At present, revolutionaries who went to the streets demanding change and eventually ousting presidents had their stories told to millions of people around the world over Facebook. Twenty five years ago, back to the place where the first bloodless revolution started and the only breakthrough known, aside from hair loss products, was astronauts going to Uranus, there were only radios, telephones and TV’s to rely on. Here’s the million dollar question: How would have the 1986 EDSA People Power turned out if there was Facebook or Twitter? What sort of entries would you expect to read?
GMA7 News created a Facebook page for EDSA, including profiles of known personalities of that time:
Cory created an invitation to Ninoy’s funeral. Over a million members confirmed their attendance.
Former General Fabian Ver’s wall post:
Gringo Honasan’s Fan Page:
Time has recently announced Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, as Time’s 2010 Person of the Year. One of the contenders to the award was Julian Assange of WikiLeaks.
People were actually questioning Time’s choice, as many put much credit on Assange’s contribution to solving press censorship. While Zuckerberg has managed to connect almost half a billion of people in the planet, and earned billions from it, Assange rocked governments with the release of various classified information that could either make or break international relations.
They are two people from different backgrounds. Zuckerberg is a Harvard tech guy who at a young age managed to create a name for himself quite on a positive note. Assange’s younger years were defined by constant movements – schooled in various locations, lived in different places and is constantly under the watch of Swedish and American federal authorities. He has been known as a programmer and computer hacker, and lately as an internet activist known to have founded WikiLeaks.
Zuckerberg appears to be a less complicated choice. His work has affected the lives of millions of people who are now connected with a click, not to mention everything about him looks promising like a lifetime laptop warranty. But how does it compare to the battles of Assange: his stand for press freedom and truth?
I might open another website soon for the part-time biz that I want to go full-time. Since I find Joomla too much for my finite un-techie mind and WordPress limited in some ways, I searched the internet for an online website builder that offers free web design software. I found this one developed by a company called “Shroggle” and it looks very promising. Not to mention free. Except when you go live, they charge certain amount. Well businesses work that way, don’t they?
Anyway, that saves me from the tremendous headache I would normally get from building a website from the scratch. Not to mention that my Dreamweaver has gone pretty rusty these days because of sheer lack of practice. Having a Shroggle could definitely save my day from further complications. So I might try it next week and see what it can do.
