas y curadas para una imagen, video o perfil, y muchísimo menos, puedo lidiar con preparar una cámara antes de confrontar una experiencia que sé que me va a trastocar emocionalmente, para grabarme y fotografiarme, y que otros vean lo que vivo o lo que siento en torno a esa experiencia.

I just wanted to clarify a few things from my previous post. Forgive me for the length.

I’ll start by saying that before I started watching Outlander I knew who Sam was. Or of him. It was more of a “Oh that’s the guy from that Outlander show. He’s handsome” comment you make in passing before moving on. But I wasn’t familiar with the books or show past that, so that was the extent of my knowledge.

It wasn’t until I started watching the show and I started following him on Instagram that I realized he also had a spirits company.

Seems normal right? Except for the fact that there are tons of celebrities/actors who I don’t follow on social media and I know they have their own spirits brand.

I’ve seen some people comment that they don’t mind the onslaught of Sassenach Spirits content on his personal Instagram because it’s the only place the brand is advertised. But that’s the problem. Social media is a powerful marketing tool, but it shouldn’t be your only tool.

The partnership with the Caledonian Sleeper is a step in the right direction. TV show + brand + Scottish tourism checks all the right boxes. But the timing after having gone through ‘Being Jamie’ and ‘Outlander Watch Party Cocktails’ has the audience waning. It now looks like grifting - even if that wasn’t the intended goal.

When your target audience starts to have a negative reaction to seeing your product, you’ve lost the plot. And you’ve now eviscerated any goodwill your fans may have afforded you.

That’s why I feel like the ‘Being Jamie’ segment should have come from Outlander and Starz. I would have also liked to have seen a similar segment with Cait. Actors love to talk about their process and developing their craft. Wouldn’t it have been nice to see Cait talk about any differences or similarities there are in playing a character over a 40 year time span instead of the regular stock interview answers?

Time will tell if there will be a change in marketing strategies now that the show is over. But when all you do is sell, sell, sell - eventually there is nothing left to buy.