Pinoy Nation grows out of the Internet: The User is still King

Technology has dissolved the barriers of nation-building. Every single day, we Filipinos are contributing to the rise of the Filipino Nation, whether we like it or not. We are slowly creating and defining this Nation in our own terms and in our own language. As we move slowly forward in the technological sphere courtesy of the Internet, we are consciously or unconsciously bringing forth, the birth of a truly distinct, Pinoy Nation.


This nation assumes a more definitive form, as I observed, in three occasions: one, when there is a disaster. Two, when there is a global recognition of a Pinoy talent and lastly, when there is threat to the patrimony of this nation.


For three disasters already, we all know how Pinoys unite and come out of their homes to help other Pinoys in extreme distress. One example was Typhoon Sendong. A blogger and social media practitioner, Mindanaoan, used her Twitter account to rally fellow Filipinos together to help victims of the vicious floods caused by Sendong. Previous to this, Typhoon Ondoy made it as one of the top trending topics in the Philippines, when millions online discussed their own experiences, shared their sadness and triumphs with other Filipinos and that urged others to come out of their comfort zones to volunteer for relief assistance. 


Three popular names come to mind in support of my second assertion. Manny Pacquiao, Charice and Jessica Sanchez became instant household names when they hugged the headlines and when millions of Pinoys, both here and abroad, talked about them. They became big because people rallied behind them, supported them, praised them and exchanged thoughts for them. Pinoys were there for them when they made their big splash. Pinoys talked animately about them during their times of trial and struggles, and did not abandon them even in their times of extreme distress. 


Lastly, you can feel, see and hear how passionately Pinoys love their country. When news spread about China's illegal intrusions unto Philippine territory, millions of Filipinos decried the act online. Fact is, I believe, if war do break out in the Western Philippine sea, millions of Filipinos will probably flood the internet with billions of devastating tweets against their fellow and long-time friends, the Chinese. 


Back in the old days, as an Historiographer and a theory-maker, I am deathly worried about the distinct possibility of uniting this nation into one community.


Take a look at History and read various sociological studies and you'll conclude that the term "Filipino Nation" is more of a construct rather than fact. We are a nation divided not just by geographical barriers, but by ethno-linguistic and cultural obstructions.


Patriots of the past thought that an ideology could bring us together. China, in 1949, did just that by uniting under the banner of Socialism. During the sixties, the seventies and even the early eighties, people of similar persuasion thought that socialism is the one construct that could rally people together and change things.


Now, technology is not dictating us where to go--we, as a People, are dictating technology's path. When the first cellphones came, analysts were worried that technology would dictate the very lives of people. 


The reality is, people are dictating the uses of technology and defining what kind of technology fits them, and not the other way around. Applications, for example, are being created out of the need or necessity of people, and not because of a whim or caprice of an individual or a group of individual.


There was also the concern a few years back, of a developing clique of technology pariahs who dreams of maybe someday, conquering the world. They hope to dictate to people what to think using technology as a tool.


Now, the reality is, again proving these fears wrong. Technology,rightly or wrongly, has become a slave of man. The Consumer is still the freeman, and technology a tool of human kind. The User is still King.


Back to the creation of the Pinoy Nation.


Using a technology as our communication platform, we Filipinos are dictating the path of our nation. Government, in the next few years, will shape its policies based on the people's sovereign will expressed in the Internet. Even the economy will be shaped by the online community speaking as one. Before, the phrase "people's will" was just a construct expressed in various Constitutions around the world. Now, the people's will is becoming a fact. That beneath the cacophony of a million voices, lies the true expression of the people. 


The people's will, if you ask me a decade ago, is a mere Idea. The people's will in the Constitution of a State is the will of the minority who claims and possesses power.


With the internet, people are slowly getting back the power they once surrendered to the elites of their societies. What is so miraculous about all these things is the fact that this silent revolution, if you will, is changing the landscape without force of arms or without spilling blood. We, the people, are engaged in an intellectual revolution without us knowing that we are its warriors and ideologues.


As I once coined the phrase "intellectual entrepreneur" several years back, I am slowly realising that that phrase is not merely a construct but becoming a fact. 


A day or two from now, we will be celebrating the "Social Media day". In my radio program, Ratsada sa Inquirer, I asked Juan Manila who invented this "day" and why that "day"--June 30. She wasn't able to explain it. It just happened that some people declared June 30 as, Social Media day.


This is the best description of how beautiful social media has become--that people are engaging themselves animately online and creating constructs and concepts out of a mere whim.

