Careful curation is what matters on Instagram – even in the ‘outtakes’

Influencer Natalie Hintze paired a skateboarding selfie with a video of her falling over. But there's no such thing as behind the scenes on social media

Instagram influencers: flawless people doing flawless things in flawless places, right? Well, not anymore - or so they would like you to think. Now there is an increasing trend to offer behind-the-scenes glimpses of their "process", a sort of social media blooper reel. Skateboarder Natalie Hintze this week coupled a typical selfie - bikini-clad, blond hair flowing behind her as she skates beneath a blue sky - with a video of her falling over (or stacking it, in skating parlance) at the bottom of the hill.

There's nothing wrong with self-deprecation online - it's even endearing, compared to out-and-out arrogance. But this is the internet: do not think for a buffering second that appearances - ever - do not matter. Would Hintze have posted the video if she had collided with a garbage dumpster and been covered in four-day-old fast food? Probably not, unless she had factored in the down-to-earth points and felt it was truly worth it.