Market influencers

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

I've made it clear here before that I'm not a big fan of marketing. Or, to be more exact, marketing agencies.

A few of Wrong Way's favourite things, in a Colombian context.

Having once worked in such an agency, I've seen all the blood, guts and tripe that go into producing the seductive sausage that's finally served to the public. Marketing agencies are slaughterhouses for decency and truth. And in my radio broadcasting days, I saw how the marketing department influenced on-air content, not just for commercial fluff but even hard news and current affairs. The impartial journalist, how do.

Inert influence

Now, granted, there are few, if any, industries that don't indulge in acts of embellishment. Or that aren't in some way economical with the truth.

Take the case of the real estate agent who puts a quaint retiree-ready rural house in the west of Ireland on the market, stating that it's close to a regular bus route to the nearest town. Technically correct. The only snag is that the bus route in question is solely for the school run. Pretty useless for an elderly individual or couple.

Tourism is another major culprit: Elevate the dubious positives to celestial levels; make no mention of, or at the very least downplay, the downsides.

Thus, in such a charlatan-controlled world, best practice is to be sceptical of pretty much all recommendations until you can be proved otherwise. After all, what one person finds acceptable is unacceptable to another.

That I am such a sceptic is one reason — of many — why I could never make it as a social media influencer. I do find it hard to lie. Honestly.

OK, maybe I'm being a bit bitter and disingenuous here. Not all successful influencers have built their empires on lies. Some are more genuine than others. And they've managed to find the keys to success. I most likely could learn much from them.

'I think I have a better understanding of what's nutritious than the jackrabbit and mule. I certainly wouldn't tuck into lead pipes. Not sober, anyway.'

I'm not too certain whom I could influence, all the same. My interests are not to everyone's tastes. Or, now that I'm actually thinking about it, my interests are quite basic, arguably too run-of-the-mill for those seeking amazing, top-rated experiences.

In terms of travelling, for example, when I rock up to a new place, I tend not to seek out its culinary delights, should it have some. Nor do I eagerly endeavour to discover all its recognised tourist attractions, especially if there is one must-see sight that is, as I see it, little more than a money-making racket. I prefer to spend my money on pursuits that I know I'll enjoy. In some cases, that means simply doing what I normally do, but just in a different environment.

In Colombia, this is sipping on an agreeably priced, unsweetened panadería tinto (black coffee), going for unaccompanied wanders, and, come nightfall, finding a sit-in tienda selling beers that are also agreeably priced. Simple pleasures.

Wrong Way recommendations

My standards are not exacting. Once something meets my fairly minimalist needs, I'm likely to give it at least a pass mark. I think I've always been thus, but this trait may have become more pronounced during my years in Colombia.

So, a recommendation from me about most things is best treated with caution. 'It's grand.' That's my default setting. And that's the Irish definition of grand, which means 'fine' or 'OK'.

One could go as far as to say that I'm similar to the jackrabbit and the mule, in the way that Mark Twain described their likeness for sagebrush in his book, Roughing it:

'[T]heir testimony to its nutritiousness is worth nothing, for they will eat pine knots, or anthracite coal, or brass filings, or lead pipe, or old bottles, or anything that comes handy, and then go off looking as grateful as if they had had oysters for dinner.'

In my defence, I think I have a better understanding of what's nutritious than the jackrabbit and mule. I certainly wouldn't tuck into lead pipes. Not sober, anyway. I do have some standards, after all. I would, for one, rate oysters higher than pine knots. I think so anyway; I can't remember ever having eaten either one.

So I do value what I consider to be beautiful or worthy of praise. Whether you agree with me or not on such matters, that's your business. If you've made it this far, it shows a vote of confidence, of sorts, for my musings, if nothing else. And you can rest assured that I believe in what I market here. The same cannot be said of many of those professional marketers and influencers.
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Listen to The Corrigan Cast podcast here.

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Colombia's tough love

@wwaycorrigan

[Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.]

'Sure this lad will clearly do anything to stay in Colombia. Just look at his record. Nine visa applications in the last seven years plus three salvoconductos. We could ask him to submit a big, juicy papaya next time, and no doubt he'd do it.'

Alas, it appears to be unrequited love. (Image from Facebook.)

Social media diplomacy

It's stretching it somewhat to think that officials at La Cancillería Colombia have actually ever uttered words similar to the above. 

It's highly unlikely that there's a red line under my name at the country's visa-issuing authority — well, I'm pretty sure there wasn't, that might have changed now in light of recent, unsolicited media coverage.

Nonetheless, and at the risk of coming across as a "victim" here, I'd wager that throughout these seven years since getting my first Colombian visa few other independent foreigners based here have handed over as much hard-earned cash as I have in terms of visa applications and related processes.

