Past the carefully cultivated hardworking image, garnished with expletives opening almost, if not all, Facebook posts, that drew the social media personality’s fanbase, Jeren Jude Bacasas, better known as TG (Thailand Girl) is currently riding the wave of a simple reply-gone-viral. The vlogger, alongside supporters and ‘bashers’ alike, dedicated tirades and posts left and right over qualifications for a journalistic endeavor- the Regional Schools Press Conference (RSPC) 2025 of SOCCSKSARGEN in Sultan Kudarat, to which the vlogger has been invited as one of the speakers.
Vloggers, influencers, basically any online content creators are at a vantage point in this era wherein they have the platform and minimal requirement of resources to disseminate information—- making them a force to be reckoned with— as is evident with the case of TG. Citizen journalism has soared to the summit where traditional journalism once stood all by its lonesome, but it lacks the stakes at which traditional journalists operate by.
One may take a look at the level of professionalism exhibited, as well: TG certainly has not built a pristine image for never having used crude words, but the point was the level of formality and civility with which the influencer communicated is one of the many differences that may have cast doubt upon the content creator’s invitation to SOCCSKSARGEN Sultan Kudarat’s RSPC 2025. The comment that started it all? A repost of the vlogger’s featured announcement, alongside a comment of Facebook user ‘Jan Marianne’, which read, “journalist? X, influencer? Check”.
How the vlogger responded and what ensued afterwards is history. The theme, ‘MAGING VIRAL O MAGING VITAL’, in an ironic display, showed just which end of the scale the social media personality is weighed upon. Why choose when you can hit two birds with one stone, all thanks to a critical yet harmless comment from a repost, right?
TG may not have been lacking in credentials to back up speaker qualifications, but there is much to be desired from the way the vlogger reacted to the merest suggestion of criticism. What would have been a chance to gracefully, professionally respond, has turned sour- and a goldmine- for more posts to be generated for the page. If this is the ‘storytelling in digital era’ that the vlogger shall be sharing, a narrative has already taken shape- clout chasing, bullying through ad hominem, with the right amount of bravado to indelicately boast about engagement and ‘TF’ (talent fees) as a way to ‘flex on the bashers’.
Granted, Thailand Girl is part of the growing parts of society standing for what may be considered as grassroots journalism in the loosest term, but alongside the sway that the content creator, like many others, has gathered overtime, is the need for somebody to call them out and pull them off their high horses before they fall. Make no mistake— citizen journalism may stand with traditional journalism, but with the cacophony of voices that have clamored in every nook and cranny of the internet, few hold the power and capability to speak with meaning and purpose. The capability humanity has to hear one another’s voices shouting across the void is a detrimental development, both a blessing and a curse— blurring together the ability to speak aloud, and the ability to speak for oneself with some modicum of decency and finesse. We are plagued by the cacophony of voices desiring to be heard, and we have no sure way to know which ones must matter most and which ones we should pay no heed— Vox et Praeterea nihil (a voice and nothing more).
To be invited as one of the speakers for a crucial journey of campus journalists is a great honor. To be called upon to tell one’s story to campus journos is an even bigger opportunity— and one that the vlogger TG has within grasp. Many qualms may be held for this decision, but in the end, the difference lies not in the amount of equipment, the media through which information is broadcasted, but rather in the ingrained, studied integrity and accountability so-called traditional journalists face. Thailand Girl now has also grasped the opportunity to subvert the abysmal expectation from the aforementioned. Anyone can ‘report’, and while professional or non-professional alike may hold values close, only one of both parties was ever truly sworn into their duty with a creed.
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