Swipe Up For More!

Informationen zum Autor Stephanie McNeal Klappentext An unfiltered, colorful romp through the IRL world of influencers that spills the tea on the multibillion-dollar industry of content creation. If you're anything like journalist Stephanie McNealaka, a millennial womanyou spend hours every day indulging in Instagram's infinite scroll. The influencers on the platform aren't just providing eye candy; these tastemakers impact how we cook, consume, parent, decorate, think, and live. But what exactly is going on behind the curtain of the perfectly curated Instagram grids we obsess over the most? Through intimate, funny, and vulnerable reporting, McNeal takes us through the looking glass and into the secretive real world of three major influencers: fashion and lifestyle juggernaut Caitlin Covington of Southern Curls & Pearls, runner and advocate Mirna Valerio, and OG mommy blogger Shannon Bird. Swipe Up For More! is based on three years of unprecedented, fly-on-the-wall access that offers a rare glimpse into how these influencers build their empires, struggle with the haters and snarkers, fight for creative control from the tech platforms that enable their businesses, parent in public, and try to look good while doing it. Along the way, McNeal answers burning questions, like: Why are there so many Mormon mommy influencers? What is it like to work for a popular influencer? What do they do with all the free swag? How do brand partnerships work? And how much money do they really make? Irresistible, juicy, and voyeuristic, Swipe Up For More! reveals all about the women some love to hate (and many actually, secretly, genuinely love). Leseprobe 1 A wise Instagram caption once said, "One day you will be at the place you always wanted to be." That's how I felt when I first stepped foot in a place I had spent hours staring at on social media: the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Utah. I know, it doesn't sound like a bucket-list-worthy destination. But to me it was. Sure, I've swiped through photos of the beaches of Santorini and lusted over the breathtaking views from the mountains of Cape Town. But mostly? I have swiped and scrolled and liked and commented on photo after photo taken in Provo, Lehi, Alpine, and Draper. I have heard of their chain restaurants, and even know the specialties to order. That's because this stretch of highway among the jagged rocks of the American West is the fertile crescent of a slice of the internet that I have spent the past decade of my life obsessed with. In many ways, the world of bloggers and influencers was born here. It's jarring to visit somewhere you have spent so much time visiting virtually from a phone screen. Scenes look both familiar and foreign. The Utah suburbs are a Candy Land soaked with rugged beauty and dusted with the air of new money and fame. Custom-built McMansions dot the scenery like Chiclets, hanging off the side of rugged hills so majestic and awe-inspiring that they could make even the most devoted skeptic believe in the existence of a god. In the valleys below, young adults with smooth hair and even smoother skin carry their babies close to their chests as they walk through the shiny strip malls filled with everything you could ever need to live a peaceful suburban existence. This is the land of fast-casual anything; you can get any type of cuisine you wish in a bowl from a counter. You can buy an outfit for a night out at myriad chain stores. You can buy yourself a Diet Coke loaded with heavy cream and a splash of coconut, but it's hard to find a Starbucks or a glass of wine. As foreign as that Diet Coke is though, it's also not, because you have seen video after video of people trying it. After all, it's gone viral on TikTok. I made my pilgrimage to the land of Mormon influencers in January 2022. By then I had been reporting and writing about bloggers and infl...

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Stephanie McNeal

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An unfiltered, colorful romp through the IRL world of influencers that spills the tea on the multibillion-dollar industry of content creation.

If you’re anything like journalist Stephanie McNeal—aka, a millennial woman—you spend hours every day indulging in Instagram’s infinite scroll. The influencers on the platform aren’t just providing eye candy; these tastemakers impact how we cook, consume, parent, decorate, think, and live. But what exactly is going on behind the curtain of the perfectly curated Instagram grids we obsess over the most? 

Through intimate, funny, and vulnerable reporting, McNeal takes us through the looking glass and into the secretive real world of three major influencers: fashion and lifestyle juggernaut Caitlin Covington of Southern Curls & Pearls, runner and advocate Mirna Valerio, and OG “mommy blogger” Shannon Bird. Swipe Up For More! is based on three years of unprecedented, fly-on-the-wall access that offers a rare glimpse into how these influencers build their empires, struggle with the haters and snarkers, fight for creative control from the tech platforms that enable their businesses, parent in public, and try to look good while doing it.

Along the way, McNeal answers burning questions, like: Why are there so many Mormon mommy influencers? What is it like to work for a popular influencer? What do they do with all the free swag? How do brand partnerships work? And how much money do they really make?

Irresistible, juicy, and voyeuristic, Swipe Up For More! reveals all about the women some love to hate (and many actually, secretly, genuinely love).

Échantillon de lecture
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A wise Instagram caption once said, "One day you will be at the place you always wanted to be." That's how I felt when I first stepped foot in a place I had spent hours staring at on social media: the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Utah.

I know, it doesn't sound like a bucket-list-worthy destination. But to me it was. Sure, I've swiped through photos of the beaches of Santorini and lusted over the breathtaking views from the mountains of Cape Town. But mostly? I have swiped and scrolled and liked and commented on photo after photo taken in Provo, Lehi, Alpine, and Draper. I have heard of their chain restaurants, and even know the specialties to order.

That's because this stretch of highway among the jagged rocks of the American West is the fertile crescent of a slice of the internet that I have spent the past decade of my life obsessed with. In many ways, the world of bloggers and influencers was born here.

It's jarring to visit somewhere you have spent so much time visiting virtually from a phone screen. Scenes look both familiar and foreign. The Utah suburbs are a Candy Land soaked with rugged beauty and dusted with the air of new money and fame. Custom-built McMansions dot the scenery like Chiclets, hanging off the side of rugged hills so majestic and awe-inspiring that they could make even the most devoted skeptic believe in the existence of a god.

In the valleys below, young adults with smooth hair and even smoother skin carry their babies close to their chests as they walk through the shiny strip malls filled with everything you could ever need to live a peaceful suburban existence. This is the land of fast-casual anything; you can get any type of cuisine you wish in a bowl from a counter. You can buy an outfit for a night out at myriad chain stores. You can buy yourself a Diet Coke loaded with heavy cream and a splash of coconut, but it's hard to find a Starbucks or a glass of wine. As foreign as that Diet Coke is though, it's also not, because you have seen video after video of people trying it. After all, it's gone viral on TikTok.

I made my pilgrimage to the land of Mormon influencers in January 2022. By then I had been reporting and writing about bloggers and influencers for more than five years, and following, engaging, and thinking about them for more than ten. F…