Gamer and blogger Carlo Ople stirred a hornet’s nest when he categorized different types of bloggers in his new blog. While his pronounced intention is to teach marketers and public relations companies on “How to Deal with New Media,” it seems Mr. Ople is now finding out the hard way about “How NOT to Write Derogatory Blog Posts about New Media.” The reaction from certain sectors who felt slighted by the use of the term “Patay Gutom Blogger” to refer to those who attend events because of the free food and freebies has been substantial that Mr. Ople was forced to take down the PGB term and apologize to those who he might have insulted.
Personally, I don’t believe in taking down what I blog about, even if it’s too easy to press DELETE in cyberspace. My conviction is to always stand by what I write. (and pataygutom.com is one blog food blog I like!) However, I don’t believe in labelling people myself, even though it’s quite tempting to categorize the numerous characters that populate the internetz. Blogging is called “citizen journalism” precisely because anyone can post his thoughts and materials in the great WWW without the stiff hierarchy and requirements of the media networks. Considering the diversity, we would certainly run out of terms to categorize people. But is that even necessary? Name-calling and criticizing is a human propensity but it should be kept by people within their groups, not in the open field where respect, decency and tolerance is called for.
The Ople uproar has taught us that even shrewd, seasoned marketers fall on their feet in dissecting New Media. You cannot really articulate the thoughts of one segment without being scrutinized by another. Blogging remains a new, evolving phenomenon that it would be futile to stick with generalizations at the present time.
It is also a pity that bloggers like us who attend blog events have to be guinea pigs in the great social experiment that is “Analyzing New Media.” True that events like this feel like one big party, but is it really substantial to share your story with 100 other people in the room? Journalists frown on this because we prefer scoops. Also, you get to think that instead of fumbling and bumbling on the road to “Mastering the Phenom that is New Media,” publicists should have prepared themselves (and their staff!) beforehand by doing thorough research and buying the Handbook of New Media which only costs $27 in Amazon (okay, I just Googled that :D)
In the final analysis, who is to say that a journal blogger will not evolve into a Google blogger and so on and so forth? Is the value blogger the king of all? Isn’t it all a matter of perception, and of branding? Why is it that the few local SEO bloggers who earn five figures in $$$ a month are silent in all this hoopla? Is it because money matters more to some people, while to others it is all about popularity, protecting their turf and being invited to events?
Tired of all this, an old friend Batjay offered to give one more category for bloggers, called the Tanginangyan blogger: (pardon the local lingo)
” the tanginangyan blogger generates content from his very sick mind. he tries to explain things from a screwed up point of view of a filipino who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about marketing. he will say what he wants, curse all he wants and talk about the most mundane topic because he doesn’t give a f*ck.
tanginangyan bloggers tend to be purists who miss the early days of blogging when money wasn’t as important. for the tanginangyan blogger, the most important part of blogging is being able to tell people stories and hearing feedback from readers, like:
“kuya batjay,
si bong a. alon po ay dad ko po. ako po ang nag-introduce sa kanya sa site niyo. tuwang-tuwa po siya sa inyo. he even bought your first book and lagi niyang inaabangan ang inyong new blog entries. he passed away today, feb.11 – 10:00am Philippine time. the comment he gave above is his last. i will treasure it. i’ll be goin home for his wake. please pray for him. thank you for making him smile through your blogs.”
Nuff said 😀
i appreciate the apology that he posted in my blog.
i did not impose to take down the blog. i was just suggesting to remove the offensive-politically incorrect Patay gutom.
for me, it is marginalization.
before i post anything about an issue, i look at the credentials of people to know where they’re coming from.
i know the blog is about marketing but he did not realize that the derogatory word might backfire to their activities of organizing events of bloggers.
anybody who attends an event would be labeled patay gutom.
time will come when there will be no self-respecting bloggers would come for fear of being suspected of patay gutom.
remember when you interviewed me in 2004.
i wrote:
I can see the trend now. Some businesses are now using blogs as promotion vehicles for their shows, products and activities.
you are correct when you said that there are things better discussed in microblogging but they should see to it that it is not leaked in public.
With due apologies to the young Mr. Ople, I am wondering myself. No PR/marketer in their right mind would call anybody patay gutom in public, even if the person is a lowlife in real life.
