Over the course of the past week, two Instagram accounts became a juicy source of entertainment, especially for those working in the local media industry. 

The exposé accounts @influencerglassdoor and @sgmediaglassdoor offer hot gossip, angry testimonies, and familiar rumours about media publications, PR companies, and social media influencers in an industry that thrives on reputation and credibility. 

Not everyone’s a fan, obviously — especially those who are being talked and complained about on the public platforms. Posts on both pages involve anecdotes submitted by anonymous individuals, and the identities of the parties being lamented about are semi-concealed. Though it is not that difficult to guess the names being mentioned. 

One account has since been taken down, while the other remains live, defiant of the condemnation received by prominent voices in the industry. 

SG Media Glassdoor

After a brief moment in the sun spilling tea and revealing various proclamations about people working in PR firms and publications, this account has gone dark. 

Submissions, however, were aplenty during its brief lifespan. Most were seemingly from employees targeting their allegedly horrible bosses and editors-in-chief (EIC). Others focused on misconduct — both big and small — about some known figures in the industry.

It’s unclear who was behind the Instagram account or if it was by the same people behind @influencerglassdoor. It’s unclear too why the account has been taken down, but presumably, the unverified allegations were too severe to stay published. 

Influencer Glassdoor

With over 12,000 followers as of writing, it seems that a lot of people are interested to know about scandals and stories involving local social media influencers. Submissions include reviews of influencers who’ve been hired by brands, vendors, and marketing firms to publicise products and services — some of which were less than satisfactory. 

The platform has since become a place for its followers to see which influencers are well-liked or not behind the scenes. The administrator behind @influencerglassdoor partially hides the handles of those who are publicly denounced but leaves the names visible when commendations are involved. 

Naturally, some influencers — like Brenda Tan (@wordweed) and Chloe Choo (@chloeandchoo) — cottoned on to the claims made against them. 

Both have since responded to the posts on social media, with Choo going on a tirade on Instagram Stories over the weekend while Tan produced a video (that's close to an hour) to tell her side of the story. Both asserted that the PR firms that they worked with in the incidents spoken of were partly to blame too — Tan, in particular, mentioned that she was given too tight a deadline to deliver her work. 

An old hand in the local influencer sphere, Wendy Cheng (@xiaxue) also made some shots at @influencerglassdoor, condemning the platform for publishing any submission without verifying the source. This, she feels, is unfair and would affect the livelihoods of the influencers being reviewed. 

“I don’t like to use the word bullying and I don’t think that’s what your page is. But you know what it is? DEFAMATION. No proof don’t anyhow say s*** yeah especially when you cost people loss of income,” she posted on Instagram Stories. 

“The submissions aren’t public; YOU are making them public, which makes you personally liable,” Cheng wrote. She also managed to get a lawyer friend to look through @influencerglassdoor’s disclaimers to show why the statements won’t protect the page from lawsuits. 

Nonetheless, the account is still live as of writing. Support for the @influencerglassdoor is still strong, but like @sgmediaglassdoor, it too could go dark soon once the inconveniences outweigh the boons for juicy tales. 

ilyas@asiaone.com

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