MISINTERPRETED: We cannot get to the point where absolutely all young stock should be seen and read in the worst sense, writes Vilde Darvik, Oscar Westerlin’s manager. Photo: Malin Westermann
This is written with committed love for journalists, their own workplace, influencers and the internet.
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This is a chronicle. The chronicle expresses the writer’s attitude. You can submit chronicles and debate posts to debatt@vg.no.
WILD DARVIK, creative manager at Max Social
In the last week, there have been two critical comments in VG and in Nettavisen that suggest that influencers, and Oskar Westerlin in particular, suck.
So I thought I’d delve into where this irritation actually comes from.
Disclaimer: I work at Max Social, which was previously owned by VG, and I have been Oskar Westerlin’s manager for three years.
Astrid Meland’s comment is a soup of criticism of both influencers, TV sex and the internet as a whole.
It took me some time to understand what really annoys her, before I came to the conclusion towards the end of the text that it is algorithms that are the trigger point for her.
Algorithms are something mysterious that we don’t fully understand, but what we do know is that if we watch a cat video for a little too long – the whole feed becomes cat-fissed.
The challenge is that it becomes an echo chamber, and even if cats are not dangerous, it can quickly become scary when the cat is Trump, a vaccine scaremonger or Russian propaganda.
Or in Meland’s case: Oskar Westerlin (insert picture of Oskar eating a burger).
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AWARD WINNER: Oskar Westerlin was named entertainment influencer of the year during the Vixen awards. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB
And of course it’s crazy that algorithms control what we spend time on, if VG is not prioritized in the algorithm. What does VG do? They are making a case about Oskar Westerlin.
Today’s media users can more easily than ever expose lazy journalists who use influencers as clickbait to get readers to their cause.
I think Meland’s comment is a good example of exactly this.
The problem is that when the content does not meet the expectations of the reader, the reader becomes irritated and may not return.
I think this is one of the reasons why young people consume news elsewhere than in the traditional media.
Do you think influencers get too much criticism?
Do you think influencers get too much criticism?
Maria Ludvigsen writes in her commentary in Nettavisen that the new VGTV program with Oskar Westerlin “is so ill that it is difficult to find words”.
If the meaty program “Av med Maska” is the sickest thing Ludvigsen has seen, it’s obvious that millennials don’t just wear skinny jeans – they’ve probably become conservative too.
Av med maska is a comedy program where a famous profile has to date eight suitors wearing silly costumes.
It is a parody of Maskorama and Ungkaren, and is a reality show that will make you laugh.
We cannot get to the point that absolutely all young stock should be seen and read in the worst sense!
I do not mean that journalists should not criticize influencers like Oskar Westerlin, but often the criticism of him, and other young content creators, is permeated with obvious irritation and in Nettavisen’s case: disgust.
I also experience that the journalists have a top-down attitude towards young people, and that they believe that the content young people consume is proof that they are unintelligent and do not know their own best interests.
It can easily be revealed that the journalists look blindly at their own perception and preference.
It has become a black paint of influencers and TikTok.
Influencers sell buns and Prime, they get drunk and they say “damn” on stream.
But they also engage a whole generation to go to demos for Gaza, they make carbohydrates harmless and normalize cellulite. They put the spotlight on cancer in young people, they convey good financial advice and promote diversity.
TikTok’s interest-driven algorithms make room for subcultures where even the weirdest weirdos find like-minded people.
It is an inclusive community that breaks both national borders, sexuality and religion.
ATMOSPHERE: The audience cheers during the Vixen Awards 2023. The award ceremony took place at the Clarion Hotel The Hub in Oslo last Friday. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB
Whether you are VG, Netflix or NRK – you want to reach all target groups, and especially the young.
Young people need niche content and the competition is fierce. Why should a 20-year-old woman give up scrolling on TikTok, where the content is specially adapted to her preferences, in favor of a series on TV?
Either you have to create concepts that women in their 20s actually want to spend time on, or you just have to say it like it is “we don’t want to reach young people, we think the content they like is unworthy”.
Right now it’s like a vacuum where the media are screaming for the young and want to drag them in, but the content they create doesn’t hit the mark.
And when they don’t hit the young people, it’s not the content’s fault, it’s the young people who don’t appreciate quality content.
The media has become conservative.: “Here we are, the oldies who know best, and you young people only watch crap content and are stupid”.
Feel free to criticize the influencer industry for unbranded advertising and chocolate buns, but don’t blame influencers for the decline in readership and the young people’s preference for other mediators.
Just make better content.
Vilde Darvik is creative manager at Schibsted’s profile agency Max Social. Oskar Westerlin is thus associated with the city year. VG is also owned by Schibsted. VG’s editorial assessments are made independently of this. An overview of bindings for profiles who do assignments for VG is located her.
Published:
Published: 16.02.24 at 15:59
2024-02-16 14:59:27
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