Social Media Bloggers and Influencers lie for money and gifts (opinion)
The Social Media Bloggers and Influencers scourge has gotten out of hand. Simply put, everything they say or promote is pure cash for comments or gifts. You can’t believe a bloody word!
Over the last decade, I have seen the rise of social media bloggers and influencers and the decline of real journalism. First, social media like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more make it easy to build followers. Second, real journalism costs money, and advertising has moved to social media because it is cheap and gets the ‘eyes’.
It was with immense delight that I read that these purveyors of utter crap are under the watchful eyes of the Australian Tax Office. You see, cash for comments and gifts in return for a favourable blog is income and is taxable. About bloody time.
Why write about social media bloggers and influencers?
Well, CyberShack is the last Australian bastion (not behind a paywall) of genuine, 100% independent, deep-dive reviews. Each week we get dozens of Vendors or their Agencies trying to buy a favourable review. When I reply that if the product meets our review criteria (see below), a review is free – no catches – the goods arrive promptly.
Our reviews are the result of extensive analysis of what a product should do (we often convene user panels and then write a Guide to help with future reviews). We then perform extensive tests against those parameters. For example, one of our 70 smartphone tests is phone reception signal strength which has helped thousands of regional and rural readers buy the right phone. A robovac test shows efficiency on hard and carpet floors in typical Aussie homes (not tiny Asian apartments). Our coffee machine reviews measure milk and coffee temperature and have helped readers to get a better cup of coffee. And we love to call out unrealistic marketing claims on over-ebullient websites.
I am not saying all lifestyle/tech bloggers and influencers are money-hungry, sell-their-soul hacks – but I would like to meet one who isn’t.
Review criteria
- Australian URL or Amazon/eBay AU or a dedicated AU landing page on a global site
- Goods must be available for sale for at least 90 days.
- Price in A$, and if shipping from overseas, the freight/GST/Customs amount to any Australian address.
- Approved Australian retailers or resellers.
- The Therapeutic Goods Administration must approve any devices making health claims
- All AC devices or chargers must have an AU plug and RCM C-tick certification and logo
- Australian Consumer Law warranty compliant. If this is difficult for overseas goods, we need iron-clad assurances of local warranty and support.
- We will state if the product has lower-cost sources or competitive alternatives.
- Caution about online, grey market, parallel imports, Australian warranty, and support issues where appropriate.
- We will not review ethically questionable products or apps like gambling, bitcoin, smoking, vaping, dating apps, investing, data-harvesting, those making health claims, and products sold via grey/parallel/remanufactured resellers.
How do we finance Deep-Dive reviews?
CyberShack.com.au is part of the CBN Media Group that produces CyberShack TV nationally on Channel 9, hosts Life and Technology talkback Radio on the Nine national radio network, and has various social media channels and produces videos (unboxing, training, how to use, etc.) for vendors and sponsors. We also cover major consumer events like Consumer Electronics Show, Mobile World Congress, and IFA Berlin.
CyberShack.com.au is a non-commercial activity underpinning CBN’s Omni-channel income stream.
Do we keep the goods after review?
Unless vendors say otherwise, items are returned. Review items are never sold and often end up at worthwhile community groups, shelters, and charities.
