
Teachers Are Moonlighting as Instagram Influencers to Make Ends Meet - ca98am79
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/juliareinstein/teachers-instagram-influencers-school-tpt-pinterest
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Mitchhhs
Because a few teachers are instagram influences doesn't mean that "Teachers"
as a profession are doing this widely. You could pretty much replace the word
teachers with any profession and this would probably hold true.

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quotemstr
I'm glad people are finally catching on to this fashionable narrative-
generation tactic. When a reporter writes "X people are doing Y", all that
means is that at least two X people each did Y at least one time. That's it.
It doesn't mean Y is common or ascendant among X or the typical X does Y or
even that any X is at the present moment continuing to do Y. This kind of
headline sure sounds like a broader claim though!

Reporters and editors are people with a knack for language. They understand
that for this phrase, the gap between denotation and connotation is a chasm.
That we see this particular phrasing constantly anyway suggests a certain
malfeasance.

I'm really tired of having to read my news adversarially.

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teej
Teachers are moonlighting by selling lesson plans online to make ends meet.
Some of them use Instagram to promote. This isn’t new, the trend has been
growing for years. Here’s a 2009 NYT article discussing it -
[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/education/15plans.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/education/15plans.html)

This is significantly different than your average instagram influencer who
generates revenue by finding advertisers and convincing them to pay based on
reach.

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ilamont
Nice client placement, Teachers Pay Teachers publicity team. You've pulled off
a real coup, getting a fawning article in one of the largest news websites in
the country.

Poor news judgement, Buzzfeed editorial team. You've taken a handful of wildly
successful and unverified samples to make it seem like this is a trend or
widespread occurrence among professional teachers.

These two quotes stood out in particular:

 _School administrators have largely been supportive, too_

 _Henry said her Instagram can help students and their parents connect in a
more natural way and have more meaningful conversations about what they’re
learning in school._

Really? Administrators have no problem with school facilities being used for
this purpose, and parents think sponsored Instagram content is a "natural" way
to connect?

I have kids in our local public school system and follow teachers and
administrators who use social media channels to share events and special
learning experiences. I am also well aware of the struggles to pay for
supplies, and have paid the extra fees and donation requests when they've come
up. But using these channels as a personal side hustle would be really
disappointing, if I learned it were taking place at my kids' schools.

This article does a disservice to the profession, IMHO.

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Fellshard
BuzzFeed is a disservice to the profession, more generally.

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vowelless
> One teacher in Texas told BuzzFeed News she makes a $50,000 a year, but made
> over $200,000 in a year through Instagram.

Wow. That's some serious cash.

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masonic
I suspect that it would be news to the IRS.

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phakding
Are Instagram "influencers" still making money? How and why?

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jVinc
Yes, and so are "rockstars". The thing is that not everyone who plays a guitar
is a rockstar and not everyone who posts on instagram is an influencer. For
the large majority there is no money to be had, but for few lucky individuals
you can make a decent bug doing it. Though if you are planning on switching
carriers I'd bet on rockstar over Instagram influencer.

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vkou
Unless you already know how to play guitar like a rockstar, I imagine trying
to become an Instagram influencer is a bit lower risk.

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bena
"Ends meet". $50,000

That's a salary better than the national average.

I mean, I respect the hustle. Get paid and all that. No shame in the game. But
pretending that you already aren't doing better than most people is kind of
being dishonest.

The woman I wound up marrying said much the same. She heard other teachers
complaining about the pay and how they need summer jobs, etc. She was like,
"This already pays better than any other job I've had, if I could survive off
of that, this is no problem".

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ccccccccccccc
$50,000 is on the higher end of the spectrum for teachers. In Texas, the
starting teacher salary is around $38,000. Plus, teachers have to provide
their own supplies, be at the school by 7 am every day, stay late helping with
extracurriculars / helping students, and work late grading among other things.

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JackFr
So don't do it.

If I found myself continually grousing about my low pay relative to other
professions, and all of the indignities and hardships I suffered, I'd find
another job.

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petermcneeley
Ok role playing time. Your a teacher. You majored in some subject like music
or English. You probably spent 4-5 years in school. Maybe you have some debt.
Your working as a teacher right now making 45k. What do you do? Getting an
education in something useful could take 4 years + debt. You could goto trade
school , 2 years?

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wbracken
Maybe factor in guaranteed lifetime incomes in many states before complaining
about "low salaries":

"The average annual pension for a retired Illinois teacher in fiscal year 2017
was $54,180"

[https://www.trsil.org/news-and-events/pension-
issues/teacher...](https://www.trsil.org/news-and-events/pension-
issues/teacher-pensions-too-generous)