Events of the last few weeks have reminded us that obediently and quietly following the visa/immigration rules in Colombia, especially if you're having difficulties in obtaining exactly what you want, doesn't always work in your favour.

No. The more advantageous route, for certain individuals, is to kick up a public fuss, rally the masses to your cause — if you can, that is — and Colombian officialdom will cave in to your needs. You do this while at the same time repeatedly say how much you love and respect the country.

You could equate it to a man telling a woman everything she wants to hear in order to sleep with her. In truth, with just the gentlest of scratching below the surface, his actions show how he cares little for her. She is no more than an object to be used and abused.

Yet, mesmerise your target with public displays of affection that conceal a threat, appear as a caring, loving, selfless individual and in no time the putty shapes itself exactly how you want it.

'No serious foreigner thinking about visiting or living in the country would seek out the advice of these Colombia-can-do-no-wrong types.'

Dishonesty is the best policy. Respect is only forthcoming if the other party loses respect for itself. It's not a relationship of equals, it's one of domination, built largely on false premises.

Forbidden fruit

In the specific case of Colombia's love affair with its foreign-born influencers — influencers whose business model is to say practically nothing negative about their adopted place — submissive Colombia believes it is getting something in return: The positive promotion of the country abroad.

The reality is more a case of Colombia being sold to Colombians. No serious foreigner thinking about visiting or living in the country would seek out the advice of these Colombia-can-do-no-wrong types.

Again, you're telling your sleeping partner exactly what she wants to hear yet both you and her know it's an act, a fantasy. And what you tell her doesn't really go any further than the bedroom. 

If it does happen to reach a wider audience, most observers are intelligent enough to understand it's little more than sweet nothings whispered at the moment of passion.

I've never been great at these exaggerated displays of affection — not too many Irish people are really, it's safe to assume. 

However, my attempts to stay in Colombia since the independent visa application became more complicated in 2018 have, it could be argued, smacked of desperation.

It reminds one of the old saying here, 'Él que muestra el hambre, no come,' 'He who shows hunger, doesn't eat.' It's time I started devouring that life-giving papaya myself rather than foolishly giving it away.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

Beware of the (Dominic) Wolf warrior, Cancillería

Listen to an audio version of this blog entry here.

And so it continues. The grave injustices perpetrated by the Colombian state show no signs of abating. Those who were thinking that the pandemic would result in a fairer country, think again.

Dominic Wolf: More Colombian than the Colombians? (From Dominic's Facebook page.)

Each time it seems as if we've had a watershed moment, we're met with news of a new low but on the same trajectory.

A wolf in sheep's clothing

The killing of unarmed civilians by police is one thing, but the country's Foreign Affairs Office, La Cancillería, failing to give residency to Dominic Wolf, a 26-year-old German-Russian who has managed to sell the many great things Colombia has to offer back to Colombians, that's an absolute travesty. Something must be done, and quickly.

Never mind the fact that his application for residency was deemed inadmissible for valid reasons — if you don't do the time and all that. They're silly requirements anyway. Dominic's a German-Russian for goodness sake, he's above these trivial things. '¡Qué vergüenza!' for Colombia to even consider subjecting him to such conditions. 

Let's not focus, either, on the fact that he erroneously thinks he is the only one who has been singled out for harsh treatment by the big bad boys at La Cancillería. 

For the record, Dominic, not every foreigner who is granted an M visa gets it for the maximum permitted time of three years. The first M visa I got, after having had four consecutive TP 7 visas under the old system, was for one year. The second, two years. Anecdotally, it would seem getting a three-year M visa is the exception, not the rule.

'Should Dominic get his way, the door will fling open to the rest of us with even greater grounds for unfair treatment, to the point of it possibly being unconstitutional, to take on Colombian officialdom.'

Also, as Dominic pleads for 'fair treatment', we shouldn't say too much about the change.org campaign launched following his public protestations via his YouTube channel, recorded thousands of miles away from the country he loves dearly (that's Colombia he loves by the way, in case you haven't picked up on that). 

Sure don't all of us currently struggling to get visas or residency here have recourse to such tools? Dominic's just our trailblazer. What a champ.

Due to the consternation his case has caused here, there's every chance La Cancillería will do an about-turn and grant him at least residency. There's a precedent to this. Another influencer who has been pulling the wool over the eyes of many gullible Colombians, US native Zach Morris, was given citizenship a couple of years back after experiencing a similar episode to Dominic's.

The initial response from La Cancillería has been to stand firm, reminding Dominic that he can apply for another visa, that it is just his request for residency that has been deemed inadmissible. The visa office might just find, however, that the less stressful solution is to give in to public pressure.

Should Dominic get his way, the door will fling open to the rest of us with even greater grounds for unfair treatment — unfair to the point of possibly being unconstitutional — to take on Colombian officialdom.

