NOEMI LARDIZABAL-DADO

Twitter made us better, Dr. Sarah Jackson wrote in an opinion column at the New York Times on Dec. 27, 2019. While Dr. Jackson recognizes that twitter has fallen short in many ways, the past decade shows that it helped ordinary people change our world. Twitter is not commonly used in the Philippines compared to the United States of America.

WeAreSocial.com in January 2019 reports 47.05 million people in the US that could be reached with advertisements. Philippines is only 5.08 million. Compare that figure with the total advertising audience of Facebook in the Philippines, which is 75 million. While Twitter is the fifth most popular social media platform in the Philippines, popularity is not everything. On Twitter, local and international media follow topics which then gets amplified in the news. Influence is not derived by the quantity of followers, friends, clicks, or likes. Twitter focuses on keywords and your conversation reach a wider audience. On Facebook, your status would be viewed to people on your account unless it becomes viral and reaches a wider audience.

I could only talk of how twitter made a difference in my life. Each one has a Twitter story to tell. This is mine.

Twitter moved me to push social change for good. Mom blogger, making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for good is my profile description on Twitter for the past 10 years. That sounds nave today but I remain optimistic despite the world of fake news, lies and propaganda. As a blogger that started out in 2006, I saw the rise of social media platforms from being harnessed for good to being exploited by bots and trolls. Looking back at my 2007 archives on my blog, I talked about how I could write the most irrelevant and mundane things without worrying if its blog-worthy or not. All Twitter does is ask: What are you doing? Bobbie Johnson described it as a baffling and seemingly pointless service but underneath it proves intriguing, useful and addictive for those who live on the move. One observer even called it, the Seinfeld of the internet a website about nothing.

2009 was a monumental year for Twitters significance as a real-time global tool and even my outlook as a blogger. President Obama as the first President to have his inauguration covered by the people on Twitter (#inaug09) made me realize the platform is not just a pointless service. Mashable described Twitter in 2009 as first-to-the-scene reporting as one of the prime reasons Twitter is valued as a news source. It wasnt just the speed people valued hearing about news through Twitter. The platform helped save lives or mobilized rescue at the height of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). The hashtag #Ondoy kept me in touch with the local news and rescue operations while I was in Singapore. Soon, #BangonPinoy inspired individuals to wake up and rebuild their lives and the future of our country. That year also shifted my focus not just on parenting topics but on citizen issues like voters education. The idea for a citizen media movement for the 2010 elections began brewing then. Initially, a twitter account for @blogwatchdotph was created for political news while I kept @momblogger for my personal life. To my surprise, people followed my personal account because of my commentary.

The following hashtags which I was involved or collaborated with like #juanvote and#PassRHBill in 2010, #endchildabusePH in 2011, #epalwatch in 2012,#NoToCybercrimelaw and #MillionPeopleMarch in 2013, #ScrapPork in 2014, #BabaeAko and #FightDisinfo in 2018, paved the way for a broader movement or a change in government policy.I was not connected in any twitter campaigns in the years 2016 till 2017 because the troll attacks cowered me into silence. The realization that silence is complicity hit me as I learnedabout the number of people being killed in the war on drugs and, lies becoming facts. Yes, I blogged about Helping our Children cope with violent graphic images from this War on Drugs and I tweeted about the extrajudicial killings but it was not enough. I felt I was not as hard hitting as I should be.

10 years later, Twitter now asks, Whats happening? More than fighting disinformation, I want to give voice to the voiceless. Our kids dont have a voice unless an adult speaks up for them. Pushing for #ChildrenNotCriminals is one campaign I would continue to pursue this year. I oppose the move in the Congress to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the current 15 years old to whatever age they decide on. Other hashtags and issues are just as important so it takes a village to sustain the conversation.

Use Twitter to build vibrant communities and to influence news and politics. Be one of the many people to harness Twitter for good.

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My Twitter, the last 10 years - The Manila Times