Disclaimer: I am writing about this because I feel bad for my friend. I don’t think I can ever take something like this lightly. I really wish brands can see and know the difference between a legit ‘influencer’ and one that is trying hard to be one.
I honestly cringe when I come across the word ‘influencer’ why? Well, because it has been used to much that it has been abused to high heavens. I can’t even call myself one even if I know, I am a legitimate one.
Umm, yeah – I have metrics to prove it. But even if I have real actual data to prove it, I am still uneasy to call myself one, why? I don’t know – I guess I don’t want to be associated with all those abusive, fly-by-night influencers, well I call them INFLUENZARS and BLEGGARS. I’m sure you know very well which types I am referring to.
Having started this blog in 2005, I started this because I simply wanted to document the things that I like and experience, it’s my online journal, a space when I can be free to write what I like. But a year into it, I realized that I do not want to use my space for negativity – I know for a fact that some ‘negative’ posts can drive traffic to my site, but I choose not to. I have so much posts on the ‘Drafts’ folder, so many unfinished posts, and quite a number of them are negative, I guess typing my thoughts sort of calms me down, it helps me manage my emotions.
I remember starting my Instagram account in 2011, that was the year that I owned my first iPhone – I remember asking friends who have had an iPhone previously what app I needed and it was of course – INSTAGRAM! Instagram was more fun back then, and I enjoyed it immensely, I enjoyed it so much that I gained followers even if my account was in private! It was in the last few years that I decided to make my account public. I’ve had so many offers of ‘gaining more followers’ but I’ve turned them down – because they were just so FAKE! I mean, seriously – an account as young as having 200 posts has a following of at least 10,000? If you’re a celebrity – I can understand it, but if you’re just an ordinary person starting out in being an ‘influencer’, then it’s fishy.
Yesterday, a blogger friend of mine (I saw blogger friend because we met through blogging events and she still has a blog) tweeted something, she said:
I got curious and asked her who this copy cat was. She said that she didn’t know who this person was, except the bio said that she was a many faceted ‘influencer’. My friend sent me her caption:
And here is the other person’s:
NOTICE the time stamp. My friend’s post was 3 days ago, while this person’s was 2 days ago. NOTICE TOO the emojis are THE SAME, even the comma, colon and the semi colon are PLACED EXACTLY THE SAME. Was this just some kind of a coincidence? I think not, I felt that my friend was plagiarized. This person’s caption was just shortened AND made into tag-lish to suit her audience perhaps, but in all it’s essence – it’s the exact same text only, EDITED.
If you’re a LEGIT influencer, why not draw inspiration on the caption instead of copying it? Changing some words into Tagalog does NOT and will not make it YOUR caption. At the very least, if you’re lazy – switch up the sentences a bit naman for originality, diba?
If you want to be an influencer, make an effort to come up with captions or posts on your own. Yes, you may draw inspiration from another’s post, but do not, I repeat DO NOT copy a few sentences and then present it as your own. NEVER ever do that! That is downright WRONG and UNACCEPTABLE! You don’t need it to be in perfect English, just be able to convey your thoughts well. Remember, copying is cheating.
I was truly upset for my friend, I mean – gosh, at this day and age?!
I guess becoming an influencer, you must first FAKE IT TO MAKE IT (and since you don’t belong in the same circle, the chances of you getting caught will be slim to none – but if you do get caught, paano na?!)
Sorry, but it just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
I suddenly remembered how Tito Sotto tagalized a speech by Kennedy.
