Until I discovered that Cinderella was actually a pumpkin and a lot of our local bloggers are a big fat corporate scam.
Now before anyone gets offended allow me to make this short disclosure: anything and everything written in this post is not a general statement that applies to all our local bloggers and will not include names of bloggers or companies. Because really, I don't need to. Their identities will become quite obvious. Also, my opinion is not a personal judgement of character of any specific identities, but a judgement of the general controversy. I am also making my judgements as a reader, not a fellow blogger.
Now that I have finally gotten that off my chest, allow me to begin.
Shoosh and I are working on a couple of projects together and because of I our hectic time schedules, laziness and simply our lack of expertise, we decided to check out a company that offers web development and social media management as some of their many services ..
On our way to the meeting room we noticed a notice board that had a chart with some bloggers' names on them and a list of various businesses. I began to understand what it was about but waited to finish the meeting to be sure of my conclusion.
The meeting went on as the unnamed company explained their range of services to us and so the impending question was finally asked .. "What do you mean by social media management?"
"We take care of your twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube .. we post on your behalf and include captions too."
"So a potential customer would pay you a minimum of 400KD per month.. So that you could basically post on their behalf?"
"Yes, but it doesn't stop there. We have a list of around 35 bloggers who work for us and we will be in agreement that they will indirectly post about whatever you desire during this period."
Some names were thrown around .. Bloggers' that is.
"So wait .. These 'bloggers' are basically your employees and they write whatever you pay them to write and you employ them for their popularity..?"
"We employ them, we make sure we direct a good amount of followers in their direction and then the indirect marketing begins! They post in a away you would never notice is an advertisement."
"So basically it's a personal advertisement."
"Precisely."
Now, there is nothing wrong with getting paid for writing and there is certainly nothing wrong with publicly voicing your opinions. But there is something very wrong with getting people to trust you, idolize you and literally follow you in all you do all the while knowing that you are actively targeting their subconscious into buying into services and hoarding in on merchandise. I don't know about you but I really don't appreciate people being sneaky and manipulative.
It's quite insulting how theses bloggers belittle our intelligence. I mean it's totally unethical for companies as well but I can see why they would pursue such channels of advertisement .. I mean why not take advantage of every way possible to increase sales and interest? But it seems to me as a greater taboo coming from the bloggers as their interaction with us followers is somewhat personal.
It's as if these writers are fake, plastic in so many ways. As if they no longer belong to themselves. It reminds me of the Truman Show where Jim Carry came to realize that his entire world was fabricated and everything around him was posed as advertisement - nothing real nothing honest. Because now all I can think of is that everything these people wear, eat, visit - basically everything/anything they publicly use or praise is an advert for something.
Don't believe me? Watch them. Go through their accounts and notice. In fact compare one to another and you will see the common pattern!
I used to think that these so called 'celebrity bloggers' achieved their reputations because of what they have accomplished (still haven't figured that out though since basically what they do is take pictures of themselves in pretty clothing - but hey if you think that grants them the label of Kuwait's most accomplished youth, up to you) and that companies approached them to make use of their influential characters, but as it now appears to me these 'celebrity bloggers' had their fame born and molded by these social media companies which have turned them into their most valuable assets. They are a face they will pin on to any product or service and people will run to them by the thousands.
There is nothing wrong with being paid to write your opinion (as long as your opinion remains honest and true to yourself) and there is nothing wrong with promoting products and services, but please, a little honesty and transparency towards the people who look up to you would be nice.
But what can I say, to succeed in business you've got to play a little dirty I guess :/
