In the last few years there has been a rise in social media influencers. People using their personal platforms to promote certain things. From restaurants to branded products to travel, influencers make their money through social media.
Influencers are curious creatures. Posting new, edgy, difficult-to-copy pictures. Unfortunately though, people often do try to copy photos, ignoring potential dangers.
One influencer couple under the Instagram handle ‘positravelty’ recently posted a photo that has the social media community outraged.
The pair are positioned on a cliff, overlooking Laguna Humantay, a bright blue lake in Peru.
The woman, Kelly, is holding on to her partner, Kody, while dangling off the cliff’s edge. The photo is spectacular, however, one slip of a boot would have ended in disaster.
One person commented, “It doesn’t matter if you played with perspective and it wasn’t dangerous for you. You really don’t understand the power you hold, do you? Saying we all have personal responsibility is just a conscience-saving tool. You will encourage others who don’t know how to play with perspective, and someone will kill themselves by accident trying to emulate you. You’re an influencer. You influence. The clue is in the title.
Be inspirational by all means, but stop ratcheting up this pseudo-dangerous vibe before you encourage someone to kill themselves.”
Another wrote, “Amazing shot, definitely some incredible photography here. However, I feel as influencers it’s a tad irresponsible to give your followers the idea that hanging off the edge of a cliff is a good thing. One false step and you plummet to your death.”
Another person said, “It’s all about attention seeking. Gives us nothing about the country they are travelling in. A real travel blogger/Instagram account is about the place, not yourselves. Be honest.”
The couple have quickly defended themselves in saying to Business Insider that “it was quite easy, considering we didn’t find this to be dangerous”.
“As we have discussed before, we love to push our creativity and play with perspectives. It is not dangerous. We would never risk our lives.“
Here is the controversial photo for you to decide:
Image source: Instagram
