A New Revolution of Social Awareness Through Social Network Sharing

Participation of the netizens (Internet network citizens) in the Philippines has never been this radical in terms of social issues and news updates through the leading social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and others.

These powerhouse social media sites have been part of our daily lives as millions of users update their profiles even numerous times a day, communicate with a lot of people at the same time, and to check on fresh and up-to-date information and trends; thus, becoming the fastest ground of social sharing in terms of breaking news and social events not only locally but worldwide.

For the last decade, technology had a great deal of revolutionary advancement that had reached the diverse communities all throughout the world. In the Philippines alone, we have seen videos of unknown talents and their overnight popularity because of thousands of viewers who shared their videos, thanks to YouTube and Facebook, etc. Social media is far-reaching and pervasive, aside from the fact that they are informative and easy to access.

       We had witnessed the emotional Rawan Radwan from Saudi Arabia being reunited with her long-lost nanny Marie Ning Bernardo-Bibit  of Candelaria, Quezon which had not been possible if not because of thousands of netizens who helped in the search through sharing and reposting it.

Also, upload of the controversial video ad of Aegis Malaysia that criticizes the Philippines as not the best international destination for investors initiated by Elcid Lao, caused a tremendous online fury which reached the Philippine Embassy to write them a letter, seeking an explanation about the said incident. The video had been immediately removed as Aegis Malaysia apologized vehemently, stating that they did not authorize the content of it and that it was uploaded in error.

    The leftist group Gabriela irked SM Management after Karen Kunawicz, uploaded an image of a t-shirt being sold in the boy’s section that trivializes rape stating “It’s not rape. It is a snuggle with a struggle”. This caused an outraged as well, causing SM Management to express their public apology and the immediately pull out the offensive rape-joke shirts from their shelves.

     These are just examples of incidents that had been actively and massively participated by netizens through social networking sites. The utilization of these social media sites enhances and influences viewpoints of users to really be involved with social issues; thus, reshaping the way information is also being reached out.

Jessie Dericto, 28 years old is a Freelance Writer, Blogger, Virtual Assistant and a nursing mom. She is also into news and trends, fashion, photography, painting, and sketching. She loves sensible talks, long walks and activities that will enrich both the mind and soul.