So, the other morning I hopped on my Facebook page to add a post and much to my surprise…
THE STORY
…I saw this:
My friends, I had been officially spanked by the Facebook gods. Seriously, wth? I was confused as to…um, why? As you can see above, I had done all of the things that we as responsible bloggers are supposed to do when posting a collaboration; the brand was tagged and my hashtags were in a visible location. Sooo…what’s the problem?
Apparently, way back in March, Facebook changed their branded content policy and added something called the “Branded Content Tool”. Perhaps you are already aware of this (and if you are, how did you know?), I obviously was not aware. Hence, the spanking. I never received any type of notification/email/smoke signal/top secret encrypted message…nothing, nada. So my question is, exactly how were bloggers who collaborate with brands supposed to know of this mysterious Branded Content Tool? Telepathy? Super human psychic abilities? Gypsy fortune teller?
After much research (because Facebook’s Help Center is notoriously umm, unhelpful and difficult to navigate, I found this page which pretty clearly explains it. First, you have to request the tool. Once your request is approved you will have access to it. When you start a new post, you’ll see down in the area where you click to add photos, location, etc. there is now a little shaking hands icon. You click the icon (which I’ve marked with a red arrow below) and then find the brand page that you want to tag and select it.
Apparently though from what I understand in the information that I’ve read, you need approval from the brand prior to tagging them with the tool. Therefore it would behoove you to work this all out with the brand when you are in the initial discussion stage of your collaboration. I have not yet attempted to use the tool as I’ve not had a collaboration post since learning about all of this. Therefore, I’m not sure whether or not you can tag a brand prior to approval from them.
Because I’m a curious sort of girl and because Instagram and Facebook are basically the same beast, I also started researching whether or not Instagram has the same requirements. Lo and behold, they do. It appears though that it hasn’t yet been rolled out to all influencers as of yet. When it does, your Instagram account must be set to “business” in order to access it. I personally do not have access yet, but I do check fairly regularly to see if the tool has appeared yet. This article explains where to find/how to use the tool, and this article (written in November) claims that access to the tool has been expanded to pretty much all influencers. Like I said though, I still don’t seem to have access. I’ll definitely update you all when I do and/or I learn more about it.
THE OUTFIT
This was actually my Christmas Eve outfit. We’re pretty casual ’round these parts so this is about as fancy as I get for the holidays. Fortunately, I chose my nude Mary Jane pumps as my footwear because this month’s Ageless Style Link Up theme is “Retro Look” and Mary Jane pumps have been around forever and a day.
Why fortunately? Well, Christmas Eve night it started snowing and then polar vortex temperatures swooped in and have apparently taken up permanent residence. I have not shot one single outfit since this one. Originally I had planned on wearing this insanely fabulous vintage coat that I have for this post, but friends, I’m sorry…I am simply not dedicated enough to do shots in below 0 temperatures. Then it occurred to me…I had on the Mary Jane pumps in these shots and woohoo…definite retro vibes.
And how cute are my little sheer bedazzled socks? They were made to wear with these pumps. I ain’t gonna lie though, this particular pair is not awesome. The rhinestones went all the way down to the heel area of my foot…ouch! They also don’t have much stretch to them, so I couldn’t pull them up any higher. Therefore I had to pull off a bunch of the bling to make them comfortable enough to wear. But it’s all good because the end result was pretty cute in my opinion.
THE TIP
Socks can really make an outfit. Yes, socks. There is currently such an array of super cute socks that there is a pair for just about everyone and every outfit. I’m all over the sheer slouch socks as well as velvet socks at the moment. They work with pretty much everything, from jeans to a dressier going out look.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more fashion and style ideas…
This month we are welcoming two new lovely ladies to our group: Kellyann of This Blonde’s Shopping Bag and Lisa of Classic Style by Lisa. You can find all of their links below.
BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN AND LINK UP WITH MYSELF AND MY LOVELY CO-HOSTS FOR THIS MONTHS AGELESS STYLE LINK UP!!
Sweater: Missguided; Jeans: GAP; Shoes: Similar; Socks: Similar
Cathy ~ Cathy V Style blog, instagram, facebook, pinterest, twitter
Daenel ~ Living outside the stacks blog, instagram, pinterest, twitter
Debbie ~ Fashion Fairy Dust bloglovin, blog, instagram, pinterest, facebook, twitter
Jennie ~ A Pocketful of Polka Dots blog, instagram, facebook, twitter, bloglovin
Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style blog, facebook, instagram, pinterest, bloglovin, twitter
Kellyann ~ This Blonde’s Shopping Bag blog, instagram, bloglovin, twitter
Lisa ~ Classic Style by Lisa blog, facebook, instagram,
Paula ~ Dimples on my What blog, facebook, pinterest, instagram, twitter
Shelly ~ The Queen in Between blog, instagram, bloglovin, pinterest, facebook
New this year to The Ageless Style Link Up we are welcoming a different co-host each month. It is my pleasure to introduce you to this month’s co-host, Samantha Blair of www.fakefabulous.com. You can also find Samantha on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. If you aren’t already familiar, be sure to check her out! She has a colorful, cool and unique style, and I love reading her views on not only fashion, but life as well.
