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

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."