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The advent of social media has given rise to a new breed of what are commonly called ‘influencers’. These influencers very often have little knowledge of the subjects they speak on but put on the garb of being experts. Very often, they are celebrities out to encash their goodwill. They praise or run down a product depending on who pays them. Since they are not required to state whether they have been sponsored, they can get away with anything. We have known of cases where companies have been extorted and threatened with negative reviews if they do not pay up. Some companies, on the other hand, quietly sponsor such influencers. Influencers have assumed menacing influence in the automobile industry and are also present in the imaging sector.
It is imperative that declarations are clearly made by influencers indicating who is sponsoring them. Of course, once such a declaration is made, the credibility of influencers will be severely challenged.
Our readers stand warned.
Meanwhile, CIPA of Japan has published the latest camera production data which shows that mirrorless has taken 86% of the shipped value of cameras in 2022. Production of cameras increased by 10.8% over 2021 to 5.348 million in 2022. Remember, the camera market had touched a peak of 20.16 million in 2012.
H. S. Billimoria
