I recently was complaining about the state of “blogging” these days, how these “bloggers” nowadays do nothing but do all these trendy nonsense on their social media and nothing else. I merely attributed this… rant… to the fact that I’m old (how do you do fellow kids?), and decided to let it go.
Oh, but then one of those internet “influencer” people just had to open his mouth and say something dumb, much to the chagrin of the other non-dumb internet people.
Here is the context:
A Siargao-based establishment posted this on their Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/2000250210198388/posts/2276144212608985?sfns=mo
A well-known “influencer” L a n c e D e O c a m p o (whomst I’ve blocked from all my social media many years ago when he was just starting out because he was generally annoying), responsed to the post via his Instagram stories with this (screenshots not mine, found circulating on Twitter):
Now, I don’t know what this dude’s actual influence is. But man, those posts reek of entitlement. Here are my two cents, and how it relates to my aforementioned rant.
First of all, White Banana Beach Club Siargao has every right in the world to not collaborate with anybody they don’t feel like collaborating with. It’s their business and theirs only. There’s a ton of ways to market their business (and Siargao as a whole, as a matter of fact), especially with the internet being so accessible the way it is now. Having someone famous promote you is just icing on top of the cake.
(Also, the movie Siargao starring Erich Gonzales, Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Jericho Rosales already did a fine job of making the island paradise even more well known than it already is, so suck it)
Second, and this is my original rant. Bloggers and “social media influencers” nowadays bear little to no resemblance of the OG bloggers back in my day. I say this like I’m 69 years old, but really, I mean that. I started blogging around 2006-ish to 2017 on Friendster’s blog platform (bless that site). To blog is to simply write your thoughts, musings, opinions, etc., on any topic in a non-formal (but of course you can up the formality if you like), diary-type text posts. And that’s what we did! Read any OG blogger’s blog and it will mostly be about their day, or how their family gathering went, how anarchy is the answer to all our socio-political problems. Okay that one’s a bit radical, but you get the point.
Blogs used to be text-heavy, and more importantly, personal. Nowadays, it’s all heavily edited, choreographed photographs of a person’s meal, vacation, or some weird, unnatural pose with captions that literally have no connection to the photos whatsoever. To top all that, no post is complete without generic, unoriginal hashtags like #beachplease #VitaminSea, #FridayFlyday and oh my god I want to gouge my eyes out just for typing those.
I understand the need to evolve. Text-heavy posts are a relic of the past, and people (I refuse to call out millennials and Gen Z kids) generally don’t have the time or attention span to read long ass posts like this one (but please kids, read… a lot. It makes you smart). I get it, people want immersive, interactive experiences. That’s why vlogs are such a huge thing now. Heck, even I have ventured forth in that particular subculture of blogging (check my YouTube out lol). I don’t necessarily see anything wrong with this style of modern blogging. It’s the “personalities” that come with it that I have issues with.
Like that L a n c e fellow, plenty of bloggers/vloggers/social media influencers have let their pseudo-fame get to their heads. Some have let the fact that they have 10K Instagram followers make them believe they’re entitled to get free goodies from brands. Others have poor taste in showcasing their… privileged lifestyles. Some are just plain old A-holes period. These are the “bloggers” that infuriate me. I guess people like them exist in everywhere in life, whether we’re talking about doctors, or teachers or call center agents, students, etc. Influencers just happen to have a platform that magnifies the ugly traits, and unfortunately, this same platform allows them to pass on whatever douchebag-ery they have on to their impressionable followers and fans. Ew these people have fans. Again, I get it. Clout can be intoxicating once you have a a decent amount of it. Continuing the alcohol metaphor, clout should be handled responsibly. Alas, some people just lack discipline.
But fret not, weary soul, for there is hope! Like with everything in life, there are some positive takeaways from the whole influencer fiasco. Not every blogger/vlogger/influencer is hot garbage. Some are just hot. I am kidding. Mostly. Anyway, there are those who indeed use their platforms to influence people for the betterment of humanity.
One vlogger I’d like to mention is A n g e l D e i. She’s a personal favorite because her travel photos and videos look pretty goshdarn good and she’s known to use her position as a well known Internet personality to talk about socially relevant issues like women empowerment, gender equality, politics, and being a generally decent human being.
Is she perfect? Nope, but to the very least, she’s open and willing to be educated if she ever has… an ill-informed stand on things. There are plenty of influencers like A n g e l D e i out there, and that gives me a tiny glimmer of hope for the state of blogging.
Also, a word to these people. I, again, get that some feel like bloggers, vloggers, influencers get plenty of flak for being themselves. Some of this flak is fair, some isn’t fair. But if one really did their part in “influencing” others in a good way, then they have nothing to worry about. The hatred isn’t directed at you, it’s for the douches who use their popularity to freeload and stuff. Just keep on fighting the good fight.
Blogging, and the internet as a whole, is a powerful tool, and depending on how you use it, can be used to build up a better society, one that’s centered on kindness and mutual respect… or it can be used as a weapon of mass destruction. So use it wisely.
patrickkennan.com 