And now I get to wonder about myself. Because I do get invited to blog events and I like eating in these events, does this make me a patay gutom? 😀 and yes, even if I won’t hesitate to spend for a meal myself.
Yes Cath, it seems you were years ahead in your thinking that blogs will become promotional tools of business. You stated this in 2004 and blog events went full blast in 2007.
hehehe, ayj, pareho nating labs talaga si fafa 🙂
at papaluin kita, bakit hiindi ka nagpapakita sa loob? miss na kita 🙂
Ikaw pala source tungkol sa events dito. 5000 pesos daw ang tanggap? Patay gutom nga ako. 😀 Sabi ni cath mayroon siyang source. Tama ba?
ikawpala,
you are underestimating me. i have several contacts in the Philippines and i am only one e-mail away.
Ajay was not the source of my blog entry.
Ikaw pala, stick with the issue which is patay-gutom. What you are talking about would qualify for another category in the eyes of these drumbeaters: “Mukhang-pera.” 😀
Be gallant as well, and use your REAL email.
Gurl,
Let me tell you something. I copied the blog entry. I also copied the full comment written by those people who seem to be singing kumbaya with Carlo. Yes, I accepted the apologies, but leche, for one barriotic punk like me, masakit kamo talaga pag tinagaw at nilabel na patay gutom. I’m not patay gutom no more, but I feel for those kapwa ko na naiwanan nang panahon and I do believe in my heart na poverty sometimes eh kalechehan nang demonyong gobyerno.
I do admire you with your comments that you left on Carlo’s blog and I do am proud to say na kebigan kita. Bibilhan kita nang dyamante na gawa sa pwet nang baso ahahahahhaha yon lang ang kaya ko hahahahhahaha! But I love you gurl for that! No kidding.
What I am disappointed is this: I don’t like some of Gloria’s chorva but if Gloria Arroyo is going to move Pinas to be one firs class country, I am with her. Now to do that, kelangan we as Pinoys have to change our mentality and shed the Illustrado/Indio mentality.
I don’t know. Maybe because I am so americanized that my thinking is that pare parehas tayong bakla! ehe! sorry! hahahaha! i mean, we are all equal at kiver what your economic standing at di naten dapat ingudngud ang kapwa naten pinoy for what they are economically.
Pag-uwi ko, bili kita nang kape. Kape lang. Burdyer sa boylet ko.
HAHAHAHHAA
Reynz, thanks for the love. I’d gladly accept your cup of coffee and dyamante na gawa sa puwet ng baso 😀 You’re prolly better off in J’aimerica kasi nga dito it’s a struggle to go to the top kung indio ka, and people suffer the consequence of being made lait by the matapoor. Pero sorry, am not talking about the government with you. Let’s settle this issue first about the ‘patay gutom bloggers’ and what the Department of Social Welfare is going to do about them, and how bloggers like you can inspire to become, err, more noble 😀
Any blogger that accepts an invite to a marketing / pr event has to be careful that in doing so they are inadvertantly used to spread the message …your personal credibility must come first . Ive read peoples blogs , and i find it incredible that no one says anything bad or raises any questions about the product …or that they even acknoledge thsat they were there ast zero expense to themselves…that sounds alarm bells for me ! You have been bought and paid for . You are writing advertorial pieces not a personal opinion and the marketers know and love this …you never bite the hand that feeds you . Tread your own path !
Hi Ajay,
I was about inquire about the digital marketing seminar that Carlo Ople has been promoting. However, I googled him first, then the next thing I know is I’m reading this post. total LOL here.
Just saw the event pics on his Facebook, and a meager of people registered for the event. The event was held at some Oakwood function room, it’s a no-brainer that you have to pay the said amount. Now, Ople is doing an encore of his seminar in a few months. What I’m asking here is that, is this guy the real deal when it comes to digital marketing in the Philippines? The dude left Friendster and it makes one wonder if he really made a difference for an ailing company. Today, the hype is high on this person albeit he badmouthed some low-profile bloggers. He even guests on ANC to talk about new media.
My take on this is that, the only qualified person to talk about new media and digital marketing is one who actually worked with some web marketing/pr agencies in the United States. That given, I bet marketers here will not hesitate to shell out money to attend a seminar.
So, are marketers/PR specialists should bother attending his 1-day seminar for P7,500?
Regards,
Real Rene