‘Data firm’ SPLAT Communications looks a lot like a troll site
A few days ago, The Philippine Star echoed a ‘finding’ by SPLAT Communications, a supposed ‘data analytics firm’, that VP Leni Robredo has a statistical impossibility to catch up with Ferdinand Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. in the election surveys.
Marcos Jr. notched an unprecedented 60% voter preference in the latest Pulse Asia Survey, with Robredo trailing at 16%. The SWS survey more or less tells the same story; Marcos Jr. at 50%, Robredo at 19%.
While Marcos Jr.’s numbers are the highest since former president Joseph Estrada, reputable political analysts have repeatedly claimed the election is far from over. In an interview in ANC’s Headstart, campaign strategist Alan German cited Pres. Duterte’s dark horse run in 2016.
Duterte, who eventually won the presidency with 16 million votes, only became the frontrunner in late March. According to German, while the door is closing on the other candidates, the numbers are still fluctuating, meaning anything can happen in May.
SPLAT Communications looks like a troll site
At a glance at its social accounts, it’s tough to classify SPLAT Communications as a reputable firm. One might say their contents are reminiscent of the trolls that have littered the Internet.
Their Youtube channel, which has 10k subscribers, consist of poorly made infographics, with exaggerated all-caps headlines, haphazard editing, and the robotic narrator voice found on Tiktok. The contents are also pro-Marcos, with videos that berate and insult other candidates.
Examples of titles from the channels are: ‘Ilan Ang Boto Ng Ina Mo? Di Na Mapipigilan’, Leni, Wala Ka Talagang Alam’, and ‘JUST IN! Pwede na Mag-iyakan’.
Its Facebook page boasts 157 followers and was only created on November 22, 2021.
Aesthetics aside, its methodology is suspect. Unlike Pulse Asia, which publishes a detailed breakdown of regions, social classes, and other factors involved in their survey, SPLAT does not have any of these. It also does not have a website. SPLAT claims it surveyed around 13,000 respondents, but that’s about it.
Its ‘Kalye Surveys’ simply allots voter percentages to each candidate without any substantial reasoning. Its most ‘in-depth’ breakdown is to compare the plus, minuses to other recognized surveys, but how SPLAT its Kalye Surveys came up with its numbers is nowhere to be found.
Conclusion
It’s mind-boggling how any reputable media outlet could see and treat these kinds of content as legitimate. But this only re-emphasizes the importance of being critical, especially by institutions that carry a huge social responsibility. Here’s hoping we can do better.
The post <b> ‘Data firm’ SPLAT Communications looks a lot like a troll site </b> appeared first on WE THE PVBLIC.
Source: we the pvblic
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