Cloud chasing… | Opinion on the clout-chasing culture

The wave of "clout-chasing articles" surfaced in 2024 and became a run-of-the-mill topic, and honestly, we don't mind. We are calling out and putting people under scrutiny to truly flesh out our young leaders' intentions, platforms, and advocacies. And we are here for it.

They took advantage of the mantras "be the voice of the voiceless" and “serve the people,” then made it their amplifier of a selfish agenda. How can they be the voice of the voiceless when they're stealing opportunities from other people who truly speak for minorities and have something to say in the first place? How can they serve the people when these efforts are just a facade of self-serving intentions?

The answer to those questions is this direct quotation in an article written by Despares (2024), “Some become leaders to facilitate development, others become leaders for fame.” In the context of youth leadership and campus journalism, it is undeniable that it is infested with these so-called “clout chasers.” Although this may seem harmless at first, thinking about its long-term implications may eventually lead to superficial and mediocre leadership, resulting in detrimental consequences.

Now, let’s further delve deeper into this perpetuating clout-chasing culture. 

Don’t blame them; it’s the system...

We get validation from our achievements and positions—it messes up how we view leading and serving the people. We are validated when people praise us. We are validated when our projects and initiatives are recognized and awarded. And we are validated when people see us for our credentials and what we have done for them. Yet, in reality, we gain more social pressure than the prestige validation we cling to, and it screws up the system badly.

In a world that favors quantity over quality, we cannot help but do everything in our power to become the best candidates on our campuses and in our careers. Admittedly, school policies see student leaders as expandable and versatile who could try and conquer everything, which causes an imbalance in how people perceive leadership. Most students do not easily pressure themselves just because of these policies. But, people who want to build a name for themselves see this as a bigger challenge—an obstruction to being better than everyone else, but not to being better for themselves and the community they're serving. 

We start from curiosity to seek experience and exposure, then it slowly turns to “pabango sa resume.” Eventually, opportunities for student participation and leadership became more disposable, disregarding the quality and impact of programs, projects, and initiatives that genuine students do. Either incompetent or self-serving leaders who have more under their belt gain the spotlight and prevail among the others. Just think, to break through in your field, you must need tons of experience and engagements—nothing wrong with that. But people establishing themselves have this immense pressure to compete with those far more advanced and imagine competing with clout chasers. 

Just like monsters, clout chasers were also forced by society to adapt and be able to survive the demands of the world. With that, where will we place genuine leadership if we are severely infested by these selfish leaders? 

Clout-chasing—is there anything good to it?

Clout-chasing with a purpose and doing something that ripples change is somewhat tolerable—the approach may be questionable, but it still serves the purpose. To say the very least, we know that clout-chasing is fundamentally exploitative and opportunistic, but we cannot deny that clout-chasing, to some extent, helps certain causes be heard by the public, at least to its bare minimum. 

Additionally, clout-chasing also opens up doors to people, which may help them be reformed into something that facilitates development and progress in their community and life—maybe a transformative and genuine exposure to true leadership, mass integration, and networking is all they need to serve the people with all their hearts truly.

However, we cannot just post or do something and not have any knowledge or insight about the issue—when we put something out there, we must at least have the basic information to explain, defend, or start a conversation with these topics. Posting social issues and taking a stance without knowing anything is plain evil; it's like trying to gain attention from the suffering of others.

At this point, who isn’t a clout chaser? But all of these reasons, regardless of the purpose, if the intentions aren’t pure, it screams performative activism. There will never be real leadership in a half-baked effort by people who prioritize themselves.

The butterfly effect

In every little thing we do, we ripple change bit by bit. We might not impact the world now, but we are surely doing something to make the world a better place. And that’s all we want—to create a haven where authentic and genuine leadership prevails—no trickery, no foolery.

We need to ensure that the impact we create ripples positive change, and simply clout-chasing to gain attention or a boost from others will not cut it long-term. Remember, the effects of what we do right now may not be visible now. But along the way, when we do things for personal gain, this can complicate and form drawbacks in which every stakeholder will suffer and muddle from the selfish and incompetent leadership that people may have.

The simple things you do as a leader create a pirouette of wind that will either hit hard like a hurricane, causing destruction, or a calm breeze that brings prosperity. When the time comes, always choose and serve the people—not yourself.

Oh poor, dear Icarus!

A young leader must facilitate developmental and transformational projects that perpetuate the true essence of serving the people rather than making short-term plans or mindless fun events that destabilize our perception of good leadership. When leaders aim high, don't just aim high; aim accurately and precisely. Know who you are serving: is it yourself or the people?

It takes a lot of courage and wisdom to break free from the social validation and pressure that society is burdening us with. But, once we have a taste of our true purpose as a leader, follower, journalist, or even a citizen, we will see that no matter how small our contribution is, as long as the intentions are pure, we are on the right path in creating a zephyr of positive change.

Don’t be mystified by the clouds; stop reaching for the sun and ground yourself to reality. You are a leader for and with the people, not a leader that chases empty clouds in the skies—rocketing into nothingness. 

We were given wings to fly, but not so high that we scorched ourselves into ashes. But if you want to go on, keep flying like Icarus—the moment you touch the sun, you’ll be burned to ashes until your existence is erased from the world you exploited for personal gain.