At least we can rely on Dominic to fight our corner, the justice warrior that he is. Mayor of Bucaramanga in 2024 perhaps? Why not? Nobody knows Colombia better than he does. It's why he's not even here right now, he doesn't need to be.
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Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast podcast here.

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Facebook, Instagram: Killing us softly

A few weeks ago on CNÑ (CNN in Spanish that is), in a discussion about social media, an Argentinian expert on the subject predicted that in years to come we'll view our use of Facebook and the like in the same way that most of us view smoking today. 

That is, a dirty, unhealthy habit that we can't believe we actually used to find "cool and sexy".

Insta-life. Or is that Insta-death?

Some people might view such an opinion as rather dramatic. Exaggerated scaremongering from the Argentinian fogey. Maybe so. The jury is still hearing all the evidence on this one, it's not even close to being sent out in order to come back with a verdict yet.

One thing we can say with certainty is that the arrival of social media has led to a seismic change in how we communicate and interact with each other. Save for the invention for real of teleportation, it's hard to see how more virtually connected we can become.

"Physically meeting those we might envy often allays any insecurity issues."

That's the crux of the issue here really: A growing virtual contact at the expense of face-to-face interaction. Worse still — for those on the social-media-is-bad side of things that is — virtual communication, or using our digital gadgets in some way, is dominating even when we are in the company of others.

We've all witnessed it. A group of people at a bar or dinner table or wherever, all with their heads stuck in their personal electronic devices. We shake our heads in disapproval. 

Yet there's a fair chance we've been looked at disapprovingly doing the exact same thing on another occasion. Practically everybody with a smartphone gets "caught" at some stage or another.

A new (dis)order?

The question is, "Is it actually doing us any harm?" Well, we do now have a social media anxiety disorder. A cynic — which I am not, of course — might say that the fact we've "invented" a disorder for it means very little in this day and age.

We've disorders for all sorts of things now where in the past they were simply conditions that required nothing more than a stern "for goodness sake lad, would you pull yourself together", or something to that effect. It's all much more softly-softly now, for better or for worse.

That being said, as documented before, the false impression that social media platforms create of the lives of others can be quite damaging to those susceptible to the "keeping up with the Joneses" condition. "Oh look, there goes Mary on another amazing adventure and here I am stuck in my crappy job." Or, "Bob seems to be doing great with the ladies and I can't hit it off with a single one."

For sure, being envious of others isn't something new, only arriving with social media. It's part of being human. However, our new way of interacting has made it more prevalent, exponentially so. The scale of it has been blown way out of proportion it would appear.

Physically meeting those who we may be resentful towards for whatever reason and, quite literally, seeing "their warts and all", will, more often than not, make us feel a little less insecure about ourselves. 

Social media not only takes that away but it puts us in daily contact with people who we would otherwise know next to nothing about and, I wager, care little about.

Take these (and please, do take them and send them off to some other planet) Instagram influencers. Young, pretty people — it's highly unlikely they'll either be the "wrong" side of 40 or not physically attractive — who make a living out of simply posting about their lives.

"Facebook and the like are dumbing us down."

Fair play to them. They're working the system. It's those who follow them, who give them this platform, those are the ones I question.

OK, if it's somebody who travels or the like, somebody who has interesting, informative snippets to share, there's merit to that. The thing is, many of these influencers don't. White, or whatever colour you want, trash.

Before I'm accused of being a hypocrite, I am fully aware that I play this game as well. As an unpaid blogger and podcaster, I need to use all outlets available to get the messages I write and talk about out there. 

The hope is that what I do will reach more and more people, eventually putting me, brand "Wrong Way" so to put it, in a position to be a conduit for companies to advertise via me and such like.

Obviously, time is ticking on that one. Or maybe I'm already past my "use by" date. I'm just refusing to accept it. Perhaps I should go underground now, back to unspoilt nature.

Whatever the case, I like to think that I use and take advantage of social media — the ideal scenario — more than the other way around. I like to think that, that is. I could be wrong.

Light up, dumb down

We mentioned the seismic shift that has taken place with social media. As a species, we've gone through this before. The printing press, the advent of radio and TV. Massive game-changers.

So rather than seeing the "new kids in town" as dangerous, perhaps we should take a more benign view. After all those older three, although TV to a lesser extent, in my opinion, haven't done us any real harm, have they?

The key difference for me is that all those, in their more dominant days, were agents of positive social change and largely educational.

At this remove and considering how the majority of us currently use social media and, just as importantly, are used by them, we can't view today's dominators in the same light. On the contrary, they seem to be dumbing us down.

They might leave us feeling a bit lightheaded, even sick at times, but the high is worth it. Gotta light? I need my fix.
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Listen to The Colombia Cast podcast here.