Online Influencers Should Never Be Under-Estimated

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The power and reach of online influencers should never be under-estimated.

Some traditional media are confused with how "online influencers" (including bloggers) actually work.

Like a damsel in distress, they are still locked up in their towers waiting to be rescued by their princes, when they could have used their long hair to escape through the window, and explore the real world outside.

They keep forgetting that online influencers and trad media are meant to be entirely different. The two should be several worlds apart. But since there are now trad media that have already become online influencers, vice versa, or both, some trad media could not accept the trend, sees only chaos, and starts degrading online influencers to make themselves feel they are still the better choice.

Influencers don't usually receive a fixed monthly income like trad media connected as regular employees with trad media outfits (print, TV or radio, or even online publications). Thus, asking for ex-deals or payment for the service of an influencer is understandable.  Similarly to how mainstream media have ad or commercial spots available for a certain (expensive) amount, influencers (aside from their online banner ads), mostly depend on blog or vlog features, write-ups, shout-outs, etc., in social media as their form of featuring brands. They are like celebrities endorsing products or services, of which we all know get paid (high) to endorse as well.

When media outfits allow brands to advertise on their spots, does it also mean they endorse these brands? Nope! But they would also highly put out a good word about the brand to keep them as advertisers. To keep the money coming in, I bet they are willing to go easy because if their media outfits lose their advertisers, there won't be enough budget for them to buy their own expensive gadgets or "review" units.

When online influencers write, blog or vlog, favorably about brands who gave them complimentary or free products or services, does it always follow that these influencers were biased to the brands?

Similarly, when online influencers purchase products or services with their own money, does it always follow that they could easily put out negative reviews about the brands?

Therefore, it does not matter if online influencers got something for free or for a price. Because when they write positively, or negatively, and their readers eventually disagree after personally trying the brands out themselves, they may lose credibility.