Somewhere between John Mayer telling me what he ate for breakfast, Trent Reznor pleading for donations for an ailing fan, Rainn Wilson crying over Iran and Shaq congratulating Kobe on winning his fourth title, I realized two things. One, I’m following too many celebs on Twitter. Two, connectivity — whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or SMS — does not trivialize relationships into profile pages and short messages. It enriches them to something that transcends geographical and demographical boundaries. Being able to instantly share, access and spread information is transforming us from a society of strangers to a community of attuned and expressive citizens of the world.
The best and latest example of the power of connectivity, new media and social networking relationships is the aftermath of the Iran election. I remember the first few hours after the election results were announced and riots and protests started breaking out across Tehran, the Twitter community crucified CNN for not reporting what was happening. It was amazing to witness the sight of normal people from across the world doing the job that a multibillion-dollar news organization with eyes and ears all over the world could not (or would not). That day, those hours, I got my news from a concerned Iranian citizen typing away on his iPhone. That day, I got my news from Sandman author Neil Gaiman texting from his Blackberry. That day, I got my news from the guy the plays Dwight in The Office. Not CNN.
This is a trend where we Filipinos are surprisingly ahead of the curve. Eight years ago, we had what was coined the “text message revolution” of EDSA Dos. Every year after, whether it’s a rally, a national emergency or a clamor for prayers for a whistleblower, Pinoys will get the word out fast with our furious texting thumbs.
Just recently, when the Bureau of Customs imposed its short-lived book blockade, the local online community got enraged within the day of the announcement. Thousands joined the anti-book-blockade Facebook group in protest, hundreds tweeted about it and many more texted or IMed their friends about it. The next day, the media got ahold of the story. Within a few weeks, they budged. A compromise was reached. And millions of tech-savvy Filipinos breathed a sigh of both relief and quiet triumph.
We, as Filipinos, will not be separated with our mobile phones. It has become part of the fabric of our modern society. Connectivity, SMS in particular, has changed our relationships more in the last five years than probably in the previous 50. Do not underestimate the power of something like SMART Buddy’s Uzzap or SMART Sandbox. Heck, do not even underestimate the value of getting updates from Angel or Piolo or Kim or Gerald. Popularity (no matter how campy or manufactured) will always be the impetus for innovation.
Take this for an example. About two years ago, the most popular person on Twitter was Digg.com founder Kevin Rose. Today, it’s Ashton Kutcher. Two years ago, Twitter wasn’t used to break stories from the streets of Tehran. You can do the math.
We are in a mobile revolution. We are changing. Our relationships are changing. Mobile phones and laptops have become our weapon of choice, information our ammunition and our consciousnesses as battlefields.
Our ability to send and receive text, pictures and video, surf the Web or download applications through our mobile devices may now seem like a cute but ultimately trivial trend, but at the end of the day, this is becoming the backbone of our right to freedom of speech and to free press and to the free access to information.
With the advent of unlimited texting, calling and Web surfing, this revolution is now even going further. With service providers like Smart now launching Smartalk, connectivity today will be much, much easier and ultimately more relevant. Smart Buddy and Smart Gold offer unlimited calls within the Smart network (the largest network base by far with over 38 million subscribers), P100 for five days, and P500 for 30 days. That’s far and away the most significant of the unlimited packages that local carriers currently provide. With unlimited calls at any time of the day, one can say exactly what he wants, whenever he wants.
One day, one of us will be on the brink of something big. And on that day, that person will be glad he got his SMARTALK from SMART so he can tell the world about it.