I think this incident once again shows how social media is making the news a shared experience. This, of course, is also a double-edged sword, because on the one hand, it brings the news to people who might normally not be interested in watching the news or visiting news sites. On the other hand, some may point out that this might, pardon the pun, inflate the importance of certain news items. Not to downplay the importance of the news, because I’m personally hoping the boy is all right, but as some Twitter users have already pointed out, CNN seems to have given too much coverage to it, considering other important things happening in the world, like, you know, wars and natural disasters.
Here’s an excerpt from my latest CNET Asia blog post.
Many ordinary Filipinos have become heroes in the past two weeks, helping the victims of tropical storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana). We won’t be able to name them all, but to celebrate the spirit of Philippine heroism and inspire our countrymen, I hope Filipino Internet users can unite and vote for the Philippines’ Efren Peñaflorida as CNN Hero of the Year.
Sure, CNN and Facebook have teamed up before for the historic inauguration of US President Barack Obama, but as I previously blogged, the online coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial is expected to become the biggest Web event in history.
If you want to take part in this online event, head on over to CNN.com/Live. If you’re on Facebook, you can already RSVP for the event. The Facebook/CNN event will start at midnight ET in the US.
So how about a Filipino online celebrity doing something like this? I’d root for HappySlip against Philippine media giants
The problem with Old Media is that they want to turn New Media into old news. Whatever you might personally feel about Ashton, this is the day New Media took on Old Media — and won.
UPDATE: We’ve done it! http://twitter.com/aplusk is the first to reach 1 million users. Here’s @aplusk’s tweet:”Victory is ours!!!!!!!!” and @cnnbrk’s tweets: “Congrats @aplusk. Ashton Kutcher is the first twitter account to reach 1MM followers.” and “Ashton Kutcher is first to reach 1 million followers in Twitter contest with CNN.”
Not even CNN’s aggressive TV push could stop the Web from winning. So I guess you could say we Punk’d CNN Malaria no more!
I’m on sick leave right now and feel pretty awful, but I have to be part of this historic Twitter faceoff for a charitable cause.
Follow actor Ashton Kutcher at http://twitter.com/aplusk and help make him the first get a million followers on Twitter. If he wins, he will donate 10,000 mosquito bed nets to charity for World Malaria Day, and 1,000 if he loses.
