When the audience is the critic, part 3

In her piece “Pilipinas, kay pangit,” Yolly Ong quotes President Roosevelt: “Let President Roosevelt be a source of inspiration for you whose heart is always for a greater cause:

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust, sweat, and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly — so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

I don’t know if that is an appropriate quote versus the social network that slammed “Pilipinas Kay Ganda!” as a new slogan. After all, the people who responded to the new Department of Tourism campaign were no outsiders. They were, in fact, the true stakeholders. They were not merely critics; they were the true audience. They were actually in the arena as the people the DOT was selling the Philippines as a travel destination to, the people who would help the DOT sell the country to foreigners as promoters, as hosts, as the source of the friendly smiles travellers would encounter. I mean, how do you sell something that does not stand for itself? You just don’t.

The thing about social networking is that it does put everyone in the arena. If you miss this point, then you miss most everything else that can help you manage the social media crisis. Or, as Ong happened to have done, you inadvertently paint a bullseye target on your forehead. Go ahead, google her name and you’ll see what I mean.

Angela Stuart-Santiago, in her blog www.stuartsantiago.com, addresses point-by-point Ong’s column. She writes: “In social media, all opinions carry equal weight, everyone is free to support or dissent, which sometimes makes for entertaining if not enlightening comment threads. Yes, Facebook can get toxic and virulent, especially about perceived injustices and incompetencies, but on the rare occasions when netizens happen to agree on something, well, that’s worth acknowledging and looking into, I think, rather than judging it sinister, which is just so praning, sabi nga ni Butch Dado, The Warrior Lawyer.”

For his part, Dado quotes Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” In his piece, Gladwell explains why he believes that social media will not necessarily be an effective tool for social activism. Dado then writes, “No one can manage, must less control, the denizens of cyberspace and point them one direction. It’s like herding cats, as I’ve heard it said more than once. At best, social networks can disseminate information and ideas. But concepts, abstractions and theories, once thrown unto the online free market of ideas, live or die on their own merits.”

Still, the social network being the unpredictable creature that it is, I really cannot say for sure what else Ong could have done in her intention to clear her or her company’s name. If you ask me, “nothing” would have been the best bet. She could learn a thing or two from Maricar Reyes, who totally ignored the Hayden Kho video scandal and eventually left nothing for vultures to feast on.

One thing is on her side, though. The web may have saved a bajillion links to her article and responses to it, but the people who are part of the social network have a shorter memory than ever. I mean, who remembers Malou Fernandez?

I also see a light at the end of the tunnel. On December 1, 2010, @CampaignsPH made its first post on Twitter: “Yes, we are THAT Campaigns and Grey. How’s everything going?”

Having no real nugget of wisdom to leave you, just allow me to say this: Post responsibly, folks. And be responsible for your posts. Times are different now.

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