CELEBRITIES and social media influencers often grace the pages of Time magazine’s annual list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet. This time, women activists from the Philippines made it.
Time magazine named the women of #BabaeAko as an influential group after it was able to gather over a thousand people to protest President Rodrigo Duterte’s action of kissing a married woman in South Korea. The movement was formed last May to educate people against sexism following the pronouncement of Duterte, known for his rape and sexist comments, that a woman should not be the next chief justice.
“Under the hashtag #BabaeAko (I Am Woman), they uploaded videos calling out sexism in the Duterte administration,” Naina Bajekal wrote in Time’s feature.
“With every misogynistic statement, he is saying ‘you can do the same because I get away with it,’” Inday Espina-Varona, 54, a journalist and one of several co-founders of the movement, told Time.
“Society looks up to him,” said 55-year-old actress Mae Paner, another co-founder. #BabaeAko just wants to teach Duterte to “simply be human.”
Of course, the influencers’ list is still dominated by celebrities. Asia’s BTS made the list.
“The real engine behind their success is their passionate social fanbase, who style themselves as the ‘ARMY’ and eagerly consume anything related to the group, from tweets to videos,” Raisa Bruner said of the seven-member group, who has amassed an army worldwide. The group even won the Top Social Artist award at the Billboard Music Awards in the last two years.
“When Rihanna speaks—or, more precisely, ‘grams—the world listens,” Eliza Berman wrote of the 30-year-old “Work” singer.
This is how influential Riri is: Last March, an ad appeared on Snapchat using her image to make light of domestic violence. Rihanna is a survivor after she was attacked by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. Rihanna denounced the ad and Snap Inc. lost $800 million in value.
Rihanna’s “FourFiveSeconds” collaborator, Kanye West, makes the list, too. After all, he calls his tweets a form of “contemporary art” that people appreciate.
His Twitter rants are epic—they provoke reactions, which are mostly not pretty.
“But despite calls for West to be ‘cancelled,’ his recently released album, “Ye,” debuted atop the Billboard 200. No matter what, his online persona—with 28 million followers—keeps him squarely in the public eye,” wrote Berman for Time.
West’s sister-in-law Kylie Jenner makes it to the list after ousting Beyonce’s pregnancy photo as the most-liked Instagram photo. Jenner’s winning post was of her baby holding her thumb. She simply captioned the photo: Stormi Webster, the name of her daughter with rapper Travis Scott (real name Jacques Webster).
Berman reported that Jenner, 20, is now the highest-paid celebrity on Instagram.
Then there’s Busy Philipps—she may no longer be that busy as an actress, but her Instagram keeps her relevant. Netizens fell back in love with the “Dawson’s Creek” alum for making a show of her everyday life on social media.
“Her unscripted messages—usually delivered directly to the camera in minute-by-minute bursts—also address deeper topics, including what it’s like to raise two kids as a working mom and her struggles with mental health,” wrote Megan McCluskey in the Time’s feature.
Philipps may not be acting as of the moment but she has a book deal and hosts her own late-night talk show.
Whether people like him or not, there is no denying that President Donald Trump is influential. So he made the list, too.
Also in the list are YouTubers Logan and Jake Paul and six-year-old Ryan (Ryan ToysReview), the youngest influencer on the list.
Then there are activists Charlotte and Dave Willner, Eman al–Nafjan, Shaun King, Q (QAnon) and the students of Parkland, Florida.
Social media darlings Naomi Watanabe, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, Sia Cooper (@DiaryOfAFitMommyOfficial on Instagram), Roland Szabo (he created the ‘Yanny or Laurel’ debate), Tony Liu and Lindsey Schuyler (Diet Prada on Instagram), Matt Drudge, Kayla Itsines, Lil Miquela and Ariel Martin (Baby Ariel) are also among Time’s most influential people.
Completing the list are mobile app game show host Scott Rogowsky and gamer Tyler Blevins (Ninja).
This is the fourth annual roundup of the most influential people on the Internet.
“Time evaluated contenders by looking at their global impact on social media and their overall ability to drive news,” the magazine explained its list. (JGA)