By Carlo S. Ople
I was just reading the latest articles on the recently concluded Anti C
on-Ass rally on Inquirer.Net. According to the police, this rally had
the lowest turnout, around 6,000 based on their estimates.
The organizers, on the other hand, claim that they had 13,000-15,000 warm bodies. You got to ask yourself the
question: despite all the outrage this issue has generated, why only 15,000 pe
ople went to the streets?
I'm sure there are varied reasons but at the end of the day the measurement of
success for events like this is the number of participants. Sadly 15,000 is not
representative of the majority of the Filipino people and can easily be dismis
sed by the politicians pushing for Con Ass.
However, the good news is that on the Internet, we have almost double the numbe
r of the people who went to the rally sign up on the "Stop Con Ass Now" cause on F
acebook. As of this writing, there are almost 28,000 sign-ups on the cause.
With that in mind, I came up with this short article explaining the strengths
of Cyberactivism and why it should be taken seriously not just by the
proponents, but also by politicians and organizers who want to provide a platform for the ci
tizens to be part of a cause.
Physical Rallies can be Inconvenient
Let's face it, life these days is hard. Missing a day of work means a salary de
duction or a lost vacation/sick leave. The reality is a lot of Filipinos will n
ot "pay" to be part of a rally by missing work. I think this was the biggest hu
rdle a lot of office workers had to face in Makati when they wanted to join the
rally last night. This was the sentiment of several colleagues I have here in
the office.
Rallies also need a convergence point. You physically have to be in one spot on
a specific time to be able to make the effort count. This literally makes the
rally limited since those who are outside of Manila, especially those in Visaya
s and Mindanao, cannot participate because they won't buy a plane ticket and fl
y all the way here to protest Con Ass.
Virtual Rallies, on the other hand, are completely the opposite. All you need t
o have to be part of it is to have access to the Internet. The good thing these
days is that there are more than 10,000+ Internet cafes spread all over the Ph
ilippines and most of them charge very reasonable and affordable rates.
There are a few cafes in Davao that charge as low as P5/hour. By going to the w
orldwide web, you transcend the inconveniences brought about by physical rallie
s. You're still counted and your part of the movement without having to spend t
hat much time, resources, and effort.
Physical Rallies end when they're finished
This, I think, is the biggest weakness of physical rallies. When the crowd disp
erses, the event ends, especially if there were only a few or an average number
of attendees. Other succeeding rallies are usually treated as separate efforts
and they don't really all add up in terms of metrics.
And that I think is one of the strongest qualities of Virtual Rallies. The mome
nt a person joins, he's in it for the long haul. The count is cumulative regard
less of the time and space. As long as the website is up and running, people wi
ll be counted. That's the reason why the Facebook Cause against Con Ass is alre
ady nearing 30,000 sign-ups. Imagine if we give it more time? That number will
continue to grow and eventually might even end up more than 100,000.
What is more effective in pushing for a cause? An unsure attendance of 6,000-15
,000 in a rally in Makati or a virtual representation of more than 100,000?
Organizers of the Anti Con Ass Campaign should really take Cyberactivism seriou
sly. Given the right firepower, the Facebook approach might actually be more ef
fective in the long run.
Carlo Ople is the main author of New Media Philippines (http://newmedia.com
.ph), a blog that aims to help Filipinos maximize and realize the potential of
New Media. Apart from being a blogger, Carlo also serves as a Marketing Manager
for one of the leading online gaming companies in the Philippines. He is also
a freelance digital marketing consultant and has worked with various politician
s and business owners expand their reach and influence through the use of socia
l media. Read more about him at New Media Philippines (http://newmedia.com.ph)<
/em>
June 2009 Archives
By Anna Valmero
THE Filipino online community slammed the approval of House Bill 1109 that set
up a constituent assembly (ConAss) that might allow the administration to stay
in power beyond 2010.
The approval of HB 1109 on Tuesday midnight empowered Congress to convene itsel
f into a Constituent aseembly, where members of the House and the Senate could
vote jointly to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Filipino quickly jumped on the issue, as they launched an online website called
No to Con-Ass!. Others li
nked to this site, as they included an online badge that said, "Have you no sha
me?"
