The power of social media is also a great responsibility.If you think about how the Philippines is famous for “People Power" — that necessary ingredient that toppled presidents in peaceful revolutions — it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the country is also among the top countries in the world in terms of presence in the social media space.
On Facebook, the world’s largest social network, Filipinos represent some 25 million of the reported 750 million users worldwide, putting the Philippines at 7th place in the world just behind highly populous nations like the US, Indonesia and India.
And while there aren’t any hard numbers to show just how many Pinoy Twitter users there are, expect that number to be high as well (we estimate around 10M), considering how frequently local personalities and topics hit Twitters’ list of worldwide trending topics.
There’s no doubt about it: even online, Pinoys are a force to be reckoned with. But as the popular saying goes, power puts a great responsibility on the shoulders of those who wield it.
From this thesis statement was born “Think Before You Click" — a campaign by GMA News to promote responsible use of social media.
You can be the change you want to see in the online world.Online everything is just a click away. And with one click, whether that be to post a tweet, a new status message on Facebook, or a tag on someone’s photo, we have as much power to tear down as we do to build up.
It's all one easy click away.
So our proposal is simple, to think before you click. Think about the repercussions of what you are about to post, will it hurt others, could it potentially hurt me, or those who I care about the most? It's hard to take back what you’ve posted online, and everything has an effect.
It's time for another “People Power" this time to push for a more responsible use of social media. How can you help? Simple, tell as much people as you can to “Think Before You Click". Here’s how you can do that:
Take a photo of yourself holding up a sign “think before you click" written on a sheet of paper and change that to your Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, MySpace or Flickr profile photo. Then upload them to YouScoop.tv.
Add a “Think Before You Click" Twibbon to your Twitter DP.
Tweet us using the hashtag #thinkB4Uclick and tell us how you can be a more responsible user of social media. Or join ongoing discussions on Facebook and Google+.
Record a video of yourself discussing how you can do your part to promote social media responsibility and upload it to YouScoop.tv.
It all starts today folks.
Think before you click. — TJD/HS,
