Generation share: The new social order

MANILA, Philippines - Generation Share: Privacy is dead, and that’s good news.This is the sentiment of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. His creation, responsible for a zillion bytes of personal information sent and received on a daily basis, is by and large the best representative of this generation’s defining invention: Social Media. 

This generation, more than any other before it, live their lives in one big echo chamber. Anybody with a webcam can be a celebrity, anybody with a cellphone camera can be paparazzi. A couple of years ago, one would need a reunion or a homecoming to catch up with an old friend from high school. Today, you know what your 3rd grade seatmate had for breakfast, even before you’ve had your own morning coffee.

Privacy is dead. But is that a bad thing?

Is evolution?

The shift from leading private lives to openly living social ones simply shows that people, in this day and age, have embraced technology. They’ve embraced Facebook. They’ve embraced Twitter. They’ve embraced iPods and iPhones and iPads. People will not embrace something they see no value in. Obviously, being constantly connected to your friends (or as it’s referred to today, your social network) is something that we, in 2010, find extremely valuable. It’s how we get our news, get invited to parties, find out about new movies and music and meet new friends. Heck, as ironic as it sounds, social media is where we keep our secrets.  It’s where we keep the most authentic and personal parts of ourselves.

Curious about this shift and how this generation is working it, I sat down with Mark Castillo and Ian Velasco from prepaid mobile brand Globe Tattoo, a brand that appreciates the value of social media and does not shy away from it in an effort to meaningfully talk to the youth and give them something that turns them on.

“If you notice, there are some people who are calling and texting less and less,” shares Mark, head of Globe Tattoo Telephony. “Last Christmas, barely anyone greeted me through text. Usually by that time, hirap na makapasok yung mga greetings. Now, it’s all on Facebook.” In fact people spend so much time on Facebook that today, there are actually more Farmville users than actual farmers in the U.S., Castillo shared.

Of course, the first step to being connected is getting connected, and Globe Tattoo is ahead of the curve when it comes to meeting the demands of “Generation Share.” Moreover, they are the only service-provider that has tailor-made its products to meet the needs of this culture. Witness the rise of the unlimited text, call and web surf services, not to mention the only Immortal texting offers available out there, where Globe Tattoo users get text allocations that never expire. All these services came to be because Globe Tattoo kept the digitally-attuned youth in mind, says Castillo.

I asked Ian, who does Globe Tattoo’s brand activation activities, how long it would take for people to shift from calling and texting to just tweeting and updating Facebook. “We’re already there,” he said. Practically everybody wants to be online. All the time.

The need to be constantly online is a tough proposition for someone who’s not always in front of the computer, or since it’s summer, someone vacationing at the beach. With Globe Tattoo’s wide array of mobile and broadband services, nothing is stopping you from logging onto Twitter and tweeting something like “Surfing the net while surfing in Zambales. Awesome!” And the beauty of Generation Share is, you can be as lame as you want, and nobody can stop you. 

I was on a road trip to La Union a few weeks ago and as we passed by the once lahar-covered Olongapo area, my friend asks, “Ano English ng Lahar?” 5 years ago, we would have had the answer to that question the following day, after we got home and asked Jeeves (or unless you have a friend who brings a dictionary to beach trips). That day, my friend just whipped out his mobile phone, went on Google and voila! Lahar is, apparently, an English word.

This summer Globe Tattoo is on the forefront of people’s collective desire to let loose, be their true selves and get social in a big way. “We are encouraging our Tattoo subscribers to share their secrets,” says Velasco. “What’s a more fun way to do that than with a party?”

What comes to mind is the occasional phenomenon of the midnight text message, when the lateness of the hour coupled with the carefree feeling that permeates every summer experience lead brutal honesty to take precedence over propriety. Secrets are spilled, feelings are shared, and nothing looks the same in the morning. But hey, it’s summer and you’re having fun, and there’s always a good story to tell afterwards.

If you feel like sharing, do it at Globe Tattoo’s summer parties.

With a range of summer events across the country, in cities like Cebu, Dagupan and Cagayan de Oro, Globe Tattoo wants you party hard, meet people, dance the night away and then share your experiences with your social network. These summer nights, Globe Tattoo will make it easy for you to share your craziest, silliest, funniest, most provocative and intimate secrets, all in the spirit of Generation Share. The best (or worst, depends on how you look at it) can win some great prizes. When did just being yourself get so lucrative? It’s an interesting new trend worth watching. Although people don’t need prizes to unabashedly confess the very same “sins” they willingly post on Facebook, it’s sort of the cherry on top of the social media sundae. And if Globe Tattoo says bring it on, then consider it well and truly brought.

Let’s face it, summer is the time where we all get a lil bit crazy. The great thing about having the Internet at your fingertips 24/7 is that we can all bask in each other’s little tidbits of craziness. We now live in an age where people not only post embarrassing pictures of themselves, but actually welcome public commentary about them. Shameless sharing has become the norm, and few things are worth getting embarrassed about. We are in a world where people are no longer afraid to show the world who they really are.

Privacy is dead, but people are more alive than ever. 

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Learn more about Globe Tattoo’s services and upcoming events on http://www.facebook.com/GlobeTattoo.