'It completely took over her personality': Aspiring influencer gets unfollowed by friend who doesn't want to see her becoming a "living billboard"

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 8, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Watching as your friends become online influencers is an odd experience. All of the sudden, that dude you knew from high school is posting daily workout videos and begging for followers. Or maybe a random acquaintance has decided to start marketing products on TikTok, and now every video she shares has links to items she's "obsessed with." It can be really awkward to watch this. After all, not everyone online is an influencer. A lot of people start creating content for the love of it: they're artistic, funny, charming, or just plain creative, and they gain a nice following for their skills. But once they're offered brand deals or sponsorships, money can take over their content. Suddenly, instead of seeing cute videos of their cat, you're getting an advertisement for kitty litter. Instead of watching cute day-in-the-life parenting videos, now that parenting duo wants you to buy health supplements. It can make you raise your eyebrows and feel a little deceived… after all, you followed that person because you liked their content. You didn't necessarily want to be advertised to. 

This person shared their decision to unfollow a friend, and a lot of commenters really related to their choice. Some shared their own stories as well — apparently, it's become rather common to see this play out online. 

Next up, read about some workplace drama, like one person who "handed in my notice and my boss suddenly stopped talking to me." 

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  • 01
    I just couldn't take it anymore. A close friend of mine recently started going full-on content creator...daily product promos, brand collabs, Amazon hauls, "get ready with me" videos that are basically ads. It completely took over her personality. Every post was just buy this, use my code, you need this. I muted her for a bit but ended up unfollowing everything.
    via u/sleepingbeauty06
  • 02
    She noticed and messaged me, thinking I'm jealous or "don't want to see her grow." Said I'm "stuck" while she's "moving forward," which... lol. Like... no. I'm not jealous. I'm disappointed. I don't want to see my feed turned into a nonstop commercial. I'm not interested in watching someone I care about become a living billboard. I unfollowed for my own mental peace, not because I "hate her success," but because I reject
    via u/sleepngbeauty06
  • 03
    the values that influencer culture is built on. I just can't support someone turning their entire life into a brand. It's depressing to watch
    via u/sleepngbeauty06
  • 04
    Edit: Wow, didn't expect this to blow up. Just wanted to answer a few questions I've been seeing a lot in the comments. Yes, the platform is Instagram. And yes, a bunch of people have asked if I ever talked to her about it...lol, I did. We've had convos where I explained why I felt uncomfortable with the direction things were going. For context,
    via u/sleepngbeauty06
  • 05
    she used to be very anti- consumerism. Like, she would rant about fast fashion, capitalism, all that. But she's made some new friends recently, some of them are influencers, and yeah, I think their lifestyle rubbed off on her.
    via u/sleepngbeauty06
  • 06
    As for unfollowing, it was just Instagram. We still have each other on WhatsApp and can chat if she wants. But what she seems to want is a "supportive" friend... you know? someone who likes, comments, reposts her stuff, maybe even buys from the brands she promotes. And that's just... not me. Not because I don't care, but because I can't support that kind of content.
    via u/sleepngbeauty06
  • 07
    I've been down the overconsumerism rabbit hole before. Years ago, I was deep into impulse buying and got hit hard with post-purchase depre son (will probably talk about this later) It was bad and overwhelming. Recovering from that is a huge part of why I'm on this path now. So no, I'm not a bad friend, I'm just someone trying not to relapse into a toxic cycle.
    via u/sleepngbeauty06
  • 08
    Maybe it's selfish, sure. But it's not malicious. I just know my limits
    via u/sleepngbeauty06
  • 09
    wwwwww
    via Daiga Ellaby For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 10

    "Freelance advertisers" is a great description of current influencing trends

    severalsmallducks I used to work in PR, and it made me realize that influencers are basically just freelance advertisers. They're human billboards, basically just reducing themselves to a vehicle for advertisers to use as they see fit.
    via u/severalsmallducks
  • 11
    Now that's a pretty strong opinion to make, and I'm not one to hate on all creators: some are legitimately interesting and creative. But your choice to stop following her is yours to make. In influencer terms, she's just not making content for all audiences, which means some people will follow and others will unfollow. That's just business.
    via u/severalsmallducks
  • 12

    Maybe you can separate your personal and online lives!

    Silicon Fiction Nobody owes anyone a follow on social media. Especially if the account is doing anything besides the usual. I have a few music- related accounts and after about 10 years realized my wife had no idea
    via u/SiliconFiction
  • 13
    ItPutsLotionOnltSkin Sounds like a sad Black Mirror episode
    via u/ItPutsLotionOnltSkin
  • 14
    00:00:28
    via Daiga Ellaby For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 15
    wearetheused I've had a couple of friends do this, it's painful when they continue to shill out for the cheapest free products they're offered to shovel ads down the throat of the maybe 20 people who engage with it vs the empty 2000 accounts that supposedly follow them. Rather than deal with the "why did you unfollow me" conversation, you can just
    via u/wearetheused
  • 16
    mute or restrict them. That whole lifestyle is a complete antithesis to my entire being but at the same time when I see them in person they're still mostly likeable, the online character isn't even real. Social media was a mistake.
    via u/wearetheused

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followers friendship online friends influencer social media influencers
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