Digiday covers the latest from marketing and media at the annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. More from the series →
Selfies, not sponsors. That’s how Kim Kardashian West curates her Instagram feed, saying she’ll never spam any of her 37 million followers with an advertisement.
While other stars might use the photo sharing app to make extra cash, Kardashian West said at Cannes Lions on Wednesday that she’s “really strict” about not doing that because her Instagram is personal.
“I know a lot of my brands get frustrated that I don’t promote as much as they would like,” she said, per the Guardian. “I love just posting when something is really authentic. I can smell a mile away when something is not authentic.”
In fact, she’s unfollowed people who post too many #ads: “I just don’t like when people hold up similar products and post everyday about something different.” SMDH, indeed.
And she’d know how to properly use app since she’s the second most followed person on Instagram after Beyoncé. Her candid collection of selfies, family photos and of her child, North West, have made her what you call a power user — so much so that she consults with the app’s CEO Kevin Systrom.
One of the ideas she bounced of him involved making it possible to edit photo captions. “I’m not saying it’s because of me, but it happened,” she said.
Header image via Facebook.
More in Media
‘The net is tightening’ on AI scraping: Annotated Q&A with Financial Times’ head of global public policy and platform strategy
Matt Rogerson, FT’s director of global public policy and platform strategy, believes 2026 will bring a kind of reset as big tech companies alter their stance on AI licensing to avoid future legal risk.
Future starts to sharpen its AI search visibility playbook
Future is boosting AI search citations and mentions with a tool called Future Optic, and offering the product to branded content clients.
Digiday’s extensive guide to what’s in and out for creators in 2026
With AI-generated content flooding social media platforms, embracing the messiness and imperfection of being human will help creators stand out in the spreading sea of slapdash slop.