#ad, #sponsored, #partner, #paid. You've seen it before, on my Instagram account and many others. These paid social media posts that were maybe once considered cool or exciting a few years ago are now deemed annoying, scroll-past-this-post content that so many of you don't care to see. But what's the deal with sponsored posts? Why are they happening? Why do people still do them? And how do you even get to that point? I will start from the beginning and speak from my experience as an "influencer," but I[...]