Written by Sophia (the makeup blogette) *editing in progress*

These days, you can't help but notice that the world is becoming smaller. I don't mean this in terms of geographical distance, but rather, how inter-connected everything is.  Technology has closed the distance between people from opposite ends of the world, bringing like-minded people together to engage in meaningful and impassioned dialogue about their pet topics.  Through various user-friendly publishing platforms, anyone who has internet connection and something to say have a channel to articulate her views on the World Wide Web.  Your audience is the world.  Well, perhaps initially you may be your only audience.  Then comes along a slew of social networking sites which links people and information together, and soon enough, your own personal blog or website is suddenly more visible to your virtual audience.

I may not be the most tech-savvy person, but I do realise the potential of all these inter-connectedness. Big organisations and companies out there are also recognising the potential.  Which organisation doesn't have a FB fanpage, or twitter account these days?  I was eating lunch the other day, and even the chicken rice place has its own FB page.  Cases in point, in the US, YouTube has made celebrities out of everyone folks who have something to say, or show about their interest.  I was reading this issue's of US Vogue, where Michelle Phan (among other bloggers) is featured.  She has her own skincare line, colloborates with Lancome, and I read once in her blog, she travels by SIA Raffles Class on a flight to Hong Kong or something.  All these happened because she makes and shares her videos on YouTube, not because she is hired by some marketing people to produce the home-made footage for money.  Bloggers have been flown in to Fashion Week in cities like New York, London and Paris to the shows, and they are sitting next to big fashion institutions like Anna Wintour, Carine Roitfield.  There are many other examples out there, of course.

Even here in Singapore, I think that marketing and media outlets, and other businesses are waking up to this trend.  And this is a trend which is here to stay.  As time goes, and technology becomes even more advanced, they cannot afford to ignore the voices of the man, or woman on the street.  The ordinary folks are the ones who spend money to buy your product and services.  Anyone can go on the internet and search for information and reviews before making their decision to purchase something.  They do not need to rely on the usual sources like print media, or go to the actual store and ask the staff.  Why not ask someone who has actually bought that particular item and used it before?  This is why I think that service staff might even become an obsolete occupation in time to come.  If you work for a brand or company, and you do not know as much as the very informed consumer, then what's the point?

Personal blogs which are interest related like mine are real in the sense that I do not represent any company, nor am I an expert  or professional in  the field.  Furthermore, any information which I share is not buried or hidden in the midst of mind-boggling jargon, nor deceptively attractive, or possibly digitally enhanced images.  Everything is as real as they get.  There is credibility in such information.  And if makeup companies are paying attention, they should realise that I have prolly single-handedly persuaded real people out there to purchase a certain product simply because I have used it, and raved about it.  The millions of dollars spent on celebraity endorsements and campaigns may well soon be a thing of the past, especially if they don't translate into worthy revenue for the company.

I started out saying how the world is getting smaller, and I personally can attest to this happening. Just a couple of years ago, I don't think that I would be doing 'swaps' (makeup exchanges) with people who stay on the other side of the world.  I have received emails from my readers who stay in Sweden, the Philippines,  Paris to name a few, writing in to me, asking me genuine questions about travels, make up, and even career advice!  I may not be an expert in this whole area about cosmetics, but I think bloggers like me provide immediate and personal information, which is useful to the audience out there. Besides that, true friendships are formed.  Personally, I would never think that there is a whole community out there who are as passionate as me about makeup and all things vain.  In the past year alone, I have met truly wonderful people, attended events where I was exposed to real women out there who face the same skin woes as me, who can differentiate every single tone of purple nail polish, or remember what I like about a certain product.  They have become my friends, as we constantly engage in conversations and dialogue about beauty related issues.  The lines between the virtual world and reality has blurred and even disappear like the scent of a faded perfume at the end of the day.

I can only say that this whole blogging, personally driven content will only get bigger and bigger.  With mobile technology, with my cellphone, I can check the latest blog, tweet, post on someone's wall, link, comment anytime anywhere I want. We can talk about immediate things which are happening right now.  If we know that a certain product is already out, we twittered about it, blogged about it, and by the time the magazines hit the stand, we have probably already read the same information at least ten times over in our own virtual discourse.  Of course, a very old-fashioned, traditional part of me still prefer to flip the pages of a glossy magazine and look forward to see who is the next cover girl to grace the pages of these publications.

(to be continued...)