Wazzup Pilipinas!
"But it's true! There are brands that hire even media practitioners to spread negative news about their competitor(s)."
Lasy year when I invited bloggers to attend a food tasting at a certain restaurant, I told them to write honest reviews so the owners could truly improve their food and services. Others would have said to only focus on the positive aspects. But I prefer to hear about their actual experience, including the negative ones, no matter how gruesome it could be.
Unknown to many, fake news has been around for ages. It is only today that it got highly noticeable because almost everyone is now online, and the news are spreading faster than wildfire thanks to the power of social media and the Internet.
Just as how praises about a brand could be exaggerated, all those rants or complaints against a brand could not be entirely true as well because other brands also do hire the services of even media to put out excessive unflattering stories about their competitors, aside from just promoting themselves. These could also be proliferating any kind of news not directly pointing to competitors but would make customers patronize the brands' products or services.
Just as how media seem to encourage everyone to try their luck with gambling in Lotto by always announcing the big jackpot prize of millions of pesos, media could go beyond exaggeration with their news in favor of certain brands.
Need we say sensationalism keeps interests flowing, and thus scare or dare tactics are employed to alarm or provoke followers. It could very well be a form of marketing - An intentional or orchestrated scenario that would make people reach out to their pockets, or smartphones, immediately without even blinking an eye or thinking twice.
We've also seen how media are biased with their sponsors or advertisers giving unfair competition for those brands who can't afford their ads or air time. We know about the necessity of investing on promotions, but only those with enough funding could excel triumphantly just as how extravagant campaigns affect election results.
There are just too many tempting attractions publicized as all breath-taking and adrenaline-pumping awesome yet we all know there could have been an ex-deal arrangement behind every declaration of appreciation.
The really passionate bloggers or influencers would risk losing clients by sharing their actual experience, while trad media have to answer to their editors, producers, or any of their bosses, if ever they speak negatively of their featured personalities or attractions.
Saying online personalities are more credible than traditional media could not entirely be true because the online community has already been infiltrated by others with ulterior motives other than sharing their adventures.
Likewise, those trad media that are tough enough to contradict or speak against erring or faulty brands or personalities, are asked to mellow down, behave, suspended, or get kicked out permanently.
I have nothing against those who demand or require a commensurate enough compensation to answer to their daily needs and expenses. Again, that is all up to the brand if they wish to collaborate or partner under those conditions. So we just want to remind the people at the other side of the fence to be more discerning with their choice because not everyone we see as charming and appealing are entirely honest to you. In short, it will still be up to us to proclaim the final verdict. We are the true and most credible judges in this life where everything is a competition.
Online has already been diluted with questionable characters meant to ruin the reputation of those who just want to express themselves and shout-out to the Philippines, the universe rather, "Wazzup Pilipinas!!!"
Iconic!
#WazzupPilipinas #PambansangBlogger
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
