Social Media Influencer Rule

[AAHunterGal]

“The intent of this proposal is to clarify the status of social media influencers as professionals and not amateurs. It is the unanimous consensus of the Amateurs Task Force that social media influencers are not able to conform to the definition of an amateur competitor by their accepting products or services in exchange for promotion of those products and/or services.”

I may be the lone voice here, but I think this rule is so vague that it puts folks in the same trap that says amateurs can’t even teach beginner up/down lessons on Saturdays without losing their amateur status.

I understand that some folks get free stuff from brands. I’m a marketing professional who has run several social media influencer programs, so I know how it goes. Some of the people I recruited were indeed “macro-influencers” with 100k followers and a large national voice. But much more often, these programs are meant to grow smaller brands in local markets.

I feel like this very general rule will cast too wide a net. For example, if your friend were to start up her own homemade treat brand and asked you, with your…let’s say…659 local followers, to spread the good word in exchange for a few free bags, are you now a professional?

That seems ridiculous.

If there needs to be a rule like this, OK - but please please define it so that it only effects the people who it is meant to effect!

[JustTheTicket]

@AAHunterGal

I feel like this very general rule will cast too wide a net. For example, if your friend were to start up her own homemade treat brand and asked you, with your…let’s say…659 local followers, to spread the good word in exchange for a few free bags, are you now a professional?

I don’t think that’s ridiculous at all. If you get any product in exchange for talking it up on your social media, regardless of how many or few followers you have, makes you an influencer and yes, makes you a professional. That’s a basic sponsorship, honestly. Free stuff is fun, but I guess you have to decide if free stuff is more important than an ammy status.

[Ghazzu]

So say a person owns a tack shop.
I’d be amazed if such an individual is never offered a free sample of something, and they certainly would be promoting products.
Does that make such a person a pro?

Is a DVM who works on horses, and who may recommend a particular feed or supplement (one that they may have received a bucket of gratis at a trade show) now a pro, but a dairy vet still an ammy?

[JustTheTicket]

A person personally getting free stuff vs. a business getting free stuff is different.

[AAHunterGal]

But you as a business owner are also an individual and compete as such - where do you draw that line? Do you only take the free sample but never actually use it? If you promote it on your business’s social media channel, but also bring that product to a show and use it personally/promote it there as part of your business, are you now a professional?

That’s what I’m talking about in terms of this rule being too general.

Also, why should free stuff make you an actual professional? This is where the skill piece that is always left out of this rule just boggles my mind.

Getting a leg up from a brand to help defray the costs of showing, because you are a good ambassador and representative of the sport, should not mean that you are a professional rider.

I’ve run a lot of social media programs in a lot of different sports. If I were to give away free cycling helmets, for example, to try to seed a local market, USA Cycling would NEVER think to then classify those bike riders as professionals. Why are we doing the same?

[MHM]

There is already a thread on the proposed rule change.

Proposed Rule Changes that affect Amateur status?

This is my complaint. I work for a feed company. Sometimes I film promotional/educational clips about horse care and our products. So, does that mean I’m a professional rider/trainer? REALLY? I was just about to apply for reinstatement of my amateur status (because I had a similar problem in my previous role as a university faculty member - I taught “horse handling and care” and was therefore a pro…). Argh.

[AAHunterGal]

TY! Will move there.

[AMCpro]

I agree, take a look at the young (10, 12, younger even) girls who run around shows after hopping off their ponies taking pictures. Some of those girls have 14k followers and get freebies. It definitely needs clarification.

[MHM]

@AMCpro

I agree, take a look at the young (10, 12, younger even) girls who run around shows after hopping off their ponies taking pictures. Some of those girls have 14k followers and get freebies. It definitely needs clarification.

It doesn’t actually need clarification for those girls, since the amateur rule does not come into play until a rider ages out of the junior divisions.

[TheDBYC]

Yup! I was going to say, that is precisely why so many companies go after Juniors for brand ambassadors. My daughter used to have an equestrian IG account with a little over 1000 followers. She occasionally got smaller equestrian goods companies messaging asking her to promote their products. She’s still an ambassador for a fantastic little treat company on Etsy that is run by teenage girls. We only get a discount, though. No freebies.

[Brutus614]

So just to play devil’s advocate a little bit… can my business accept free stuff in exchange for promotion on a business social media account? For example, I have a blog that is a registered LLC with it’s own Instagram (I maintain a separate personal instagram account). As the sole amateur owner of this business, would I be in violation of the rule? How is being the sole owner of a blog business different than a tack store business?