Filipinos also launched an open letter to administration allies at t
he House of Representatives that read:
The Constitution is a defining moment in history. It is the height of creating a politics of freedom, identity, and national strength, created an d ratified on the basis that oneâs country is not designed and built on whims, but that of foresight and the common good. It sets a precedent for justice and fairness, and is the building block of democracy in free nations. June 2, 2009 was a defining moment in history. It is the height of a politics of ignominy, imprudence, and insolence; the approval of a shameless and ambiguo usly-worded resolution that threatens the very existence of this countryâs demo cracy. One that sets a precedent for injustice, unfairness, and opens the door s for corrupting, unchecked power. You made a grip on the very throat of this countryâs democracy, and choked it. Shameless. That resolution will be tested in the Courts, and perhaps maybe eve n struck out of the record one day. Forgotten, perhaps, but it should stand - and it will stand - as a testament to shame.Blogger Marocharim who wrote the statement noted that the letter was supposed to have been sent to Co ngress but he thought twice, saying that "maybe theyâll just throw it away.â Asked to compare going out in the streets or launching an online protest, Maroc harim says, "I see it as a new channel for resistance, like TV. I'm not saying that it will replace the old, kailangan pa ring mag-rally [we still need to att end a rally].â âI am not saying one blog entry will change the world. But from the Dumaguete ( National Summer) Writers Workshop I attended a couple of weeks ago, I realized how much we (writers) can do. Writing isn't about hits or self-promotion or for m and technique--it's about making changes both inside and out,â the blogger sa ys. He quips: âI happened to like my country enough, and to care for this nation en ough, to go in front of my computer and write something a small ripple but Iâm seeing a wave there somewhereâas plurkers link to the site.â Personally, he believes that the Constitution is better amended after the 2010 elections for the reason others cite tooâprudence. âWhen we take the time to sit down, discuss these house bill, get a move-on on the constitution, get everyone involved and educated, debate, disagree, agree-- that's how we do things in democracy; not that way, like they did June 2.â And this action is also reaching out to political figures: Manuel Luis Quezon I II took time to "plurk" a running account of what happened during the Wednesday House session and so d id Bayan Muna party list Representative Teddy Casino. More and more as Filipinos are indeed turning to social networking sites in hop es of swaying political debates.
By Carlo Ople*
(Editor's note: re-posted from author's blog http://newmedia.com.ph)
AS most of you probably know by now, the House of Representatives approved HR 1109, more commonly known as the Con Ass (Constituent A
ssembly) resolution. I'm pretty sure that the Senate will take this up
with the Supreme Court to determine if what the House did was in accordance to
our constitution. Anyway, I wanted to focus more on what was happening on Face
book while the hearing was going on. Several opposition congressmen were actual
ly micro-blogging on Facebook! Imagine that, hahaha! I took some screen shots f
or your viewing pleasure. Check out what some of our congressmen said in Facebo
ok after the break.
CONGRESSMAN TEDDY CASINO
One of my personal favorite comments during the evening. A lot of people left c
omments on this and it was nice to see that Congressman Casino was replying to
some of them. Talk about real time interaction. Note my comment in the print sc
reen. Heh.
CONGRESSMAN RUFFY BIAZON
Congressman Biazon was very active on Facebook during the proceedings. He was a
ctually like a reporter the entire time. It's kinda sad that he wasn't given th
e opportunity to speak during the plenary but at least he was able to voice out
what was in his mind through Facebook.
CONGRESSMAN ERIN TANADA
I was able to hear Congressman Tanada deliver his objection speech. It was very
articulate and hard-hitting. He wasn't able to update during the actual procee
dings but he was able to make posts before and after.
While it's not Plurk or Twitter, these Congressmen actually micro-blogged throu
gh the status update feature of Facebook. I'm sure that it's only a matter of t
ime before their staff teaches them how to actually microblog through their mob
ile. Maybe we'll see more consistent updates then.
Social Media is a very powerful communications tool, and I wouldn't be surprise
d to see more politicians start using this channel not just for the 2010 campai
gn, but also for governance. I talked about this in length during my interview with Cheche Lazaro (Media In Focus).
So, interested to hear what your congressmen have to say online? Add them up on
Facebook. :)
Carlo Ople is the main author of New Media Philippines, a blog that aims to
help Filipinos maximize and realize the potential of New Media. Apart from bei
ng a blogger, Carlo also serves as a Marketing Manager for one of the leading o
nline gaming companies in the Philippines. He is also a freelance digital marke
ting consultant and has worked with various politicians and business owners exp
and their reach and influence through the use of social media.
One of my personal favorite comments during the evening. A lot of people left c
omments on this and it was nice to see that Congressman Casino was replying to
some of them. Talk about real time interaction. Note my comment in the print sc
reen. Heh.
CONGRESSMAN RUFFY BIAZON
Congressman Biazon was very active on Facebook during the proceedings. He was a
ctually like a reporter the entire time. It's kinda sad that he wasn't given th
e opportunity to speak during the plenary but at least he was able to voice out
what was in his mind through Facebook.
CONGRESSMAN ERIN TANADA
I was able to hear Congressman Tanada deliver his objection speech. It was very
articulate and hard-hitting. He wasn't able to update during the actual procee
dings but he was able to make posts before and after.
While it's not Plurk or Twitter, these Congressmen actually micro-blogged throu
gh the status update feature of Facebook. I'm sure that it's only a matter of t
ime before their staff teaches them how to actually microblog through their mob
ile. Maybe we'll see more consistent updates then.
Social Media is a very powerful communications tool, and I wouldn't be surprise
d to see more politicians start using this channel not just for the 2010 campai
gn, but also for governance. I talked about this in length during my interview with Cheche Lazaro (Media In Focus).
So, interested to hear what your congressmen have to say online? Add them up on
Facebook. :)
Carlo Ople is the main author of New Media Philippines, a blog that aims to
help Filipinos maximize and realize the potential of New Media. Apart from bei
ng a blogger, Carlo also serves as a Marketing Manager for one of the leading o
nline gaming companies in the Philippines. He is also a freelance digital marke
ting consultant and has worked with various politicians and business owners exp
and their reach and influence through the use of social media.