Are you going to kill somebody because of a blog post?

Will you kill someone for a blog post?

A few years ago, I knew of a group of Muslims who vowed to kill a best-selling author for writing a novel, which they said was "blasphemous." The formerly unknown author became a best-selling one after that. He went on and wrote some more, but the only one that people really went crazy was his first one.

Blog posts are like that--a hit today, a goner tomorrow. Many people have written many things about blogging, about online marketing, even bragged of being a 'New Media' or an Online media specialist when they have'nt even sold just one item online. They have'nt even convinced hundreds or even a handful of their friends to buy something from them. And they claim to be "experts in online marketing." Wow.

Honestly, they are all frauds. No one really knows the real impact of blogs and blog posts. I must say that those who claim to be "specialists" in New Media are the very ones who do not really know what it is.

They think of new media as something of the traditional. If you can invite two or three or five bloggers to an event, then, you're an online media specialist. Many political publicists are being defrauded by these people.

But, really, blogs are nothing but insights--and these insights I say, will only make an impact if people believe in it. If it does not get virality, it's nothing, nothing but ramblings of someone who has a lot of time in his hands.

For example, if somebody writes about a conspiracy, its interesting topic. Yet, if it does not land in the public consciousness, what is it but a product of someone's fertile imagination?

And even publicists are being fooled by "New Media specialists" who are just recruiters or people who invite other bloggers, that's it. There's nothing "new" about "New Media" or something very "special" about these "specialists."

These "specialists" are more of media relations officers than publicists. How can they be publicists when they can't even say that thousands read them every day? Their sites even suck.

I know of someone who claims that his site is the number one political commentary site in the country, when all he writes are a shitload of elephantine crap, spiced with gay lingo. Better to read something funny and creative like this site which Ellen Tordesillas praised than get pissed off by a stupid post by this site. A person who writes the way he thinks or says something crass has something terribly wrong with his brain. And those who see something different in that also has something wrong with their minds.

Going back, are you going to kill somebody just because somebody wrote something against you?

I was once victimized and tagged as a homophobic by someone who does not know me, who even spread that crap that I was not the one I said I was. Good that he is now getting the stiff end of the bargain. In this world, when a blasphemer continues blaspheming somebody, for sure, that pitiful fella will get it someway and somehow.

Yet, what I cannot understand is for someone to even wish somebody harm just because of something as simple, and as harmless as a blog post.

My good friend, Trixie was threatened by someone with harm. I don't know the exact reason but it even went to the extent of that person wishing that Trixie's daughter be killed or raped. Is that something which a sane mind would say to a fair lady as Trixie?

Good that Trixie is not the type who will engage herself with these kinds of stupid, idiotic, and brutish people. Good that Trixie maintained her cool.

I know of someone who got whacked by somebody online. His photo, together with his wife and kid was posted in a site. And the one who posted it even went to the extent of writing damning things about his online activities. Whoa, is that something to complain about?

If that person wrote something about the other's philandering activities or what-have-you, that would probably be something worth reading by the wife. But, ass-holing online? Is that something sexual?

Again, let me ask you a question---are you going to kill somebody for a blog post?

For sure, these people with infantile minds would probably do it. They are what I described the new apostates of blogging. They are the new terrorists, the new media extremists, willing to even harm other people just because someone wrote something nasty about them.

The web, to be very frank, is someone's mirror. The only rule here is the Golden one. The other, for me, is de gustibus non disputandum est (for likes and dislikes, there should be no disputing, live and let live).

Bloggers Unite! You only have your chains to unshackle!

Calling all those Filipinos who blog.

We are faced with a threat more vicious and more deadly than those we ever faced before.

Having been hit so many times, the State is now undertaking a campaign that would paralyze this new found freedom of ours.

Like what China did to its blogging and online community, the State is thinking of shutting down the entire online community and make us toe the Palace line.

A report says that Malacanang is pissed with the Truths we have been writing against this dispensation and has ordered the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) to debilitate our Internet access.

With a pending authoritarian measure right before the laps of Mrs. Arroyo, propagators of this evil regime are propounding the inclusion of blogging as another media which they want to conquer and kill.

Let us not allow these evil men to triumph.

Let us make our voices heard.

We call upon all bloggers to unite and rally behind the Cause of Freedom. Let us organize ourselves now and destroy these people before they use their iron fisted hands to strangle us to our online deaths!

Filipino Voices being hijacked?

