Written by Allison Herrera
Emily in Paris is taking Netflix by storm. The 10-episode rom-com series starring Lily Collins features an American digital marketing/social media coordinator whose job transfers her abroad from Chicago to Paris to bring an “American point of view” to a French marketing agency. Emily in Paris was an easy, breezy watch for some viewers; whereas, for others, it was like forcing a cheap bottle of Bordeaux down one’s throat. Why? Because as Emily continues to live her best life on social media through bad selfies and generic hashtags, this show reveals how many people have zero concept in what strategizing social media entails, especially when utilizing it for business gains.
The amount of work, attention and engagement unpaid and aspiring influencers work for their social media strategy and content is millions and millions of times more than what Emily puts in. We understand that this is just a Netflix series, but it glamorizes our job and makes it seem simple to those who lack an understanding of what really goes on behind all of our hard work. Without proper planning, strategy or unique and captivating content, social media success is certainly not overnight. These are the areas where Emily continuously has us waving red flags…
Followers
Emily begins the show with her Instagram handle as her own name and only has forty-eight (48) followers, which is a hard pill to swallow. No 20-something-year-old who has Emily’s personality, background in marketing and is a social media whiz possesses such a pathetically small following. But, then again, we don’t know this chick’s life.
When she steps foot in Paris, she changes her handle to @emilyinparis, which is where she begins growing her account. In less than 24 hours, she grows her social media account to 200 followers after taking touristy photos of cheese, croissants, children playing, etc. And after a few short weeks, Emily is deemed as an “influencer”. Influencers might scoff at this, because it takes more work and time than Emily displays in attaining this status. This alludes that grabbing the attention of over 25,000 strangers and several notorious brands in merely a few short weeks based on basic (or ringarde, as a snobby French designer refers to Emily at one point) content is nearly impossible.
Posts
Remember the word ringarde mentioned above? Yep, Emily’s posts are ringarde AF. Her account resembles what was once popular on Instagram when the app first came out – basic, unedited photos of objects, food and strangers just living their lives taken on an iPhone camera. Let’s be real…this kind of content wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) attract thousands of people to her account. Honestly, how does someone get over 1,000 followers in ONE MORNING after posting THIS?
Or perhaps this photo of CHEESE. In LESS THAN ONE HOUR, Emily gained over 3,000 followers from a PICTURE OF CHEESE.
I read a quote the other day that states that in Emily in Paris, “The portrayal of what performs on social media, and Emily’s ‘knack’ for the platform, is honestly disrespectful to anyone who has ever been tasked with creating content.” Although we would have watered that down just a tad, we couldn’t agree more. Are we upset about the show? Nah…just maybe her trash captions.
Captions
This criticism goes past Emily’s “content”. Her clichéd captions are garbage. I’m sorry, but someone had to say it. For example, how am I supposed to get on board with a caption like THIS?
Should we even bring back that horrid “chiseled abs” caption we already blessed you with?! Yep…I think so.
If you didn’t already know, snapping photos, typing out captions on the spot and posting on a whim makes every social media marketer CRINGE. She just fires off content and captions right on the spot, which is nothing short of chaos in a social media connoisseur’s world. Emily is obviously unaware (or unconcerned) regarding…
- Optimal times of day to post for your audience
- Strategies behind adding tags and locations
- HASHTAGS!
This now brings us to the subject of hashtags. For the love of God, Emily, hashtags increase engagement. If this chick knows anything about social media, she should know the strategy and intention behind hashtags, yet she uses ones that not a single soul would engage with.
These captions and hashtag choices feel like Emily took a crash course on “how to be cool through social media” from an out of touch boomer who is trying to re-live her high school glory days while learning TikTok dances in her spare time. Instead, Emily is painted as a young millennial with a career in digital marketing and social media galivanting Paris. LOLZ. Of course, if this was a show reflecting real life, her ringarde posts would piss off Parisians one by one, as I assume Parisians are already annoyed with American posts glamorizing the Eiffel Tower and macarons.
Social Media Presence
Emily’s engagement is so inauthentic that it feels almost as if it is run by bots. Proposing that Emily’s audience growth is organic and that she practices what she preaches when it comes to engagement is as possible as Gumbeaux becoming the next quarterback for the New Orleans Saints – 110% unlikely. As I mentioned, her posts would have been the peak of existence when Instagram first developed; but when viewed in 2020, her engagement seems offsetting, as if she is a socialization experiment.
In Conclusion
Emily may perhaps appeal to an American audience, as she plays off of French clichés. But if you’re starting a new Instagram account in 2020, you have to distinct yourself from the millions of other women dying to become influencers. Personally, I don’t see her excelling through this account. When it comes to her career, though, Emily’s ideas aren’t half bad…but, they are certainly half baked. And, in the real world, she would need to show some KPIs before executing any plans.
So, perhaps Emily Cooper doesn’t understand social media management, but the verdict still stands…we love Emily in Paris. Everything about this show has a hint of laughable, unrealistic elements, which adds to her lack of her social media knowledge. Think about it, who in her position can afford a different designer piece every day or has a fling from a smoking hot Parisian neighbor in her same apartment building? The list goes on…but, one thing is for sure – we’re already anticipating Season 2!
**If you have any questions regarding what social media management and strategy actually entail, feel free to shoot us an email at contact@uptowngirl.media – we would love to chat with you.
