Political celebrities  

I sat as a panelist for some thesis students who were doing significant studies as Communication students. They were particularly peering into content posted on the internet such as those on Twitter and YouTube which are evident nowadays. I was particularly drawn to one study where they tried to prove that celebrities and their presence on the internet taking sides on certain political issues would make an impact.

They coined the term "celebrity activist" where the already-known star would try to manipulate the public with content pertaining to a specific stand on issues reaching to endorsing a certain political candidate for the 2022 elections. They are trying to unmask the cloak of fame brought about by the personas of these individuals who are bringing their ideals to free-to-use platforms such as Twitter.

This is not a new phenomenon. In the United States, there are certain stars who endorse candidates not just via paid advertisements but also on their personal spaces, even during their concerts, because they feel so strongly about the issues surrounding their country. In the Philippines, there are also a lot of artists who were instrumental during the lifting of martial law. It was the convergence of talents to best express what the ordinary Filipino felt after years of bondage.

Today, there is a parallel behavior but the platform is different. What makes it worse is the vulnerability of these public spaces to these celebrity activists. They are attacked by trolls, bashed by those who are influenced by them, and they in turn steer the discourse the other way around. It is a poor display of interaction with legitimate issues to talk about. These artists could not just rally in the streets and sing the anthem of the times. First, we are in a pandemic, and second, the chilling effect to protest against the current administration still persists.

We cannot deny that the role of celebrities in society can be so striking and influential that some of them even turn into politicians. Some even marry public officials, thus maintaining the same clout that they had with their career and adding another sphere to it. Somehow, we can see the generosity but the intention behind it is invisible to the audience. This is very crucial in consuming their content.

This will be very useful as we make our decisions for the elections next year. We must make sure that the ballot is not persuaded by the celebrity endorsing it or its engagement on social media but by the decisions that we made. These would be based on track record and performance. We know that all too well.

For now, my social media accounts are filtered to remove these activists so that I cannot read whatever they have to say. They would either stress me out or trigger me. For what it's worth, the pandemic has also taught me that mental health does indeed matter.