Behind The Blog: Fake Famous

Posted July 13, 2021 by Prairie Wife - 2 comments

I had a few moments to myself today, and per usual I decided to spend it watching some TV. As I scrolled through the lists of shows to watch I saw “Fake Famous” on HBO.

I read the one-sentence title and thought hmm what’s this about?

According to the blurb, it’s “An unreal social experiment.”

That sounded good to me, so I read on and it said Fake Famous is “the true story of a social experiment that reveals what’s really happening behind-the-scenes of influencer fame.”

Um yes please!

While I don’t really refer to myself as an influencer (my business cards say Media Personality) what I do here does definitely cross into the influencer realm, especially with our Praire Wife Partnerships.

Take a moment to watch the trailer before we take a deep dive into this topic…

It looks pretty amazing, right?

And I can’t lie.

In my neverending struggle to try and do my best as a brand owner, I was hoping I’d get some insight from watching this movie into how I can continue to grow what I’ve created here on the blog and our social media sites.

Instead, I got pissed off!

I haven’t watched the whole documentary yet, and YES I will finish it.

But I was so upset by what I saw that I had to stop and write this.

The premise is simple.

Take three people, and using the same tools that the pros use to help them become “famous” using social media.

They have photoshoots where they fake the pictures (in the same way that thousands of real people are doing right now) to make these people look like they lead exotic lives AND purchase followers and comments and likes for them.

Holy crap did it make me mad.

I’m not stupid.

I KNOW people exaggerate the amazingness of their lives.

And yes I KNOW that it’s totally possible to buy followers and comments.

I understand that lots of people use photoshop to alter how they look.

Heck, I myself absolutely kick aside the pile of sorted dirty laundry waiting to be washed when I take my mirror selfies for my OOTD.

BUT I also show you my disaster of a room.

I have 100% used LightRoom to brighten my pictures and soften the edges of a close-up (the Paris filter in Insta stories is a favorite tool). I’ve used the FaceTune software to blur the deep dark bags under my eyes or picked a purposefully distressed vintage filter to hide wrinkles in my clothes (your welcome for that pro tip), or less than flawless makeup.

BUT I guarantee when you see me out and about town with or without makeup or at an event you will 100% know who I am and not be shocked by how I “really” look.

I work damn hard here to be authentic and honest and I understand without a doubt that in some ways this is keeping my “numbers” lower.

I could post more revealing pictures, I could keep all of my social media content professionally curated with only perfect fabulous pictures of me taken by insanely talented photographers, and have all my text be positive affirmations and quotes about how great my life is.

But, that’s not who I am.

It is for sure PART of who I am.

But it is not ALL of me.

Here at PrairieWifeInHeels.com we work our asses off to be real.

To show the ups and downs, the good and the bad, the behind the scenes, the fun moments, and the boring (but oh so important) day-to-day moments of life.

Because I believe in my heart of hearts that THIS is what really offers support to women, wives, mothers, and their families.

Seeing it ALL.

Knowing you are normal and not alone when you cry in the shower so no one can hear you.

Knowing that a sink full of two-day-old dirty dishes is okay, and knowing that if you like to get all fancied up in bright yellow flares and a cowgirl hat you sure as heck CAN take a picture and celebrate feeling like FIRE.

To see these people gaining from lies and deceit, to see that they actively are taking advantage of the longings of others for a life THAT ISN’T EVEN REAL to make money and gain popularity…

Well, it made me furious!

And I just HAD to take to the keyboard and let you know that we don’t play those games here.

Take a look at our Prairie Wife Guarantee that we created almost 8 years ago when I began this site with the support and advice of my older sister…and you’ll see exactly who and what we are.

#GritandGrace

And let this be a reminder to you, what you see out there isn’t always the truth.

Lifestyle Pictures KJ Brewer Photography

Prairie Wife on the Prairie Picture Willie Petersen

Categories: Health and Wellness, Life As It Happens, Prairie Life

Tags: , behind the blog, being real, fake famous, honesty, influencers, our mission, social media, support, transparency, why we blog