By Gabriell Garcia
Graphics by The Whirl Team
Gone are the days of being mere consumers. Advancement in technology has allowed us to graduate from being a passive audience to a relatively more active one. Before, it took several members of a production crew to produce an hour-long variety show. With the rise of online technology and social networks, we are given the ability to produce our own content — even in the comforts of our living room.
Alex Bruns called it “produsage.” The line between being a “passive audience” and an “active producer” is now blurred, causing the mixture of the two. Have you ever been on Twitter, seen a relatable tweet, quoted the tweet, and then added your own content to it? Congratulations, you have participated in the process of produsage.
Practically anyone can now be a content creator. Media convergence has been prominent, especially with the pandemic. Several film and TV stars migrated to the online world, producing their own vlogs, talk shows, cooking shows, and the like; without the need of any block timing from stations or the “yes” of big-time producers.
Politics as content
Recently, Toni Gonzaga drew flak after her vlog, “Toni Talks,” featured BongBong Marcos. Netizens were quick to call her out for giving the dictator’s son a platform to deliberately distort history. The video remains published with more than 10 million views and a generally positive comments section. The reason for not deleting? Toni argued that she rallies for neutrality, and the video is for ‘storytelling’s sake’.
This kind of power comes with enormous responsibility. We all know that the media has the power to influence its audience. So the question now is: will you use your platform for the greater good or will you continue to be a mouthpiece for disinformation and corrupt agenda? Believe it or not, some online personas do exercise their right to choose. Yani Villarosa and Gab Campos are among the most influential Gen Z content creators today. With almost 390,000 followers and 254,000 followers on Tiktok respectively, Yani and Gab chose the former.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the two became known for producing viral Tiktok videos discussing political issues alongside their usual content. For Yani, it all started on Twitter – posting witty and funny videos until she became more politically involved in 2018.
“Hindi naman necessarily pinapasok ko siya sa content ko pero I was already being vocal online,” she said as she joked about how after 2 years of being politically active in social media, it seems like nothing has changed.
Gab, on the other hand, started being politically vocal with his content in his ‘Sampayan’ series. “Puro sayaw-sayaw lang kasi ako noon, tsaka mga anecdotal videos. Tapos [naisip ko], how about ishare natin kung bakit hindi natin dapat sinasabi yung N-word. Dun talaga nagstart.”
Backlash of being ‘political’
A big factor why they produced such content was the disturbing political climate. Social media is no stranger to political content, which was further emphasized because of the pandemic.
In the United States, the #The BlackLivesMatter movement trended after the killing of George Floyd. The movement exposed the countless instances of police brutality against the African-American community. Normal folks, and even celebrities, posted pictures of solid black color on their Instagram feed to show support. In the Philippines, we have witnessed several trending topics like #HijaAko, which trended after Kakie Pangilinan called out Ben Tulfo for his misogynistic remarks, #OustDuterte, and the #MuseoDeFilipino trend on Tiktok where creators portrayed Philippine historical figures and victims of human rights violations with the IV of Spades’ song ‘Bata, Dahan-dahan!’ playing in the background.
However, being “political” remains to be taboo in showbusiness. Several celebrities have received backlash for expressing their opinions on politics. Liza Soberano, who spoke up about women’s rights and publicly supported Gabriela, was threatened by Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr. Gen Z content creators Yani and Gab said they ignore these kinds of remarks most of the time.
“You don’t deal with [people who tell you to stop posting political content]. May mga tao na ganoon, pero mas maraming tao na nagpapasalamat sa’kin na I open them to that discussion. Mas naging aware sila because of what I say online, because of what I post,” said Yani.
@yanihatesu TikTok video embed
Gab added that some people dismiss his opinions because of his age, but as a content creator, he has learned how to distinguish criticisms and suggestions from plain bashing.
Admittedly, there are days when they personally feel the need for a social media detox. Gab said his rapid audience growth caused him anxiety. Yani also expressed her desire to quit social media for some time to avoid trolls, “Iyong mga tao, kahit na sabihin mong trolls sila, kahit sabihin mo na wag mo na lang pansinin, nagcause talaga sila ng anxiety sa akin kasi ang dami nilang sinasabi. Nakakapagod pagpiyestahan palagi.”
‘Everything is political’
Despite the backlash, there are netizens who express support for content creators who are politically outspoken. This caused a rise in the political participation of celebrities and influencers. Vice Ganda always goes viral for her political stints in Showtime. Angel Locsin continued to do public service and ignite discussions on social media.
Yani enumerated several points during the Duterte administration which caused this sudden rise. From the bloody war on drugs to the shutdown of ABS-CBN, Yani said that these might be the reason why people are now more confident in voicing out their concerns.
But does that mean that we should pressure all content creators to post political content and antagonize them if they don’t? Gab said antagonizing people for their choices in life is counterproductive to the movement.
However, he urges his fellow content creators to speak up, “kung nasa harap mo na ‘yung panloloko and injustice, that’s the time to speak up […] once in a while, balik tayo sa realidad, balik tayo sa communities natin, let’s speak with them, not for them.”
Yani quoted Nadine Lustre’s meme, “my god, guys. 2021 na.” Yani emphasized that as content creators with thousands of followers, we should be able to at least use our platform to speak up about our advocacies. “Iyong thought ko on antagonizing content creators, minsan kasi deserve eh.”
Yani’s frustrations are understandable given that several content creators don’t just remain politically neutral, but are on the side of the oppressors. Toni Gonzaga providing platforms to presidentiables Bongbong Marcos and Manny Pacquiao, guilty of historical revisionism and homophobia respectively, is an example of not using your platform responsibly. As modern content creators, we have to keep in mind our social media responsibility in ensuring that our platforms are biased for the marginalized and the oppressed.
Gab believes that while not all content may have political intent, everything is political. Being neutral is siding with the oppressor.
As Paulo Freire said in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”
Yani, expressed that as much as we have to use our platform responsibly, we have a bigger fight on the streets. Using her platform to educate her audience is productive—it is a form of activism in its own right, but she maintains that it is not a dichotomy, “social media activism is valid, but we should realize that it’s not enough… Kailangan natin yung aktibismo sa lansangan. Dun natin sya mapapatalsik, pag nakita nilang nagkakaisa tayo in the streets.”
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