Here’re some thoughts about the still ongoing Daryl Aiden Yow hullaballoo: Props to Mothership for acting on a tip and diving deep in the exposé. Yow’s a jackass profiting off work that’s not actually his while perpetuating further falsehoods in an influencer industry that’s already pushing false realities. Well done Scoot for jumping on the marketing opportunity just hours after the exposé.
But here’s the thing — we’ve been through this so, so many times before. A highly popular influencer gets called out for something shitty he/she did, the media jumps on the feeding frenzy to condemn his/her actions, regular folks jump in the ruckus, and all the drama dies down after a while. Real talk: I’m fully guilty of being part of this circus because (a) it’s personally gratifying to take down basic-ass influencers down a notch and (b) these things attract thousands of clicks to our site.
It can get tiresome, and Yow will not be the last person to get dragged down into the filth of public furor. It’s an absurd, endless cycle that freelance copywriter and content strategist Gao Rong Jun is all too familiar with. In a bid to release his conflicting opinions about the “Scandal Media Cycle” that Singaporeans love so much, he crafted a template that aptly describes and predicts the events that’ll take place across the course of a period involving all Influencer Sagas. They’ve been republished below with his permission.
This part is what we’re fully guilty of.
We’ve yet to arrive at this junction yet. Still waiting on that proper statement, Yow.
“To me, it’s the brands who get away the most,” said Gao to Coconuts Singapore. “They don’t do their (quality check), they don’t have knowledge, they leave influencers to die when they fuck up, they are always reaping the rewards”.
Post-saga, calmer heads emerge.
The drama eventually arrives at its expiry date.
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