I was'nt able to visit http://www.FilipinoVoices.com but I just did a couple of minutes ago and was stunned at the transformation of this worthy undertaking. It has a new look, a new design and gone are the bloglinks on the sites of the contributors. And, surprise! surprise! I just read something about a very expensive car in that site. Talk about social commentary and politics, Nick. I thought FilipinoVoices is all about news, politics and social commentary. If I want to read about hybrid cars, I can just google them and presto! I have all the info I need.

Yes, hybrid cars are probably news, but it's old hat. Countries around the world have them. And the reason why Filipinos don't have them is obvious--it's an expensive automobile. I respect my fellow bloggers take on this, but, I still can't see the connexion between a Toyota hybrid car and social commentary, politics or news?

Is FilipinoVoices now being hijacked by Public Relations specialists? The entry is obviously a PR release, complete with photos. I hate to say it, but I am saddened by this. I thought we started this project with the best intentions--write about things that would illuminate people and spur them to action!

I am very, very disappointed. Accuse me of being a purist, but the primal reason why I contribute to Filipino Voices is I believe in the cause of its existence. It's suppose to initiate debate, suppose to spark discussion and suppose to illuminate people.

To tell you frankly, my thinking about bloggers is simple--they are supposed to be the New Citizen Journalists. Being the New Influencers, we're supposed to be different from other media. As a blogger, I take this task to be a serious social responsibility. The Internet is not supposed to be the new ground for PR specialists. I, myself, am a StratComm practitioner yet I don't write about my clients nor do I espouse what they believe and force it to people.

If the New Media right now is being influenced by PR men or being used by PR men to promote their products, services or clients, then, what's so new about us? Are we now harping a new tune from Toyota car radio?

Teodoro--RP's New Obama?

Barack Obama is now the official Democratic presidential candidate, besting White America's finest, Hillary Clinton. This is phenomenal considering that, four years ago, Obama was a relative unknown. What's the secret of Obama's campaign?

First, Obama's handlers avoided the tendency of traditional politics by giving the campaign some "inspiring" taglines. That's genius. Most Americans are depressed due to the high costs of food and fuel. They need someone who'll inspire them with the vibrancy of youth and new ideas. Obama represented that. He was packaged as the Black version of JFK (John F. Kennedy), armed with wit and a serious mien. His words are always emotion-driven. You'll see and hear his inspiring words on traditional and new media.

That campaign was based on lessons in political history. In US history, men of such character emerge whenever America encounters extreme depression, such as what's happening now. Western societies need men of substance whenever they face tremendous socio-economic challenges. Obama filled that void.

Now, can we produce our own Obama? Yes. We already did.

In the 2004 elections, a veritable unknown in the person of Senator Antonio Trillianes IV emerged as one of the top senatorial winners. He did not campaign. His handlers used the internet as his launching pad. He did not use any traditional method of campaigning, just a few posters and stickers here and there. However, the electorate heard of him through traditional media, what with his digs at Gloria. The people loved it and voted for him, a vote which some political analysts say is a vote of anger against the prevailing dispensation.

However, is it possible for Trillianes to campaign for the presidency using non-traditional tactics? That's possible. With more than 13 million Filipinos going online daily, that's a huge constituency. The internet is the most cost-effective tool in launching any brand or product or even electoral campaigns.

There's a catch though. Trillianes is a realist and would probably think twice before dipping his fingers in the presidential pool. if Trillianes is not interested, then, who could possibly be his alternate?

I'll give my Singdollars to anybody who'll oppose Gilbert Teodoro, our defense secretary. Of all the candidates out there, Teodoro is the singular person who can probably inspire us and rouse us from mediocracy and apathy.

Teodoro is young, has a vision for the country and has that electrifying personality. He's one of the most hard-working members of Gloria's mafia gang. Reason why people in the civil society hesitate to go full-blast against Gloria is the fact that some well-meaning people continue to work their asses off and that includes Teodoro. Teodoro is a stark contrast to the likes of Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap or Energy secretary Reyes, who are publicity-hungry without concrete accomplishments. Teodoro exemplifies an Obama and has the potential of getting the people's nod come election time.

I believe that early campaigners such as Loren, Mar, Cheez, Villar and Noli will eventually neutralize themselves. They will turn irrelevant, leading the way for Teodoro to shine.

If the same tactics employed by Trillianes in getting the senate post be applied to Teodoro, there's a strong chance for him to win. Some people think that he does not have the physical strength to go on a national campaign since he has asthma or some respiratory ailment. To hell with it. Teodoro can always sit in his chair and ponder on solutions to national issues while his campaigners dominate the discussion sphere thru traditional and new media. You'll be surprised at the results.