An influencer, a term created by marketing people is: "A person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service, by promoting or recommending the items on social media."

It is common knowledge that aside from advertisement, a boosting mechanism is a given in majority of social media platforms, and this rakes in more revenue.

The more a page or channel subscribes to the boosting, the more reach, impressions and views are, of course, added. The more digits that you have, these are followed by subscribers' spike, thus giving your page or vlog desirability, credibility and noteworthiness.

In the more progressive and first world economies and environs, a stamp of approval from influencers equals "covet and wow factor" to your brand. For a developing economy like the Philippines, the mere mention of the term arouses suspicion, if not outright disdain. The prevailing perception is that they do not live up to their names and the promises they make, which is basically to deliver the goods and make sure that they can move products and services in the highly competitive and volatile Philippine market but are all in vain.

If we kick in the factor that in this archipelago of ours, internet access is not available to all and issues of connectivity is dependent on your locality and how wi-fi capable it is, thus I cannot help but wonder, who are these influencers influencing, for real?

Brand ambassadors

Before the arrival of influencers and their supposed relevance and value to products and services, what was the staple then and continue to flourish still are brand ambassadors.

Most of them are celebrities, models, beauty queens, living legends and, on some occasions, every day and relatable individuals, whose face can move a thousand of moisturizers, hair can sell extraordinary numbers of shampoos and armpits that entice the flock to go to the grocery and grab that roll-on deodorant.

Some of the most effective brand ambassadors are movie icons, to cite examples: Vilma Santos and her most cherished possession, Eskinol. The King of Philippine movies Fernando Poe Jr. was the image of the Philippine National Beer, San Miguel. Sharon Cuneta and Kris Aquino had their glory days as top female brand ambassadors for almost all known products used by females. Vic Sotto, the man dubbed as "Bossing ng Bayan" (the town's boss) also had his lion's share of endorsements. Now, ang bagong hari (new king) Coco Martin lords over the brand endorsement scene with having the most number of trusted names of products used by the masses.

Age of influencers

When social media became a special part of everyone's lives, the label "influencer" became part of its existence. As the 2K years progressed, anyone can be dubbed and labeled as such provided that their respective pages or vlogs get the most impressive likes, views and subscription digits.

Just recently, a new movie had a premiere that was catered exclusively for influencers. This baffled me. The chosen few in the said event, I wondered, do they possess convincing and enticing powers that their stamp of approval equals to their adoring public moving faster than a speeding bullet to watch the movie they recommended as a must-see?

After the successful run of the Metro Manila Film Festival last December, there are only two films that made moderate box office success. All the other films shown in the cinemas, priority invites were for influencers and of course, the members of the blogging community and traditional media.

I can vouch that bloggers and media people do their responsibilities as all their outputs are visible. Yes, they do their share in the promotions and giving people information and other things with the hope that because of their written word, it piques and arouses the curiosity of the target markets.

But with influencers? Who are they kidding? Who have they convinced?

The most potent sample of influencing, without a doubt, was the one-time, big-time phenomenal love team of AlDub, composed of celebrity Alden Richards and a miss plucked from obscurity, Maine Mendoza, the DubSmash princess.

The Tamang Panahon tandem made us do what? Eat the chicken fillet from an international fast-food joint. Mendoza made all the cosmopolitan ladies purchase a lipstick from a global makeup company and the product reportedly sold out an hour after its market release. Because of the Pambansang Bae (national dreamboat) then and the Philippine Sweetheart, avocado machiatto became the ice cream flavor of choice.

Further proof of the power of AlDub's market influence, products that had them together were not allowed for showing in a former network giant.

Pray tell, of the many influencers in the different platforms as of the moment, can you my dear readers name at least five of them, who because of their recommendation moved products in the mass market?

Frankly speaking, majority of these so labeled-ones, the followers that they have are bereft of purchasing power, still dependent to authority figures for cash.

Free loaders still, and the need to be not left behind and be part of the "in" clique and to be woke seem like their loftier pursuits.

What happens next and now

No group or any influencer for that matter can lay claim that because of his/her or their recommendations, this movie became a mammoth box office hit.

It is not the influencers who make a movie or product a hit, it's word of mouth, trust and the brand being used for the longest time, and the people with authority, gravitas and respectability.

Please, let us all drop the influencers pretense because we all know where we want to spend our hard-earned pesos and no amount of bola (insincere flattery) from a Tom, Dick and Harry influencer will make us change our minds and pick what our hearts want.

To all the influencers, establish your name and credibility. Improve on your trust value. Inform. Do not conform. Be authentic.