The Voice SA Voting Dilemma: What's Really Plotting?

Apart from the occasional tantrum regarding the so-called lack of talent of some contestants, things were running fairly smoothly during the current season of The Voice South Africa. That was until last night when all hell broke loose in Social Media Land. A great injustice has occurred in the form of a contestant (contestants?) making use of paid advertising on Facebook. Yep you heard me right, boosting your posts is now akin to committing murder in the first.

Who would have thunk that talent show viewers can make a bigger stink about voting results than the Democrats after Hillary's defeat?

I in no way condone the breaking of the competition rules but let us examine this a bit closer before jumping the gun again shall we?

Firstly, let's get one thing straight - you cannot boost posts from your personal account, it can only be done from a page. Now let us get to those pesky Sponsored Posts: Sponsored Stories are built entirely around user activity. Advertisers pay to highlight an action that users have ALREADY taken on the social network or within a Facebook-connected app. That action is then shown to a user’s friends, either in the sidebar or in their News Feed. Sponsored Stories CANNOT be used to reach an audience that is not connected to the page or app through a friend.

I have been trying to comprehend the significance of the fiasco at hand for almost 24 hours now but I still simply cannot fathom what the big deal is. (Yes yes I know a rule has been broken but I want to know why this rule is of such great significance in the first place). I sit on Facebook virtually the whole day and I honestly could not offhand remember coming across any sponsored posts of any kind (generally speaking, not just pertaining to the issue at hand).

Firstly, how does a Sponsored post equate to a unfair spike in votes? Is it able to send sms's on someone's behalf? Does it have its own Wechat account that it can vote from? Does a Sponsored post have the ability to hold a gun to someone's head and force them to vote for a specific contestant? It makes absolutely no sense to me! I would have thought mass international votes and voting syndicates would be of a bigger concern as these actually DOES equate to an unfair voting spike, but what do I know?

Then we have the big uproar about contestants being endorsed by companies and individuals of varying celeb status. You might think it is unfair but I say 'good for them'. The music industry is hellish tough and these contestants can use all the help they can get. Isn't it wonderful that their are individuals who believe in their talent so much that they are willing to part with time and money to promote them?

Up to 95% of all marketing initiatives with regards to talent show contestants are instigated by us, the fans. We become so emotionally entangled in the whole saga that we will go to great lengths to promote those we believe are worthy of our votes. Shouldn't we then be held responsible too for our 'dodgy' promotional initiatives? Perhaps someone should compile a 'Ethical Ways To Promote A Talent Show Contestant' manual and make sure every single viewer abides by it.

I have seen a lot of comments on social media stating that the entire 'paid for marketing debacle' smells like the smelly brown stuff. To me it reeks of something else entirely - sour grapes!

There was a time when I too got my knickers terribly twisted when certain contestants enjoyed better marketing benefits than others (sorry Mark Haze, if we had to go back, you would get my vote). Luckily I have been able to shed the blinkers and see the bigger picture.

The solution to all of this is simple - instead of trolling Facebook looking for ways to discredit all the other contestants, find ways of promoting your favorite, and mind your own business! If you don't like the tshirts Tom is giving away or the fact that the local pizza parlour is endorsing Jane, then get on your broom and fly elsewhere. Karma is a feisty one and she may very well come knocking on your own door soon.

To Caroline, Craig, Fatman, Josh, Luke, PJ and Sam - Good luck! It's a dog-eat-dog world out there and in order to survive you will need nerves of steel and balls as big as your average Overberg spanspek! Take it easy, eat a gatsby and sing your hearts out! We've got your backs!