Digital tweets and thoughts

If you have been hurt and offended, I have three things that I want to share with you. These will liberate you:

1. Oscar Wilde says, “always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.”

2. It’s better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember. 

3. Lewis B. Smedes says, “to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”

Reading these three statements is different from simply hearing them.

I write this column and maintain a radio segment. Both have the same name. The words may be the same when heard and read, but the effect on the receiver of the message is different.

But what about posting the same words in digital platforms like Facebook, Twitter, blogs or even in LinkedIn? The effects are totally different. I post stuff in all of my digital spaces everyday. If I miss a day, that’s probably because I am in an aircraft and I have no access to the Internet.

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook continues to grow in size and engagement, that there are 1.32 billion people connecting on Facebook each month, and 63% of them are daily visitors. Also, there are 650 million people using their mobile services daily.

This is a marketing person’s dream and an advertiser’s nightmare. Digital media has radically changed the way business is conducted. Social media has changed the way we live our lives as well.

Most people are now viewing Facebook, Twitter and even industry-centric sites like LinkedIn. A single post of mine can reach 400,000 viewers and this does not include their sharing activities to their friends who, in turn, would share it to others as well. I am addressing my viewers (or followers) and their viewers as well.

The trend is not slowing down.

While there are indications that younger people are not joining Facebook because their parents are in there as well, making it not cool, the fact remains that in our country, both the young and the old occupy a space in the same digital platform and they coexist peacefully.

People respond to many of my posts. They “like” them or “share” them or give me their comments. Many agree and sometimes, many don’t.

Sometimes, there would be one or two who respond with malice, others may even curse and cuss. Some are entirely unable to carry out peaceful and intelligent discussions. The fact is that social platforms have enabled people to become commentators, critics, and broadcasters without having to use traditional media tools. This is the world today.

Bloggers with many followers are now celebrities invited to grace store openings and product launchings. 

Marketing is being challenged. Marketing people have to come up with more innovative ideas on reaching out to celebrities who are influencers. These celebrities could tilt the preferences and behaviors of their fans that could favor one brand and dismiss others.

This is what the digital platform is today and this is why I tweet, I post and I connect with the many who find the materials useful. Digital tweets and thoughts coexist peacefully.

But then, even with all these new digital materials, I am still fascinated by the fact that coffee does not taste right without a newspaper in my hands. Some things will never lose its meaning.

You can connect with Francis Kong through Facebook at www.facebook.com/franciskong2 or listen to his program called “Business Matters” from Monday to Friday at 8:00 am and 6:30 pm in 98.7 dzFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch’, the classical music station.