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New Arab Media (2)

Faisal Mohammed Al-Shamry

November 13, 2021

Influencers today are no longer a class of society that is confined to famous politicians, soldiers, media professionals and artists, but has gone beyond them to include ordinary people who are famous for their simple attitude, movements, or gestures, including the Italian “Xabi Lam”, the 21-year-old, who is considered The “king of social networks” in Italy, after it contributed to converting him from being unemployed after being laid off as a factory worker due to the repercussions of the “Covid-19” pandemic, during the first closure in Italy, specifically in March 2020, where he joined the “Tik Tok” application, Then he turned into a famous and wealthy person and one of the world's famous people on the "Instagram" application, and he has more than 35 million followers, 100 million on "Tik Tok", and more than 1.4 billion likes. It calls for complexity or is considered absurd, and with a movement of his hands symbolizes the significance: 'You see, it's that simple!and without uttering a word, as Charlie Chaplin's gestures are; Bring him happiness.

It also prompted an Iraqi cleaner to imitate it, in a symbolic way of displaying his resentment at some throwing garbage bags next to the container instead of throwing them in its designated place inside, and conveying the worker to his message in a funny way, quoting the movements of the Italian influencer, which reflects the global influence of influencers and their economic and cultural influence globally.

The new Arab media still lacks positive influencers as ambassadors for today's media, and some still live in yesterday's glories, convinced that the television or radio studio is the gateway to fame, and that the camera and the integrated production team are a complex role that is impossible for a single individual to cover, while the stories of today's celebrities have proven that This is the reality of yesterday, and the definition of the media and propaganda impact of these is unprecedented.

What influencers have achieved globally and regionally deserves to study the development of an integrated industry. From a broadcaster who became famous for his “Who Will Lose a Million” program, to include a brand of perfumes, fashion and land, with a value of more than 200 million, and old age took him to turn into a model with a negative impact, and contributed to the severing of relations of sister countries, turning him into an influential trumpet to terrorist organisations. And other positive Arab models, including the impressive success achieved by the New Media Academy’s members from the “Content Knight” program, which was represented by the graduates of the first batch achieving a growth of 693% in the total number of followers, which exceeded 2.5 million followers in less than a year .

Perhaps one of the most prominent success stories recorded by the Academy in its first year is what the content maker Maitha Mohammed achieved through her work with the New Media Academy, as the number of her followers doubled by 1300%, exceeding more than 120 thousand followers, and the content she completed on humanitarian issues recorded five million Viewers, as well as content creator Ahmed Al-Marzouqi, who succeeded in cooperation with the Academy in increasing the number of followers of his content from 60,000 to 500,000 followers within 10 months, and developed into a professional and full-time creative content maker.

The significance of the challenges of making symbolic new media, linking it to individuals, and marketing them as celebrities and influencers through social media channels and the Internet constitutes a complex challenge. Some Gulf celebrities have marketed drugs that contribute to weight loss, causing injuries and deaths, for nothing but quick financial gain, or uttered obscene words or made Violent behavior made them between the hammer of law and the anvil of societal rejection, but it brought them fame and a rush to their accounts, in an interaction opposite to what some dreamers might imagine of the existence of moral pacts in communication channels today.

Likewise, the slightest gesture from a celebrity may cause huge losses or gains, including what was caused by a global sports star as a result of removing the bottle of a soft drink company, the main sponsor of a tournament in which he is participating, and tens of millions were spent to put their packages on the table of his press conference, so the act returned to them, and caused losses It was estimated at four billion in the share prices of this global company in question. While we mention that one of the world's richest technical creators mentioned a name for a digital currency, and that he was "thinking" of allowing the circulation of goods he produced, so the value of the currency skyrocketed unprecedentedly just for a statement of his thinking!

The impact of the actions of these famous influencers is large, complex, and difficult to control, and requires the development of an integrated system for licensing and regulating their work. It is easy for some of them to direct misleading “propaganda” advertisements, and it is easy to exploit some of them, either for the triviality of the content, the meanness of the meaning, or the ease of submission, as their societal impact is enormous. Their economic impact may reach the point of destroying the reputation of institutions, factories, companies and a message, or marketing delusion and deception, and a charter must be developed that defines the ethics of their profession, and what is permitted for them and what is not, for the new Arab media is no longer confined to a studio or traditional press facilities. To keep pace with the times and face the challenge.

Management Consultant, Digital Transformation and Certified Corporate Excellence Expert

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