A veteran campaign strategist and Agents International Inc. President Alan German stated that a wide online presence does not instantly turn into votes.
“Just because you’re an influencer and you have millions of views, likes, engagement on social media, it does not always translate… Social media following is not enough. It helps but it’s not enough. There has to be something substantive under it,” he shared in an interview.
He also added that he was not surprised as numerous influencers filed their candidacies for the 2025 midterm elections.
“This is the natural, unsurprising evolution of the artista [celebrity]-turned-candidate. The consumption landscape has radically shifted… The new batch of entertainers that are captivating our attention right now are the online influencers and the so-called socmed stars,” he stated.
As per German, the influencers’ massive following is the main factor on why they are venturing into politics.
“Everyday, day in day out, they are bolstered, their confidence is bolstered by seeing the likes, the shares, the comments, the views. And they see that these are in the millions. And in their head they’re thinking, 300,000 lang na boto congressman na ako why not walang mawawala,” German said.
According to German, not every influencers and content creators have successfully entered politics.
Mocha Uson, a vlogger with around 5 million followers and a strong supporter of Rodrigo Duterte, unable to gather votes for MOCHA or the “Mothers for Change” party-list during the 2022 elections.
German suggested that online personalities-turned-political candidates examine their following and consider a variety of criteria.
“Number one, lahat ba yan bumoboto? Dahil baka iba diyan hindi voting age. That’s one. Number two, lahat ng followers mo, ‘pag sinusundan din nila yung ibang kandidato din, nawala na advantage mo,” he furthered.
The veteran campaign strategist advised the people not to vote because of popularity for online personalities in the 2025 elections.